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dayofthelord.blogspot.com

Frustation. Hope of Future Glory.

You know? I could speak in words of eloquence and dazzle your ears with wonderful sayings. Encourage you to build your house on the sand and enjoy the fleeting pleasures of today. Yet my heart grieves within me. What is the point of our efforts? What is there to enjoy in our mist of a life? What will stand?

Don't give me some crap about truth standing. Or your achievements. Or your memories. Or your family and friends. Or anything.

NOTHING. but the Lord.

I hurt with the pangs of creation. I mourn for the emptiness of our desires. We are being led astray by the harlot Babylon. By the adulteress lying in wait for her prey. Where is Wisdom? Why do we not hear the clamor and her cries for notice? We ignore the Word and go to our own philosophies and the random mutterings of our own mind.

Come on. Seriously. You think you or any man can come up with something real and substantial? Any thought to rival the mind of God? Any discovery or invention to match the Behemoth. Any strength or ability to tame the seas and set the world in place? Steve Jobs? Isaac Newtown? Name your genius. Name your idol. K-Pop? Jeremy Lin? You?

Nobody can stand before the Lord.

Why do we not have the fear of the Lord? Why do we not fear? Until we are caught in the snares of death itself, we do not cry out for help. Maybe perhaps after one drink too many, or after our momentary high runs out, we think soberly for a second. WHAT AM I DOING? WHAT IS THIS LIFE?

Yet we silence ourselves. Or the world shuts us up. Our true desires are enveloped with a counterfeit culture of cheap drugs and fantasies. You want romance? You want acceptance? You want pleasure? You want happiness? Buy it. Can't afford it? Watch it on TV.

Go ahead and inject yourself with that needle. Swallow those pills. Be loose with your body. Be filled with your own depravity.

Or go the intellectual route. Scorn the stupid. Look for revelation and grow wise with the knowledge of this world. Get approval and admiration from peers. Fill yourself up with the fruit of your labors.

Or be the romantic. Get that woman, or women. Fill yourself up with emptiness and offer fake emotions to another. Lure them into your trap. Never let them open their eyes to see that you can never offer anything to them but destruction. Just take what you want from them, then leave them to continue your journey for love.

There is nothing new under the sun. Yet we do not fear God.

Continue on your route. Pretend as if you know the Lord. Live your life and comfort and pretend the freedom of Christ extends to your life. You're a more confident person? Congratulations that's the limit of God's power. You are satisfied and content and living well? Congratulations that's the blessing of the Lord. AND THAT IS ALL THE REWARD YOU WILL GAIN.

...

We have lost our place in the story of redemption. We are the wayward sheep wandering from the only Shepherd who will take us to truly green pastures. We rob ourselves of truth and freedom and close our eyes and ears from the voice of our Shepherd. We are not concerned with the person of Christ. We have no regards for His will. We only want to eat more fodder and live in our filth yet have a clean conscience.

What do you know of Christ?
What have you experienced of Christ?
What do I know of Christ?
What have I received from Christ?

Let me speak in humility.

Brothers and sisters. Be guarded for you are being SOLD to the prince of the air and the principalities of the current darkness. You give away yourself for something that gives no satisfaction. You bring destruction and wrath over your heads.

Seek the righteousness of God and his kingdom. SEEK it. For it is not here yet.
What do you truly desire? What do you truly want?

I desire love. I desire to experience the GLORY of God. Not in words or conjectures of theological soundness. I WANT TO EXPERIENCE HIS PRESENCE. To see His BLINDING GLORY. His EYES are like FLAMES OF FIRE. His HAIR is WHITE LIKE WOOL.

I want to fall as dead before the feet of this Messiah. This is the LORD that I will serve. He will lift up my head if only I walk humbly.

I will seek out His heart. His passions. His desires. He seeks the redemption of this world and restoration of perfection in this world. For a NEW Earth, not the annihilation of this earth. We will NOT be sent up to Heaven to live forever as a spirit.

We will be resurrected from the dead. Just like Christ. We will inherit this earth. We will reign with Christ in righteousness forever.

That is His ultimate plan for the end of this age. I will submit myself to His plans.

He will bring great trials and tribulations upon the church. Upon Israel, his chosen people. We will suffer and many will die. The rest will fall away and follow the call of comfort and ease. They will take the mark and join against Christ. Israel will face great pain from the Anti-Christ and only a remnant will remain.

We as Gentiles need to gather the full number of Gentiles to faith so that at the end all of the remnant of Israel will be finally provoked to jealousy and repent to turn to Christ. Their Messiah.
Then He will descend. And bring recompense. And reign.

