The Logos became flesh...

 ᾿Εν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.
En arche en ho Logos, kai ho Logos en pros ton Theon, kai Theos en ho Logos.
John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Check that Greek font out.  This is how it actually reads: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.  It doesn't say 'and the Word was God' but 'God was the Word'.  Does that matter?  I think it doesn't, but it does at the same time, at least in my mind, because to say that the Word was God sounds weaker somehow to my ears than to say God was the Word; John starts verse one with the Word in eternity, with God, and ends with God being the Word in eternity.

I find this fascinating; to read this verse this way makes the argument in verse 14, an irrefutable truth, more understandable: God became flesh and dwelt among us; I might be wrong, but I suspect that was John's thinking, and I suspect that because that is exactly what it says, that God was the Word; I might be wrong again, as usual, but here the translators of the bible are just using English grammar rules (or is it syntax?), I think, one being that in English the subject is usually qualified by an adjective, as an example, we don't say house white, we say white house, that is my trip anyway, it really doesn't matter since God and the Word are two and the same.  Like I said, it doesn't matter really, my brain and my heart feel the impact of those words no matter what the order of the words is.

This is the Christmas story without Bethlehem, without Mary, without Joseph, without the shepherds, without the star, and the angels, and the manger and the animals, and without the wise men from the east; this is the main point of the gospel of John: Jesus is God in human flesh, and Jesus declares and reveals God to men, so that we might believe and have life in His name; what is the Word's name?  The Word's name is the only name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, Jesus Christ; the Righteous One.

John 1:14  Καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The Word became flesh, human flesh, and pitched His tent among us, John says; and we looked upon, and observed and beheld His glory; the glory of the only monogenous, the One who exists and has always existed in God's being, the only begotten of the Father.  "δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός", doxan hos monogenous para Patros; and the One who reveals the same glory that no one had ever seen; 'pleres charitos kai aletheias', full of grace and truth; the One who is self-existing with the Father, came to reveal the glory of the Godhead totally covered with grace and truth; the express image of God in human flesh.  Amazing.

Here is Paul's perspective:
Col 1:9-20  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

And also in Hebrews:
Heb 1:1-4  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

John says it this way in 1Jn 1:1-3  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life--the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us--that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

I remember the first time I read John 1:1 when I was about 6 or 7 years old; I had no idea what I was reading, it just sounded mysterious in my brain; and as it turns out almost 50 years later, it is still mysterious to me, but now it appears to be glorious to the uttermost.  In Spanish it reads; In the beginning was the Verb, and the Verb was with God and the Verb was God; but whether it is the Word, the Logos, or the Verb, it only means one thing, and one thing only; God is the Word, Logos and Verb.  God is Jesus, God is the Logos in human form, He became a man and split time in two, there was no BC nor AC before the Word became a man.

The very center of human history, and the apex of redemptive history is the coming of God in human form in order that He might redeem a people for Himself, out of every tribe and language and peoples in this world, so that He could display the glory of His grace and the glory of His justice, receiving the end of His amazing love; the praises of an innumerable multitude of people; and proving once again, that everything God does is for the sake of the glory of His name.

Rev_7:9  After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
Rev_19:1  After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;
Rev_19:6  Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.


Isa_9:6  For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Isa_12:4  And in that day you will say, "Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted."

Isa_42:8  "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
Isa_43:1  But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!
Isa_43:7  Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made."
Isa_44:5  "This one will say, 'I am the LORD'S'; And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will write on his hand, 'Belonging to the LORD,' And will name Israel's name with honor.

Isa_48:9  "For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off.
Isa_48:11  "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.

Isa_57:15  For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.

This is the meaning of Christmas; that God so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son so that those who believe in His name may not perish but have everlasting life.  In essence God became a man so that He could experience death, as the penalty for my sins, physical death, on a wooden cross, nailed to that cross, drinking the full cup of the wrath that hung over my head, and was raised three days later for my justification, praise His holy name you saints!  Exalt His name above all others, and give Him the praise He deserves.

Will you have a blessed Christmas this year?  I think so; He is our peace, our only hope, our only source of strength, and the provider of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  The Word became flesh, and now He dwells in His people; you will be blessed if you praise His holy name, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.  I worship you oh God.

