Rushing...

"As of a Rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2.2)

"Rushing" - it is a word connected with God's working in the Old Testament and in the New, from the whirlwind which Ezekiel saw, to the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost.

The word speaks of an Urgency of Accomplishment,
of a Prevailing and Overwhelming of obstacles.
of an Establishment of God's purpose beyond earth's frustrations.

When the time comes, when the conditions are ready, delay is never in the plans of God.
Jesus taught His disciples to pray "Thy kingdom come" as God's supreme objective. 
To this end all creation moves, and to this end is all the working of God in the earth, and in the lives of men.

Delay is a master tactic of the enemy.
He seeks, 
     to dampen our faith,
          to discourage our hearts,
               to confuse our thinking,
                    to blind our eyes to the promises of God.

Today is the day of salvation … it is every day. 
Jesus said "My father worketh." (Jn. 5.17)
There is no room for hesitation or delay in the plans of God, and no cessation of His work.

May the Lord give speed to our hearts as we reach out, beyond all that would hold us in our world, to His world and to  Himself.

What is Meant to Be.

There is a verse in 1 Peter 1:12 which is echoing in my mind...
Peter speaks of the gospel preached "with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven."

This is the way it was meant to be.
Here is a truth for all believers, at all times, and in all places.

In sunshine and in rain, 
      in strength and in weariness,
               in joys and in sorrows,
                    in all life's deserts,
                         in all of life's battles,
                              in every step of our earthly pilgrimage, 

our privilege and our responsibility is to live in the dimension of "the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven."

Perhaps this day in our journey we stand unaware, at the border of the promised land.
Perhaps today is the day we can cease from desert wanderings.
Perhaps today we can leave the emptiness behind, and cross over into the land of sufficiency.

We can't do it alone.
We can't do it in our own strength.
Only God's Presence, only God's Spirit, can carry us and give us the Light and the Strength we need to overcome.

There is a land of promise for each one,
     a place where God gives His fulness in place of human emptiness,
          where God gives His Light in place of earth's darkness,
               and strength in place of  all our weakness.

The Son of God came as the Dayspring to unveil a New Day: 
     the beginning of a New Creation.
          
                       May we enter into its Glory... "with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven."

The Unseen Foundation

All that is seen depends upon the unseen.
Everything visible is built on an unperceived foundation.

John among the gospel writers, and Ezekiel among the prophets, stand apart.
While other writers speak of workings, invitations and warnings, they look upon the eternal foundation on which all else is built.

John starts his gospel account with a focus not on Jesus birth, nor even his genealogy, but with the words, "In the beginning."
Ezekiel as he begins to write, states, "I saw visions of God."

Both visions are overwhelming.
     Ezekiel is smitten with amazement at the awesome earth-transcending  splendor of the approaching cloud of fire and glory.
          John sees back before time and the existence of all created things, to the  Eternal alone filling all.

I remember my father speaking repeatedly of the need to be "Eternity conscious."
How much more imperative is the need today, as we stand in the flowing stream of time and see the building blocks of our civilization carried away with the waters.
We find ourselves in a world where chaos prevails, and destruction has taken the place of building.

Today only God, and that which is God-engendered, will endure.

Whatever the passing years may bring to our lives, 
may we find on our lips the prayer, 
"Lord, open my eyes to see the Eternal."

A Surety for Life

Near the end of the book of Revelation (Rev. 19.11) John is granted a revelation of God's being.

It is a  threefold revelation in three names of God.
     It is a complete revelation of three aspects of God.

The first revelation seen by John was of God as Faithful and True.
In the midst of the turmoil of John's surroundings,
in the midst of his time as a prisoner on Patmos,
in the midst of the enemy's working,
in the midst of Rome's dominion,
John is given this transcendental revelation.

Beyond the Shaking,
beyond the Destruction of Foundations,
God asserts Himself; God shows Himself.

John sees that beyond it all, there is a God Who never ceases to be as He has always been: Faithful and True.

"Truth" is a statement of Unchangeableness.
     Beyond the ravages of time, and the machinations of man, 
          stands One Who is Eternal,
              stands One Whose commitment to His own is unalterable.

Today, in the midst of Decay and Disillusionment, God stands.

There is a Stability which man has always sought, down through succeeding generations, and across the frontiers of nations, only to see his hopes Collapse in Chaos.
This Stability which man has sought in vain is to be found in God.
     The enemy tears down, in all places and on all levels, 
          but God still builds His church, 
               God still cares for His own with everlasting mercy.

When our faith meets God's faithfulness the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. 

Amy Carmichael said many years ago, "God trusts us to trust Him."
Let our Faith hold fast to His Faithfulness in the midst of all that surrounds us, as our lives move forward to our heavenly goal.