Friday, December 16, 2011

The Invisible Son



'There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole day's done'
-

(The Police- Invisible Sun- 1981 'Ghost in the Machine')

   
     Today..
    My brother and I stood before a cross I made with my fingers,by scraping the frost that lie on the bed cover of his pick up....

                                and we prayed.

        by the heat of the day, that cross will disappear...
                                                                            become invisible..
                                                                                                        leaving only the memory that it ever happened...but..

       There has to be an invisible Son…
   
        18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

            The ‘impression’ that I made may re-appear with tomorrows frost on that bed cover..

          yet that... was just the work of my fingers.

                               The presence of the Holy Spirit in me..appears much like the Cross in the frost..
   
                                                                          ..when the heat of my day leaves me with only a memory of the time I spent with Him.

               
    The heat of the day...
        
 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
 16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
 17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

  to know and believe...
                            There has to be an invisible Son...
                               
 6"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
 8" 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.
   " 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 
            The complications...circumstances...pain..even joy..we experience in this miraculous Spirit container..
                                                                                                                              this outward body .. will never..
                                                                                                                                                                        compromise the Truth..

        There has to be an invisble Son…   
                                                    27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
                             
                                   In the cool of the morning..
                                                        before the heat of your day..
                           maybe reach out..and make a cross in the frost...and remember, follower of Jesus the Christ..

                                                                    There has to be an invisible Son...
                                                                                                                              and He has a claim on you.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

humble thoughts

I have had some quiet time and I have been seeking..

                Thinking of God walking among us with the Creation..Jesus..mystery of mysteries...near me..
   
                             maybe..

                                           ..thoughts of a young boy in Israel..

          There He is..
            
                      I can only catch a glimpse of Him..this Rabbi.. when His disciples are not blocking my view...

                    I am only eight years old..memorizing scriptures as I am immersed in the Torah ...learning from my father..

      I 've heard of miracles....healing...

                            and there He is ..

    oh that I could be with Him Today..but I have so much to learn before I can Go..years..

                               .. and I so long for the day that I can stand with Him..this Rabbi  Jesus ...and listen..learn and tend to Him..like those men who are with Him now..
   
        what are they talking about.......
                            
                                        wait..those men that are with Him are parting..looking at me..
He is looking at me!

                                                    He is calling to me!! asking me to come near Him...His hand is reaching toward me, as He beckons me to come...He wants me near Him!!!!....
                                                                          

 And God walked among us with the Creation, Jesus, seeing this child... the heart of this child..


                                           I have spent much time with this passage of late...
Matthew 18

 2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
                       
   
                            Coming of age Today..and knowing the Humility of being in His presence...can be far removed from that of a young Jewish boys years of 8..
       
  but then .. how badly is it that you want to learn...
                                                    ..to approach this Teacher, as your purpose in life...

                                                            He who calls the humble 'the greatest in the kingdom of heaven'    

              Find yourself too busy with other 'stuff' ....
                                                               
                                     ...cluttering the path that leads through the parted disciples..
                                                                                                       to the nearness of Jesus?  
            
                                                      Maybe..
                                                               before I ask of Him again..for anything..

                                                I have much to learn about being eight in Israel.. when Jesus came to teach.  

Fruit Trees Last 10 Feet

A Tree and Its Fruit

 21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

    ..you can fool some of the people some of the time...

        So, after our run, I turned to Steve, and said..   

            'I am going to ask you a rhetorical question…do you believe in God???'

                   And he answered.

Then I asked " Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your only personal Savior???'

And he answered.
                                          
  'Ok,' I said  ' now ask me the same questions...'

            (our answers to the above questions were the same. And if you followed our answer with the word 'Lord' it would be the only correct answer to Him)   

                      I then said to him..       
                                                                                       
        'So..if we are speaking Truth.. where do we go from here'.

                We went to the Matthew 5-7...the beatitudes

                        You know something, reader...you can't hide.
                                        any more than you can separate the Truth, from the Way.. and the Life.
                                          
  so, amigo....where do you Go???

  As I can only speak from my experience...my perspective..
                                                          and this is for the living…our time in this outward body,in prayer...
    
                                 I will say you Go the last 10 feet naked and alone, saying goodbye to the masquerade party you may be living here, and stand before the Truth.
                                                   
         ... and if Steve asked you the same questions he asked me,
                                                                                                            and you answered them the same way,

                                          -any excuses for our actions during our time here, are nothing but b.s.-

     so maybe get ready for verse 23. 
                                                             Maybe.

Today…
              Do I fear God?
                                                          !Absolutely!
           Initially, cause I know me.
                                                             But…
                                                                     that has changed.
                                                            -'Cause now..Today.. I believe He's here -

            Nowhere to hide...and no excuses.
                                                                            eternity starts Today...
                                                                                   
           so how are you? ..and me..
                                             Going to the alter for communion..those last 10 feet?
   
      
                       -A message for all the living,  your prayerful consideration-

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
 9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
 13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
 14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
believe it..

 29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

believe it..

 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

believe it..

37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."   

         
   and then …



                       Go with it!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

my prostitute


And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.
                        (‘City of New Orleans’ from the album ‘Hobos Lullaby’ by Arlo Guthrie 1972)


My breath has fallen into rhythm with my footfalls, as I reach the summit, overlooking the valley.

                                           Off in the distance, ‘truckers’ head east and west along I88..

                                   as geese call from the farm between us.

It is 5:20am..
         
  there is a break in the overcast skies across the 10 mile stretch of horizon I can take in to sight..

                                                        running east on ‘Mineral Springs’ road.

              Sunrise.

The break in the cloud cover is taller at the suns point of appearance,

          tapers gradually into vanishing, left and right.

Slowly,
           as the sun rose to the center of this ‘opening’ in the sky, this ‘sclera’,
         
                   my mind envisions..
                                                 ‘Gods eye’.

 I am humbled by the enormity of this event…

                                as He looks at me.

                                                                 These words comes clear in my mind-

                          "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."     

Running,
                    my hand opens, in the gesture of dropping…

                                                                           dropping all I had in judgment

                      on any other…of His creations.


      "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."


        Slowly,
                             His ‘eye’ closed, as His sun rose behind the quilt of clouds

                                                             As they came to meet the hills that rimmed the valley.

The sun is removed from my sight…


-Today

I am not the judge….of anyone.

          Neither are you.

                               Maybe, as you pray..

                                               say ‘My God…who is in Heaven..’

                                                                                        My Father…

                   And you too,

                             will be separated from the crowd,

                                                                                  prostitute

                                                to stand alone between the Pharisees’..
                                               
                                                                                             and the Savior.


And of war and battle?

          In the heat of your ‘battle’,
                                     
                             Have faith, that it is only part of war.

                                                          And the ‘war’ has already been won.
                                     
                                                                   It is His Peace to you.