Merry Christmas.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

That's me being rescued...

That's exactly how I feel sometimes, my friend Donald sent this picture to me several months ago in a text message, and my response was: 'that's me being rescued'; sometimes I feel as if I was in the water all day long; Jesus is holding my hand and He is keeping me from going under the waves of this stormy ocean that is my life, He not only holds my hand, He pulls me out of the flood, and I think a lot about predestination and about God's sovereignty, and about my 'free will'.  Sometimes I make the stupidest choices; sometimes I commit transgressions, willfully, I know it is sin and I still do it; it doesn't matter if it is a thought, a word or an actual deed, do you know what I'm talking about?  I bet you do, I know you know because you do the same thing, we are transgressors by nature.

The problem is when I try to justify my transgressions, it never works, no matter how hard I try to make it seem okay, it just doesn't seem okay, in fact the more I try to make it seem okay, the worse it gets and the more it seems like reality: sin that dwells within me; who will deliver me from this body of death?

I know that all of us believers in Jesus Christ experience this kind of thing, at least that is what my bible says, and besides, my experience also tells me the same thing, I don't know a single authentic saint that does not struggle with something in this life, having this body of flesh.  I drilled Romans 6 and 7 into my brain, and I tell you, it is not a nice experience to sin and know it; how can it be a nice experience?  Paul clearly says to not let my mortal body reign to obey its lusts, and then looks at the reality of the human entity and admits that it is a raging war inside of us (even in a regenerated state); he sees the impossibility of being 100% obedient because this flesh has not been redeemed yet; that is why, I think, he breakes into worship: Rom 7:25  "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin".  That is the very reason why Jesus died on that awful cross, so that His perfect obedience could be imputed unto those who have faith, along with His perfect righteousness; He actually purchased my sanctification with His blood.  There are some statements in that chapter that are totally illuminating and comforting at the same time; imagine Paul, the Pharisee of Pharisees saying:

Rom 7:14-23 "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

No wonder he says he is a wretched man in verse 24; that word there, wretched, talaipōros means enduring trial, miserable, wretched; the idea is being totally helpless or powerless to do anything to ease the condition of being miserable, it is inescapable; therefore I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, he says; the only mediator between God and man, and I so agree, thank you God for Jesus, and thank you Jesus for coming, for becoming a man so you could die for me and pay for the penalty of all my transgressions; thank you Lord so very much, there are really no words nor actions to express my gratitude, since even my best behavior would be tainted by sin and would smell like a filthy rag.

I am extremely grateful for Romans 8 though, have you read it lately?  (Have you read the bible at all lately?  I'm just saying.)  It is amazing, almost unbelievable, it definitely sounds like Calvinism, and that might be problematic for some people I know; the gospel is just too simple so they have to add their stinky works to it to make it more palatable to their religious taste buds.  I'm not talking about making excuses for my sins nor about living like a pagan while confessing to be a Christian, all I'm saying is that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and it says that to be accepted by God we have to be obedient; when in reality we have no way to be obedient or seen as obedient apart from Christ's obedience accounted to us as righteousness.  If our obedience has to come from a pure heart, and we have no purity since the heart is deceitful above all things, what meanest thou?  It has to refer to the new heart that I have been given in the miracle of regeneration or else it makes no sense at all.

Detour: I'm going to Mexico City next Monday, 23Dec13, to spend Christmas with my mom and my family; and to be honest I am really excited and anxious to be there, mainly because I want to see my mother, she is an amazing woman indeed; a true widow who has washed the saint's feet, a true follower of Jesus; I count myself blessed to be able to see her one more time, and talk to her and hug her, and enjoy her delicious cooking; but above all, I want to enjoy her love and devotion to Christ; she is famous for that, and her hospitality. Being with her is like having a cup of cold water in the middle of the Arabian desert, more like an oasis. I know, this has nothing to do with what I was talking about, but I had to say it so I won't forget to say it, you get it?  Thanks in advance for your prayers.