Then the Day of the Lord. Where all accounts will be settled and the wicked thrown into the lake of fire. At this point, nobody can question the holiness and power of the Lord. His judgments are absolute. There will be much gnashing of teeth.

As for the righteous? The one who conquers? The faithful servant will enter into the joy of their Master. They will be raised into an incorruptible body. They will receive a crown, robes of righteousness, and even a new name. They will reign with Christ in glory.

If this is the plan of the Lord, we must follow Him. As a Christian, we alone have any hope in this world. To escape the coming judgment and enter into the coming kingdom. We must live as such. We cannot succumb to the folly of this world.

We must follow Christ. Embrace the cross! Live it out. Count all as loss and die in order to find life. Deny yourself and be led by the Holy Spirit. BECAUSE IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT.

Live in reality and utter sobriety. Love the LORD.

The Fear of the Lord

What does our God desire from us?
Can it be truly just "transformation?" Can it be just our worship (on Friday/Sundays)? Is the Most Holy One pleased with just our lip service? Our vague confessions of not "prioritizing" our time, not "going to God" with things?

HOW CAN THIS BE?

Three times in the same chapter (Deuteronomy 9), Moses fasts and doesn't drink for 40 days (remind you of anyone?). The first time, it is when he goes up the mountain to receive the Law of God, which God himself writes.

The second time is when the people of Israel erect a golden calf to worship. Moses falls prostate before the Lord for 40 days without food or drink, "because of the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you" (Duet 9:18-19 ESV).

The third time, he falls prostate before God again to stop the Lord from destroying the people of Israel because of their rebellion.

So? What does this have to do with us? Doesn't it make God sound like this out-of-control, tantrum throwing, angry fellow? And I thought God was love?

What is the context of all this? God has promised to their forefathers that they would inherit the land, that they will be blessed and bless nations. God delivers them out of Egypt by His mighty hand, leads them through the wilderness despite their rebellion, feeds them manna for 40 days, conquers mighty foes for His namesake. And yet. the people. always. falls back to sin.

Because of His own goodness, and the fact that God is a faithful covenant maker, He stills His righteous fury and indignation. His own people spit at Him at every turn, yet He is a compassionate God.

And for us now? We have such occasion for joy! God, in his sovereign plan, sent His HOLY Son Jesus the Christ to die for the sins of the world. Utter beauty defeated to death. Yet for His GLORY, Jesus is RAISED from the DEAD, and God is victorious!

Now we as Gentiles can partake of the salvation of the Jews, and we have this infinitely glorious destiny awaiting us when the Christ returns for his people.

So what is the fear of the Lord? I believe it is the understanding of who God is and the working of the Gospel in the restoration of the world, and His eventual judgment.

We as Christians must be sober-minded. I always find myself turning back to 1 Peter in order to see the type of life I should be living out:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

(1 Pet 1:13 -19 ESV).

God wants us to be holy and conducting ourselves with fear (the exile refers to 1 Pet 1:1) because of the Gospel. To set our hopes fully on the grace to come. Living lives of holiness... we are called to intercede for the nations and for Israel. Come and let us love and fear the Lord, because we have been abundantly pardoned.

Desires

I just realized something. I was struck by something I read, one of those corny "spiritual inspiration" notes. This one stuck out to me for one moment, and I was instantly convicted by something.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Matthew 6:33 ESV)

Such a simple truth. Why am I busy striving for other things? The desires of my deceitful heart? The treacherous pleasures of the flesh? A job? A girl?

How do I know when I am in tandem with the will of God? When I'm busy seeking Him. What shall we truly need to pursue in order to receive, if we trust in the mighty arm of the One who saves?

Forgive me Father, for my own weakness and failings. My heart is a mess and I am torn between false hopes and failed expectations. I need to continue in the road before me, to seek after Your heart with all of my being.
You have made promises to me, I have heard and known of your great mercy and love towards me. I have no one else to turn to. Let me not look away.

I love you Jesus.

Life in Christ

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
(Romans 6:1-14 ESV)

This passage has been really striking me lately. It is the reason for us being able to live lives free from the power of sin. As a personal testimony, I see the power of this death and baptism in my own life. I am dead to sin!

And because of this death and resurrection of Jesus, I will also be raised like Him!

This is such a simple hope, yet so powerful. This is the hope and future grace given to believers who will follow Christ, as they proclaim in their baptism! This is what led the apostles and martyrs throughout the centuries to die! Because they will be raised! This what we need to put our faith and hope in if we are to withstand tribulations and future trials that will test our faith. What happens when we are hated for Jesus's name and suffer at the hands of our enemies? Will we deny Christ? Renounce Him?

