I'm thinking of the horrors and benefits of dying today, after listening to radio reports about the increasing persecution of Family members (Christian believers) in India. They are being driven from their villages, maimed, and killed for the sake of the gospel.
Are you and I willing to forsake all for our faith in Christ? That's always been the way of the cross. Following Jesus means identification with a bloody price that reconciles us to God but alienates us from those who hate Him.
Among all the parties and candy and Easter eggs, let's not forget the awful beauty of the cross. It point to the path of denying self to love God and others beyond reason, beyond human logic––because of faith and hope in the resurrection power.
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*The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:26
*And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
*And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
*I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:20-21 NIV
Moravian Prayer: May the Lord bless us and keep us, lift up his countenance upon us and give us the peace that surrounds us and emanates from our hearts. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
In as much as i can 'see',
ReplyDeleteThat which is of the "I(ego,id,self,pride)" in me,
So it is i yearn, and to Our Father cry,
For deliverance from all that is of the "I".
The "I", born of "imag"ination and selfish desire,
As lust, greed, and pride, stoked a consuming fire!
A fire burning out of control, as "I" leads the way,
It's smoke concealing the fleshly mind that leads one astray.
Yet even in the smoke, searing heat, and blindness of 'sight',
Truth can pierce the blackness of darkness, revealing "The Light"!
And nothing can hide from "The Light", so "Light" reveals the "I",
Allowing one to "see" clearly, and clearly the "I" must die.
But to live, yet die, seems an impossible task,
And so we need of "Our Father", the impossible to ask.
Help me to "deny myself(die to "I",ego,id,self,pride)" Father!
And as HE Helps, HE reveals more and more of "The Selfless One".
The One who testified, "I can do nothing of Mine own self"!
The One Who leads His brethren on "The Way to The Truth of The Life".
The One Who was and is The Messiah, The Son of The One and Only True GOD, Father(Creator) of ALL!
The Messiah, "The Light of the world"!
And as The Messiah desired above all else, so also will His brethren desire above all else, "Father, not my("I") will, But THY Will Be Done".......
The poem i have recorded above was begun in Creel, Chih, Mexico in '92, a time when i sought to live and experience a simple and spiritual life. Left Mexico in '93, yet returned in '04.
Then on 1/26/05 the poem was completed, and 'completion' is near for each and every one of us.
And for "the poor and needy" son's of GOD, thankfully so.
For "I" can't!
"Our Father", HE CAN!
And soon and very soon, translated!
"Corruptible to incorruptible" indeed and Truth.......
Home, Home at last.......
Forever free from the "I(ego,id,self,pride)".......
All Thanks and Praise Be Unto "Our Father".......
And while there is breath(spirit) there is hope many will "see",
"see" the "I" for what it is, and then desire to be set free!
And that Spirit that was in The Messiah can "set you free, free indeed"!
So, There Is Hope!
For Miracles do happen.......
Hope is there would be those who experience The Miracle that is receiving "a love of The Truth" for they will "see" The Light that is The Messiah, which clearly reveals that The Life is of The Spirit(not seen with the natural eye), and most certainly not of the flesh or fleshly mind("I",ego,id,self,pride).......
Peace, in spite of the dis-ease(darkness) that is of this world and it's systems of religion, for "the WHOLE(not just a portion) world is under the control of the evil one" indeed and Truth.......(1John5:19)
Truth IS, a lie never was and is not.......
Adide in Truth....... francis
(i have returned to this place they call the u.s.a. and am currently on what i like to call a no-mad-ness journey. Thankfully i am but "an alien and pilgrim while on this earth". A return to the simplicity that is rural Mexico would be welcomed, however, i realize that in all things it must be "Father(Creator) not my will, But THY Will Be Done.......)