Anyway, going back to my thoughts about being in the storm, I am grateful that my salvation is not up to me to keep, for if it was possible for me to lose my salvation, I would lose it, no doubt about it, in fact I would have lost it the day after I was born again (which is a moronic statement), and if not then I would have lost it everyday for the last 24 years, I would have to be saved everyday, over and over again; I am very very exceedingly grateful to God that He will not leave me nor forsake me, thankful that I don't have to perform for God; I know that I also should be obedient to God though, it is clear in His word that He considers obedience better than sacrifice, and even though He already knows we are going to be disobedient and that we don't have what it takes, He still encourages us to exert ourselves in controlling the desires of the flesh, this is, as Calvin says, due to the sloth to which we are prone to.

The better part, an amazing and glorious thing , is that it is God who is at work in me to will and to do of His good pleasure, I am not the one who is at work even though I'm told to work out my salvation with fear and trembling, so I know I cannot fail at walking with Jesus, eventually this walk that sometimes becomes a crawl, will end, and then I will be in the presence of my Savior; in that great day the Triune God will get all the glory, even as it is right now, since my being in Christ is only due to the amazing love of the Father who chose me before the foundation of the world and to the Holy Spirit applying the Son's redemption to my thirsty soul, and in sealing and sanctifying me unto that day.

God the Father, and God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit is at work in me; The Father loves me and gave me to Jesus to redeem me and to rescue me from darkness and from the power of death, The Son loves me and took my place to bear the wrath that was due to me, and The Holy Spirit loves me revealing the Son and the Father to me in the pages of scripture, and applying to me the benefits of Jesus' death and resurrection in my life, and keeping me by His power through faith until the very last day of my life in this body; I don't know about you, but that is an amazing thing to think about, and more amazing still, is to believe it with all of your heart.

That is what Romans 8 is about, isn't it?  How about Ephesians 1 and 2?  Or John 6, and 8, and 10 and 15 and 17?  What about 1Peter 1? And for sure Philippians 1 and 2.  My point is that I'm not making it up, it is there in the bible, clearly spelled out for us to read and think about, and to meditate on the truth.  I don't know what it's gonna take. :)

What is the evidence of that reality?  For me, and in fact, for every believer, is the kind of life we live; at least for me it has been a radical transformation not only in my thinking but also in my actions.  I don't want to talk about the way I thought about life and the things I was doing 25 or so years ago, but I live a totally different way today, and logically my actions are totally opposed to my old lifestyle.  Why is that? Because God intervened and did something I could never do, no one can do it except God Himself; He gave me His Spirit, and His Spirit has given me new life; I can clearly see how He changed me from the inside out, He is still changing me, and sometimes it hurts.

Consequently, as life goes on and approaches the end of the line, the battle with the flesh is still ongoing; the old man tries to come back from the dead, but it is impossible, a believer always conquers whatever comes his or her way because God is the One in control of all things, and we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

What shall I say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

It is Him that pulls us out of the water, gets us in the boat, and takes us across the sea to the heavenly shore; it is all initiated by the Triune God, and brought to completion by the Triune God. I believe in the God who justifies the ungodly, and that is "me being rescued".

Have a nice day.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!!  May the Lord fill you with joy inexpressible in these days; it is Jesus' birthday and that should fill our hearts with praise and gratitude, Jesus chose to be born here, the only One who has ever done that, marvel at that.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

More Baxter...

I'm really enjoying reading about (from J.I.Packer) and from Richard Baxter in 'A Grief Sanctified'; here is a section [in brackets like these], and yeah this post is long but I guarantee you will laugh at the end, or maybe not, I did and then got depressed about what I said. Of course I am writing this after I wrote what I wrote. Here it is:

[Puritan Marriage
The Puritans called for the sanctifying of all relationships as an integral part of one’s service to God. The rule for sanctifying anything was Scripture. What was the Puritan ideal for holy wedlock? “The serious divine Richard Baxter is united in marriage to a young Puritan lady of aristocratic birth, a woman of fine mind, deep spiritual experience and kindred Puritan sympathy.” What did they understand themselves to be taking on?
The question is not hard to answer, for the evidence is plentiful and homogeneous. Abundant printed treatises and wedding sermons all tell the same story. The Puritans do not appear as post-Christian moderns whose thinking stops short at physical attraction, sexual satisfaction, and parental fulfillment (cuddles, orgasms, and babies, to put it bluntly). Nor do they appear as Victorian sentimentalists, dwelling entirely on the beauty of rose-colored rapport between souls, with bodies right out of the picture.

