To be at peace with the world is to be at war against God; likewise, to be at war against the world is to be at peace with God.
This thought struck me while reading James 4:4 and other passages dealing with our behavior towards God and subtle love of the world. I am in no way espousing a war in the physical sense, as in
violence, but war in the sense of bringing everything into captivity, every argument, philosophy, affection, belief that opposes the authority and Lordship of Christ: hence a mortification of self and it's lust and a mortification from the trappings of the worlds vanity. There is no sanctification without mortification. Saints, every thought, desire, action and response is a neon sign whose side you are on in this world. Dare you join Christ with your wicked adulterous affairs? your soaking in television? your lust for power?
To Love God is to actively hate the world - the world represents the systems and darkness.
"Don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity (yes, hatred) toward God."
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap."
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He Delighteth In Mercy
Micah 7:18
Read Micah 7:1-20
This statement from God's prophet should raise a universal shout of 'Hallelujah' from the fallen sons of Adam. The God whom we have offended, the God whom we have blasphemed, the God whose law we have broken delights in mercy!
Wisdom and power, justice and truth, holiness and infinity are all attributes of God. I am sure he delights in them all. But here one attribute, as singled out by inspiration, gives delight to the eternal God - mercy! God delights to show mercy. It is both pleasant and essential to his being. He can no more cease to be merciful than he can cease to be just and holy.
This mercy which God delights to show unto men is in Christ. Read Micah's prophecy again. In the midst of great trial, Micah's heart was fixed upon Christ. As he anticipated the coming of Christ, he was comforted with this precious truth: 'He delighteth in mercy!' Micah looked for the mercy of God in Christ. And, if you hope to find mercy, you must seek it in Christ. Since Jesus Christ has suffered and died in the place of sinners, satisfying God's holy law and justice, God is both able and willing to be merciful to sinners! That is the good news of the gospel.
There is only one way to obtain this mercy. You must come to Christ by faith. Bow down at his feet, acknowledging his sovereign lordship. Confess your sin. Sue for mercy, saying, 'God be merciful to me, a sinner.' And believe his Word. 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.'
Depth of mercy, can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God his wrath forbear,
Me the chief of sinners spare?
Indeed he can and will for Christ's sake, because, 'he delighteth in mercy'.
Don Fortner
Freegrace.net
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Until His return
Come with me to the south of Britain; it is cool, late autumn, and the time is 300 years before the birth of Jesus. The Celtic
civilization is in full flower. The people are thoroughly pagan,
worshipping many gods, and are ruled in a sense by kings; but
the real power is in the hands of the Druids, a secret priestly society which
rules by terror and by sorcery. When the king becomes too old to lead in
battle or to father children, they sacrifice him to the gods, cutting his body
cavity open while he is still alive and using his internal organs for divination
and other magic. (From National Geographic, Vol. 151, No.5.)
Spiritual darkness covers the land, overshadowing every aspect of the
people’s lives. But now the darkness is thicker still, and more threatening,
for it is October 31st, the festival of Samhain, the Festival of Death.
The Druids go from house to house dressed in peculiar robes with mysterious
magical markings (their costumes), heads covered, silent as death,
they appear. Each has, slung over his shoulder on a cord, a large, hollowed-
out turnip with an oil lamp burning inside. Carved into the side of the
hollow turnip is a hideous face, the likeness of the demon spirit that dwells
inside (the origins of our modern-day Jack’o Lanterns).
The Druid spokesman demands certain foods. If the people comply, they
pass on in silence; if their demands are not met, the people and their home
are cursed with trouble, sickness and death (the origins of our modern-day
“Trick or Treat”).
The hillside fires roar skyward, summoning and guiding the spirits of the
wicked dead. Cats screech and howl (the Druids believe them to be reincarnations
of the wicked dead, possessed with supernatural knowledge
and power). It is a night of sickening terror.
As the midnight hour approaches, the madness increases, human sacrifices
are ripped open, hearts torn out still beating; the viscera are spilled in
the dust to be used for divination. The sacrifices are thrown into the fires,
celebrants dancing and screaming around them.
On the hilltops, fires have died down, nothing remaining but ashes and
the bones of the sacrifices. The people call them “bonefires” (bonfires), and
avoid going too near, for the smell of death and the presence of evil still
hang heavily there.
This is where our modern-day Halloween comes from! —Tom C. McHenry
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Until His return