Not if we are already proclaimed dead in baptism. Not if our hope is the life that will come. I think this is the strongest evidence of if you are truly a Christian: where your hope is in. If all your concerns are for this life, and for living it up, perhaps you've stopped following Christ.

Where is Christ? Sitting on the throne on the right hand of the Father, in Heaven. What are we waiting for? For Him to come down again, to judge and deliver the saints and restore the kingdom to Israel and bring restoration of the heavens and the earth.

So If we follow Him, why are we not living lives marked by waiting? Let us once again proclaim our death in Christ, and our hopes of being raised with Him. If you haven't gotten baptized into His death and resurrection, do so. But that is a topic for another time.

I'm done.

I'm feeling a little anger. And frustration. And longing.
I hate this world. I hate what it's made us into. I hate the destruction and the corruption. I hate the loss of innocence. I hate the scandals and lusts and unlawful, wonton desires. I hate what men and women become.

I hate it. What has the world done to us but chip away our innocence and value and replace it with sin? This world is headed towards destruction, yet it will not turn away. I'm tired. I'm tired of it. These fleeting, yet persistent, jealousies and enviousness of a life that is not my own. Wanting to belong? To be cool? To be special?

Belong where? Cool how? Special in what way?

I'm done. I'm done with this world. I'm done with myself.

I will remind myself of this truth: I HAVE DIED WITH CHRIST.

What joyous news. I want to be known for one thing - one thing only. For the preaching of the Gospel and for being led by the Spirit. I want to be marked by suffering. I don't want a part of this world anymore, I forfeit it.

If I have no talents, no ability to sing or dance, to write or play, no beauty or intelligence to speak of; I'll praise GOD all the more! What better way to place my hope in the kingdom to come where I will inherit perfection.

There is real spiritual warfare. Pick up your armor. Clench onto that shield. Ready your sword. The devil's flaming darts are firing with no regard for your acknowledgment/ignorance of them. You must stand. In the evil day. You must stand.

I want to experience greater things. To know the power of the Spirit. It's power. I want to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and have the word sent out and return with power for the name of Jesus.

One thing I feel I must confess. A great weakness of mine? A fragile, immature heart. Hurt, pain, suffering. Abandonment, loneliness, frustration. I am so susceptible to hurtful words, to inconsiderations, to the lies and the rot of the devil.

I will live a "mediocre" life. I will be un-famous and fade away from this life without much acknowledgement or lasting achievements. I won't look for it. I refuse. Nothing in this life is worth anything.

I will live for the sake of the Gospel. I will live sacrificially. I will (probably) marry and disciple a family into following and waiting for Jesus. I will bear poverty, sickness, and defeats. I will do all things through God who strengthens me.

In the end, I will inherit the kingdom. I will sit with Jesus on this throne. I will receive a new name. I will have robes of righteousness. I will receive everlasting life in a perfect body to dwell with God forever on the new earth.

I will do everything in my ability to be faithful with my talents. I will love Jesus with all my heart, strength, mind, and soul. Everything to You I give Jesus.

Beauty.

Just listening to the song "Beautiful" by Johannes and finishing up Exodus and starting Leviticus.
What a deadly combo.

And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had
let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses
stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the LORD's side?
Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said
to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your
side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the
camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his
neighbor.’” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses.
And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. And Moses
said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, each
one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow
a blessing upon you this day.”
(Exodus 32:25-29 ESV)

It seems highly controversial to refer to such a passage to the Lord's beauty, but I see it as highly fitting. This fits quite nicely on the line of the cost of following God (as well as the opposite reaction).

Can you still cry out to God and claim that He is beautiful? After reading such a brutal passage?
I wonder of our own understanding of Him. Do we place more fundamental value on the basis of our own understanding over the reality of our Lord? Do we cringe and subtly deny the parts of our most Holy God when He seems a bit too absurd for our standards?

This Holiness of God is most to be worshiped. The same God who is jealous for His own name sent down His Son and smote Him. Just as the Levites were called to be "ordained" to service by the shedding of blood, so was Jesus the great High Priest! By the shedding of His own blood for His enemies, he has brought us near.

God's own Holiness shed blood to bring us into His presence and cover our sins. What beauty! What worth! Truly, truly He is beautiful:

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
(Revelation 1:12-18 ESV)

What a beautiful Messiah we serve! What a glorious One! To Him be all glory, power, and dominion forever and ever.

I will follow You to wherever you take me, though no may go with me. Whatever I suffer through, it will be worth it! I love you Jesus!