W. J. Wilkinson sounds very Victorian when he writes of Richard and Margaret as “two souls who love God and love each other with that sublime, spiritual beauty in which souls are wed, which gives orientation to life and is eternal,” and quotes Browning to ram the idea home.

To be sure, there is real truth in the Victorian vision, just as there is real truth in the physicality of the modern conception, but neither perspective is theological enough to find the Puritan wavelength. Nor, again, do the Puritans appear as eighteenth-century evangelicals, ruthlessly denying that the “foolish passion which the world calls love” should influence the godly man’s choice of a wife.
“I know you must have love to those that you match with,” writes Baxter, and his only proviso is that it must be “rational” love that discerns “worth and fitness” in its object, as distinct from “blind . . . lust or fancy.”
So how, in positive terms, did the Puritans conceive of marriage?

They saw it as a gift, a calling, a task, and a lifelong discipline, and programmed themselves for it accordingly. What this meant is well shown us in Richard’s own monumental Christian Directory, to which
we now turn.

First published as a three-inch-thick folio in 1673, this work is rather more than a million words long. Its title page reads: A Christian Directory: or A Sum of Practical Theology, and Cases of Conscience. Directing Christians How to Use their Knowledge and Faith; How to Improve All Helps and Means,and to Perform All Duties; How to Overcome Temptations and to Escape or Mortify Every Sin. In Four Parts. I. Christian Ethics (or Private Duties). II. Christian Economics (or Family Duties). III. Christian Ecclesiastics (or Church Duties). IV. Christian Politics (or Duties Our Rulers and Neighbors). (Remember that in the days before dust jackets and blurbs, title pages had to be fulsome, since it was only there that a prospective buyer could find information as to what was in the book.)

Richard’s magnum opus should be better known than it is, for it is truly a landmark, a full-scale compendium of Puritan moral and practical theology in all its many-sided devotional, pastoral, life-embracing, and community-building strength. Part II of this magisterial distillation of Puritan wisdom is subtitled “The Family Directory, Containing Directions for the True Practice of All Duties Belonging to Family Relations, with the Appurtenances.”  Here Richard discusses, among other things, first, how a man should determine before
God whether and whom to marry, and, second, the “duties” (mutual obligations) of husband and wife within the marriage relationship.

These sections are of special interest, not only because Baxter is here creaming off the wisdom of a century of Puritan discussion as tested and verified in a busy fifteen-year pastorate, but because he wrote them in 1664-65, two or three years into his own marriage, the experience of which was bound to color his thinking. What, now, does he have to say?
“Marriage,” declares the Westminster Confession, XXI:2, “was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the church with a holy seed, and for preventing of uncleanness.” Baxter assumes this throughout. Who then should marry? Minors for whom marriages were arranged by their parents; persons with incontinent hearts, as directed in 1 Corinthians 7:9;17 and any in whose case it appears “that in a married state, one may be most serviceable to God and the
public good.” But go into it with your eyes open! “Rush not into a state of life, the inconveniences of which you never thought on.” Baxter lists twenty “inconveniences,” of which the most striking are these:
• Marriage ordinarily plungeth men into excess of worldly cares. . . .
• Your wants in a married state are hardlier supplied, than in a single life. . . . You will be often at your wit’s end, taking thought for the future. . . .
• Your wants in a married state are far hardlier borne than in a single state. It is far easier to bear personal wants ourselves, than to see the wants of wife and children: affection will make their sufferings pinch you. . . . But especially the discontent and impatiences of your family will more discontent you than all their wants. . . .
• By that time wife and children are provided for, and all their importunate desires satisfied, there is nothing considerable left for pious or charitable uses. Lamentable experience proclaimeth
this. . . .
• And it is no small patience which the natural imbecility [weakness] of the female sex requireth you to prepare. . . . Women are commonly of potent fantasies, and tender, passionate, impatient spirits, easily cast into anger, or jealousy, or discontent. . . . They are betwixt a man and a child. . . . And the more
you love them, the more grievous it will be to see them still [constantly] in discontents . . . .
• And there is such a meeting of faults and imperfections on both sides, that maketh it much the harder to bear the infirmities of others aright. . . . Our corruption is such, that though our intent be to help one another in our duties, yet we are apter far to stir up one another’s distempers. . . .
• There is so great a diversity of temperaments and degrees of understanding, that there are scarce any two persons in the world, but there is some unsuitableness between them. . . .Some crossness there will be of opinion, or disposition, or interest, or will, by nature, or by custom and education, which will stir up frequent discontents. .
• And the more they [husband and wife] love each other, the more they participate in each other’s griefs. . . .
• And if love make you dear to one another, your parting at death will be the more grievous. And when you first come together, you know that such a parting you must have; through all the course of your lives you may foresee it.  If, having weighed all this, you are still clear that you should marry, choose a God-fearing person of a temperament compatible with your own lest you “have a domestic war instead of love,” advises Baxter. Look for “a competency of wit; for no one can live lovingly and comfortably with a fool,” and also for “a power to be silent, as well as to speak; for a babbling tongue is a continual vexation.”
Richard’s feet were always on the ground, and the wisdom of what he says here is obvious.]

