Just to Think.

Not much, right now. Praying there may be a moment again, later this week. Just a thought. Something which came, earlier...last night, really.

Not a wholly, inerrantly apt metaphor, but...

Kintsugi.

But For Love

To say that the process is awkward would be an understatement. Yet...only to the flesh--to that which craves self-centered indulgences at the expense of any else. To that sneaking, slithering bit which so loathes the thought of being restrained from any varied hint of nonsense which might otherwise, anywise, eventual seek a giving in...rationalized, per course.

But no.

That is self, exalted against Christ. That is the world, yet to be sloughed off, along course of increasing in conformity, moving nearer His glorious being, transformed from image to image, as He comes revealed.

Cleanse the Temple

Implications regarding the cleansing of the temple:

What other portrait of our Lord, Jesus, so rattles the mind as the panorama of His assault upon the temple merchants? Humility, servitude, and a manner of restraint from all but the necessary (even if as according to divine, not human, precepts...) characterize so much of what we see recorded of His ways among us. Like a lamb led to slaughter, even, as Isaiah foretold--horrific though the thought, but still...apt.

So, to have witness of such a bold and unexpected show of indignation...

...all the more known, then, as ruled by passions unfathomable to those even nearest Him.

The care with which He constructed the tool, though, doesn't give indication of impulsivity. Nor of any lack of restraint. Meticulous. Diligently prepared. Mayhap reluctantly undertaken, but nonetheless a necessary statement, violent though it might have seemed to those taken wholly unawares. 

I wonder if He seemed a madman, raging, to them. I can't help but think that the terror which struck those who even saw Him approaching was like enough to completely shock their minds into utter silence, cowed and trembling, only to flee the wrath evident. 

Securely Conditioned: Sanctification

I forget, sometimes, the severity of the situation.

Christ or death.

Not just a walk in the park. Not just a moment given to reflection, here and there. Not just a matter of spending a couple minutes a day, reading the Word of God.

No.

Christ or death.

And with all the reading about predestination, lately, and about the security of the elect, the assurance of salvation for those foreordained to be conformed to the image of Christ...

...inherent all those can creep up a sense of security which then might allow self-indulgence to be fostered, unto relaxing from ardently seeking Christ.

But, no.

It's Christ or death, still.

Taking into account that we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, pressing on for the high calling in Christ, diligently studying as to show ourselves approved, examining ourselves to see whether we are in the faith, and being doers of the Word, not hearers only...

Fruit vs. Works & Compromising Efforts

Drawing nearer to the Lord is such a fundamental necessity, for all good.

He's there, regardless whether we're paying any attention to Him. Regardless whether people refute His existence or neglect His sovereignty. Only, the peace and joy which He offers--wisdom and knowledge, love and patience...increasing self-control...

...all those and other blessed sanctions wholly wrought through increasing in love for Him, increasingly drive desire for further sanctification. Just to be closer to Him. To experience His love.

Just to know Him, as He truly is. Ever more clearly.

Increasingly realizing His presence and immanence. His love, His goodness, His faithfulness. All which humble and convict and lead in paths of righteousness, for His name's sake.

Growing in grace, then. Ever sufficient, as His mercies are new every day. For He never changes, nor forsakes us. He is faithful to His nature, to His word, and thus to those who are His. We can know these things, for the evidence as recorded in Scripture, but also by reflecting upon the lives of those who have markedly evidenced true saving knowledge of Him.

Even as our own lives bear those hallmarks of His faithfulness, for those who know Him in spirit and truth.

Walking the Line

Matthew 7:14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The gate is narrow and few there be who find it. The way of/life is straight and narrow, but the path to destruction is broad.

...many are called, but few are chosen.

Bits of paraphrase, for you. In regard to present considerations.

Pray for discernment, dear friend. Seek the Lord steadfastly, with all your heart--by whatsoever means are available to you, seek Him. And pray for discernment.

In these days, even the elect would be deceived...if it were possible. Except for His hand of mercy, ever extended to those who are His. Except for the grace lavished upon those who love Him.
Except for the love of Truth which breathes so deeply from each such spirit touched and wholly transformed by His wondrous, abiding presence...the Holy Spirit, indwelling..

"God Needs Men" - Zac Poonen

God needs men today -

• Men who will stand before His face and hear His voice daily,
• Men who have no desire in their heart for anyone or anything other than God Himself,
• Men who fear Him so greatly that they hate sin in every form and love righteousness and truth in all their ways,
• Men who have overcome anger and sexually sinful thoughts, and who would rather die than sin even in thought or attitude,
• Men whose daily lifestyle is one of taking up the cross and pressing on to perfection, and who are constantly working out their own salvation with fear and trembling,
• Men, full of the Holy Spirit, who are so rooted and grounded in love that nothing can ever move them into an unloving attitude towards another human being, however great the provocation,
• Men who are so rooted and grounded in humility that neither human praise nor spiritual growth, neither a divinely endorsed ministry nor anything else will be able to make them lose the awareness of their being less than the least of all the saints,
• Men who have an understanding of God's nature and purpose through His word, and who tremble at that word so that they will not disobey even the smallest commandment or neglect to teach it to others,