A Pilgrim's Brief Regress

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The older I get, the more that I recognize the meaning of the term pilgrim. Top side of the earth, living in the twenty-first century, the information age has thrown our society into a high-speed tail spin with information-overload at every turn and an exhausting schedule filling ones plate with a hundred equally-valid but sometimes hollow and vane choices. We need to reflect here.

Recently, I have had the occasion of attempting to research my father’s genealogical record. I have avoided committing the financial resources to the on-line services and have opted for my own searches. This has proved that it requires patience; but such has proven fruitful, and I must admit has resulted in a new-slate of web friends all distant cousins with the same aim, those of whom I never have had the pleasure of growing up with. If you choose to embark on such a task, don’t be surprised of the myths that are perpetuated in your family based on second and third hand knowledge of events. Life and in particular, people are never what they seem to be. This activity has given me pause to go back to those times in the late 1800’s and early twentieth century when my “grands” walked the earth. Wonder what it would have been like then; did they look to the now? Did they fathom the future?

When we measure our life, pedigree, education and human industry carry no real significance do they? No amount of sweat and blood towards human capacity carry no real thrust in the eternal, except only a few brief moments before they are rendered, wood, hay and stubble. Oh, we should work at our task at hand, “as unto the Lord”, but I am talking about our motivation in the immediate. I love this passage in Hebrews. I believe Bunyan magically captured this idea in his allegory. Consider where the writer’s context renders this passage, it was the faithful through the ages that could only see the “country from afar”. Oh that God would only keep our glimpse towards the afar! Oh that we would embrace the cross for His Service! Oh that we throw off the shackles of the now and taste a glimpse of Heaven and the Eternal! Oh, that we would work out our own salvation! Now that preaches!

Time in the Furnace

The old blacksmith shop must have been a fine place of heat and toil. The images of this place are one of brawn and hard work. The smith could not have worked his craft without the anvil. That heavy slab of metal was the pounding block and surface in which the smith would bend and shape the heated metal into the final image. Boom, boom and a horseshoe was rendered; clank-clank, and out came a plowshare. Now, one should know that nothing could be produced without the benefit of the fire. The smith would crank up his fire in his stove and put that metal in there, bringing it out fiery- red; then and only then could the smith produce his craft. Only when its in the shape he wants does he submerge it beneath the cool water for the metals hardening.
Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being in the stove. I don’t like it when I’m the subject against the anvil. Life hurts and produces heat; life hurts and produces burrs and slag. Then we go into the sanctuary of God’s Word; we draw close to the throne in prayer. We discover that it’s time for the oven; we fret for its time at the anvil. The hammer falls and we bend; its clanks and we succumb. We pray for relief but it does not immediately come. We ask for the cool water, but it is lacking, nowhere to be found. Paul prayed to be rescued from the thorn in the flesh; he sought relief from the messenger of Satan. But God’s answer was “My grace is sufficient”. Spurgeon said, As sure as God puts His children in the furnace he will be in the furnace with them”. The three children of Israel (Shadrach, et al) trusted God…but they went in the furnace. They understood God, but they went in the furnace…they shunned the vain religion of Babylon, but they went in the furnace. I am sure it was hot in that furnace, but there was a fourth man! I see four, and the fourth is like the Son of God! Don’t pray for the water friend; look for the fourth!

On The Precious Healing of Words

I love beautiful music; classical pieces which draw out and evoke the majesty that only is ordained from the imagination of heaven. Only our Creator is the Divine Architect of such. The weaver of the gifted minds, hearts and ears can produce such splendor. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Heyden produce such moods of imagery through their sweeping chords, movements and counter-movements that transport the hearer to a different place; a place of peace and comfort. These moments are breathtaking; they’re beyond words.
Ephesians 4:29 admonishes us: Let no corrupt communication proceed from your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Solomon declares “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold.” A beautiful heart for Christ is like this. It discerns the needs of the forlorn heart, it senses the chasm of loneliness, and it hears the vacantness in the concert halls of the needy. When we minister grace to the hearers at just the right time, the Spirit-inspired time, we are parties to a Divine appointment of calm and soul soothing music. When we weave this symphony, it can only transcend earth and carry the hearer into the presence of God. Christ always knew what to say did he not? The Apostle here encourages us to put away corrupt communication, to toss aside cutting words, to mortify fleshly backbiting, rather, put on and practice good speech, why? To edify each other, to produce the beautiful chords of grace that only the Spirit of God can weave. You sense the hurting heart, strike the chord of encouragement; you detect the weak, lift them up with the sweeping movements of Jesus. Surrounded by the spiritually oppressed….lend the word of the Gospel. “There is a balm in Gilead that heals the sin-sick soul” Let’s make beautiful music friend. I am Sherrell.