Now this is me talking, and I ask the question: after reading all that who wants to know the truth?  I'm kidding.  What would be hilarious is if you read at the end "I'm just saying".  The puritans are extremely realistic in viewing how things really are for us believers, aren't they?  In this case of course is Baxter who is talking back in 1673,  about 400 years ago.  Nothing has changed in all that time, I think; I have never read anything as realistic as what I read from this man, he was indeed a practical individual; almost raw. I would love to read The Christian Directory quoted above, more than a million words, wow.  I bet it's a book as awesome as the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin.  By the way, if you have eSword in your computer, you can download Calvin's Institutes for free, and you can read it inside eSword, very cool, and for free?

If I had it my way and it was up to me to choose, I would have a room with the walls filled with books; that is how I remember growing up, just surrounded by books and books; I grew up reading all kinds of books, from the classics to science fiction, I read almost everything in my parents house; I was a child then, that's when I found my grand father's bibles.  My mom and I memorized together the names of all the books of the bible; we were not Christians yet; the Lord is so amazing; I can see His hand in my life since I was a little kid, and I love it.  It makes me feel extremely grateful for God creating me and placing me in the family I grew up in, what an amazing blessing, even in the middle of the chaos of this fallen world.

Anyway, that was it, just sharing a little of what I have read, I hope it somehow blesses you, or at least causes you to think about something else besides yourself, I'm kidding again.  If you are married I hope you get blessed by the wisdom in those words from Baxter, and the Westminster Confession, and if you are not married, think about those words before you start dreaming of the perfect marriage and about what state most makes you fit for the glory of God; I think singleness is hard.

My father once told me the story of a farmer who was teaching his horse not to eat, and when the horse finally learned, it died; which has nothing to do with what I'm saying, I just think that was funny, he made me laugh a lot; once he told me a really fat guy got in the elevator on the first floor at work, and by the second floor the fat guy farted, then he asked the fat guy if he had farted, and the fat guy said: of course, or do you really think I smell like this everyday?  Then the elevator stopped on the third floor, and the fat guy got out, to which he said, hey don't leave me here by myself I'm going to the 8th floor!  Did you get it? That's funny uh? Unfortunately, my father was not a puritan, even though he was not a puritan he was a guy of principles and honesty and integrity; he got born again just a few years before he died; that is a miracle; I miss him a lot.

Have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

I'm just saying, again....

It probably happens to you sometimes too, or maybe not, maybe you are in another higher plane of existence, in a superior plateau of spiritual understanding; but I get kind of weird thinking about the depth of my depravity.  I look at my life and see the life of a sinner, full of character defects, various faults and vices, and pain in my body, in the midst of frustrated dreams and confused self centered thinking, and to top it off, I see the vanity of life and its shortness.

Sometimes my natural tendency is to get legalistic, that is true of any mortal, in the depths of the human heart there is always the 'self' perspective; that is when you start thinking about all the things you should have done, and all the things that you shouldn't have done, this is the moment when everything in life turns around ourselves, which is daily, and it is ingrained in the human soul from birth, it is in one word, selfishness.

