Farewell Summer

Glimpses of Summer

Summer is slipping away so quickly. I must grasp its last glimmering days.

In its going I will be so lonely.

Sun beating down it's healing rays,

Striking my skin with its blaze.

Grass so tender and green,

Lilting song of birds,

Cool night breeze flowing through open windows, like a summer sigh.

Curtains gently waving in summer air, oh, my heavy heart.

Buzzing of bees and pine scented trees, scampering squirrels, thunderous heaven noise and pouring rain, fill my heart with wonder, may it never wane.

Daisy, yarrow, and harebell; whence will you come again to delight my heart and make it swell? Creek with its clean, clear scent, moving swiftly, smoothing rocks, life giving; on the trail next to you I walk.

Summer, I will miss you, summer, you are a gift from God, please come again soon and delight my heart.

The Bible is Not Practical!

South Park, Co


You know, I get frustrated when I read about what is going on in our churches today. Have we all gone mad? Have we lost our love of the truth? Is Christianity just another way to live life, as in, adding Him to our life as an accessory to make our lives more fulfilling? And is the Bible just a guide-book? If this is our approach, oh! how we are missing the very life-giving, life-changing (from the inside-out), life-breath that God offers us! The Bible's words are alive. It says in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." 

So below check out the article that sounds a warning to current day Christianity by Phil Cooke.

This explains how some Pastors are teaching the Bible to their congregations. Click HERE to read this blog.

Mtn Girl

Christian Sanctification May be Different Than You Think

   Photo taken at Red Rocks in Morrison, Co

                                            

 Sanctify them through Thy truth. — John 17:17

How can the love of truth sanctify us? Isn't sanctification just avoiding sin and trying to do good? No, it isn't. The doing or not doing isn't the question...that isn't what sanctifies. The very strange thing about Christianity is that it is different from other religions...very different. Actually Christianity turns religion on it's head. We as fallen people, born into sin resort to thinking that if we are "good" then we are right with God and will go to heaven. The Bible says something entirely different; it says no one can be good enough, no one can establish a righteousness of their own. We fight to be right, to make ourselves appear good and not evil. But we are evil -- the Bible says our righteousness is as filthy rags. The beautiful reality is that the remedy has been provided for us by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The only righteousness that saves is the righteousness that is imputed to us by Christ. It is a free gift -- we cannot earn it. 

Consider the words of Charles Spurgeon below. He reveals this wonderful truth that says the love of it is what sanctifies. Truth informs; it dispels the darkness and it sets us free!

"Sanctification begins in regeneration. The Spirit of God infuses into man that new living principle by which he becomes "a new creature" in Christ Jesus. This work, which begins in the new birth, is carried on in two ways-mortification, whereby the lusts of the flesh are subdued and kept under; and vivification, by which the life which God has put within us is made to be a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. This is carried on every day in what is called "perseverance," by which the Christian is preserved and continued in a gracious state, and is made to abound in good works unto the praise and glory of God; and it culminates or comes to perfection, in "glory," when the soul, being thoroughly purged, is caught up to dwell with holy beings at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But while the Spirit of God is thus the author of sanctification, yet there is a visible agency employed which must not be forgotten. "Sanctify them," said Jesus, "through thy truth: thy word is truth." The passages of Scripture which prove that the instrument of our sanctification is the Word of God are very many. The Spirit of God brings to our minds the precepts and doctrines of truth, and applies them with power. These are heard in the ear, and being received in the heart, they work in us to will and to do of God's good pleasure. The truth is the sanctifier, and if we do not hear or read the truth, we shall not grow in sanctification. We only progress in sound living as we progress in sound understanding. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Do not say of any error, "It is a mere matter of opinion." No man indulges an error of judgment, without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice. Hold fast the truth, for by so holding the truth shall you be sanctified by the Spirit of God."

Say yes to the truth, say yes to God.

God bless you today,

Mtn Girl

Rescued....

The word "rescued" conjures up many thoughts on the subject. I'd like to mention a few things about being rescued, but first, here are a few synonyms that describe the word:

Liberate, release, save, redeem, ransom, extricate, recover, liberation, deliverance, release, redemption and recovery. Wow. These words ring "FREEDOM", don't they?

As you can imagine, this applies to us as Christians. This is what it's about, people! But all too often the true meaning of salvation through Christ is twisted to mean something other than it is. For instance, a teaching that is spreading like wildfire throughout Christendom is that God is not a God of judgment, not a God of wrath. For some reason perhaps they think it will offend the unbeliever to include the "less desirable" aspects of God, so they make it more palatable to the masses. If God doesn't punish sin, if God is not a God of justice, if God isn't wrathful against evil, then what does He stand for? What is He rescuing us from? If God is only a God of love, where is the rest of the equation? You can't love fiercely unless you hate fiercely. If you love that which is good, right and holy then you must hate that which is loathsome, wrong and evil.

And so God is a God of love and God is a God of hate. I wrote a comment on a site that referenced the upcoming movie, 'Son of God'. The author of the article said, "...it failed to reveal who the true Son of God is" (my paraphrase). In my comment, in which I agreed with the author, I wrote that God's love is a double-edged sword that pierces and divides and demands that the one He loves give Him their heart, their mind, their very life -- none of this nauseating fluff that Jesus is there to make your life easier.

So when God demands that we love Him with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, He is saying, essentially, in our doing so, we will be freed from self, from our own evil desires and sinfulness. We will be set free from our sin and we will be given a new nature. How glorious! Freed from sin, rescued from death! But only God Himself can free us from ourselves.

So, yes, I've been rescued. Rescued from darkness and all the things associated with it. A life devoid of God. Darkness. Spiritual Death. Empty. Aimless. I was as it says in Ephesians 2:12, "....without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having NO HOPE, and WITHOUT GOD in the world."

Call out to Him, He's there. He will rescue you.


Mtn Girl