On The Ornament of Meekness

Thomas Akempis said, "The good devout man first makes inner preparation for the actions he has later to perform. His outward actions do not draw him into lust and vice; rather it is he who bends them into the shape of reason and right judgement. Who has a stiffer battle to fight than the man who is striving to conquer himself." Old Thomas was spiritually spot on. This giant was accoustomed to writing some of the most prolifically spiritual material written. "The Imitation of Christ" is still one of my favorite books.

Speaking of vice, I often speak before I need to; too often have found myself having to pardon my presumption or not understanding and not properly seeking clarity. Oh, I could pardon myself being caught up in the circumstances of the business that I am in; its about action; about results, about the bottom line; but Christ calls us to another place does he not? Peter tells us that we are a "Royal Priesthood, a chosen generation..." Given this, lets introduce 1Pe 3:4 which states, But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Wow, you hear that? A meek and quiet spirit is an ornament in God's sight; it is a great price! Think about this one one! Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit; yes? With love and respect!

Lessons From the Thunderstorms

I am really delighted in the rain; no matter the ferocity I often marvel at every detail, the thunder, the lightning and the paths of the runoff; I delight in the magnitude of a great storm. I have also often enjoyed at a winter's snow, ever since I moved north a bit; its solitude is delicious, and you can listen closely to the snow flakes deflecting off of the trees and a nearby roof; it sets the stage for the mournful whispering wind, with its crisp bite and siren calls to you.

When I was a kid I would often go out on our porch during a thunderstorm; from my post, I would view the neighbors making for their shelter and I would marvel from my perch, like the old bird keeping watch over the neighborhood with an approving nod; this was God's symphony and I was an observer from the mezzanine with a chance to see it over and over. Sometimes, when my parents were not home, I would move my seat to the hill at the edge of the woods; this was my sanctuary and only the snakes, birds and the other animals knew the place better. This is where I carved out life; where I dealt with emotions; I prayed, made life decisions and stolled with my guitar when it was'nt foul weather. Today, during my vacation we were caught in a torrential downpour. I was transported to that porch, to that wooded glade and amidst the hundreds of strangers struggling to free themselves from its throngs, I was once again joyful to see my old friend again. This is my reminder of God's enormity, of His power. It reminds me that He cares for His creation and He provides for a cleansing flood to water the earth, to care for the "lillies of the field", to touch the the Creation that we sometimes spoil by our existence. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good and his mercies are anew. Next time you have the occasion, let my friend the rain show you the Touch of God. With fond admiration; I am Sherrell

Transported to Mount Pisgah

I love the Blueridge Mountains, small compared to the Rockies but a small piece of heaven here in Virginia. At times, I enjoy a drive an hour south of D.C., south of Sperryville, Virginia to Old Rag Mountain. It’s about an hour and a half of a vigorous hike to the top, some climbing at the end, but the payoff is spectacular.
In my studies today I was transported to Mount Pisgah. Moses was ascending its pinnacle at the Lord’s command to view the sprawling land of promise. It was the last brief moments of this magnificent man’s life. He was ascending high as into the throne room of Heaven itself. Here was the man who knew God “face-to- face” (Num 12:8); a man whose fellowship with God was second only to God’s Son. Can you imagine knowing our Heavenly Father this intimately? The writer of Hebrews invites us “….come boldly into the throne room of grace….” Heb 4:16.
The Apostle Paul brings us squarely to the place where we need to attain. “….That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection , and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death.” Phill 3:10 I believe that this is the intimacy that we are to have with God; that we are to attain to. It is being acquainted with God’s grief. It is having a deep grief over sin, callousness and indifference. It is being moved by His passion for souls, the care for widows, orphans and the powerless. It is to die in conformity to him. Jesus was clear on His mission. In Luke 4:18-19 he declared The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good…Now that is a mountain worth scaling.

Guided by His Eye

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Psalm 32:8.....My better half and I are celebrating going on 24 years of marriage. One thing is certain, having been married for that period of time, experiencing rough times and great times you get to know each other intimately. Fact is, it only takes a glance or a quick read and I know what my wife is thinking (most of the time). This comes from the intimacy of understanding that only marriage or family relationships bring; the type of clarity of closeness.

Imagine the Psalmist here captures God's heart perfectly with crystaline detail. You realize that this is the kind of close intimacy God desires from us? That we are guided with the twinkle of His eye? This imagery (we know that God is Spirit from John 4:24) is of course pointing to a thought. Hebrew is a language of vast imagery, of word pictures. God guides us with his eye. He leads us beside the still waters, to borrow from another wonderful Psalm. Friend, we must press into God to develop this type of relationship....to capture His heart and sense His direction. Now that is the kind of direction that is not needful....it is bountiful and rich. Blessings.