Isn't that life sometimes? Most of the time? Almost all the time?  How about every day? Everything we do is from the self perspective, it has to be like that naturally.  Sin, pride, and arrogance.  Even admitting that I am a sinner is sometimes kind of edifying, it makes me feel better about myself; everything is about myself, look at me, I'm such a humble sinner.  Isn't funny how we can boast in anything about ourselves by prefacing it with 'I'm not boasting but...'?  (Pretty much like 'I'm just saying') We seek our own honor, we have to talk about ourselves since we are so used to thinking about ourselves in the first place; just like Jesus said, our words and actions proceed out of the abundance of our hearts.

That is the nature of the human heart, deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.  I'm not boasting but... in my own eyes I am a failure, even a traitor; a betrayer of divine confidence, and I deserve to die right now, my brain says so, and my conscience seconds the motion.  Then I loose all view of who I really am, and then the pity starts flowing, it either flows inward disguised as self-condemnation, or outward in the form of a fistful pointing finger; and I see three other fingers pointing at me, and I see the thumb pointing down, down, down.  There is no escape from the downward pointing thumb when I point the finger.  That's funny.  See what I'm talking about?

Then like a bolt of lightning shining in the blackness of the night that is the natural man in me-which is not funny- piercing it in half and making all darkness disappear in an instant, the word of The Almighty shines in my heart to let me see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; what an amazing miracle has been performed in my life by the Spirit of God; blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, says Paul; and, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time; says Peter.  Amazing.  Those are possibly my almost all the time most favorite and monumentaler (is that even a word?) verses in all of scripture; I am saved from the wrath to come, I have peace with God, and then when I die, I will exist without sin in my body, I really cannot wait for that day in which I will be free from this body of death; that is what makes heaven so attractive right below the presence of Jesus.

God has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, and to the praise of the glory of His grace....yeah, Ephesians 1 keeps flowing in my brain, it flows down deep into my heart, where the darkness has just been dispelled, I am accepted in the Beloved, in Him I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of all my sin, past, present and future; and God discloses the mystery of all ages; Christ in you, the hope of glory.

There is hope; a hope that does not disappoint, God will not let me go; nothing can separate me from His love which is in Christ, and this faith I have been given tells me that it is true, nothing can snatch me out of His hand; the same hand that brings chastisement when I start to go astray; He chastises every son whom He receives with the same hand that holds him; therefore do not despise His correction since it shows that you are indeed a child of God, and as Solomon said, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, isn't it?

The word of God changes everything inside your thinking.  Since it is pure undiluted truth straight from the Creator of all things, it never returns to Him void, and always accomplishes what it was intended to do by the Great Speaker; 'all my purposes will stand'.

What happens when we read God's word?  For the real believer, it is a miracle that we even read it; it actually takes the power of God to cause us to read His word, deep inside in the heart, perhaps there at the division of soul and spirit, the Holy Spirit is working in us to will and perform of His good pleasure, and your brain actually thinks to go and read it; the miraculous is evidenced by the fact that we actually sit there and put our eyes to the book, and hungry and thirsty for righteousness, and mourning for our sin, we come to the only place where we can find safety, and encouragement, to continue to live in this endeavor of striving to practice what is truth in our own individual lives, 'by their fruits you will know them' Jesus said.

So we go to the source of truth, God our Savior, and we ask that He would open the eyes of our hearts, and enlighten us so that we can understand what the word means, and for the power to put it into practice; what other purpose can there be for God to seal you and I with His Spirit, but to consecrate us for the display of His glorious grace?  The truth of the word of God is that light that kills the darkness of my heart; it is the anchor that keeps me near to Jesus by the Holy Spirit through faith, revealing to me who the Father, and the Son are.

The glorious drama of redemptive history is being displayed every single day; and the overall purpose of God in providing a bride for His Son to display His grace and mercy, is still going on, but for how long will it continue?  Until the last one of the elect are saved and the time of the gentiles is fulfilled.  The day will come says Peter: 2Peter 3:10-12 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

That is a rhetorical question Peter is asking; the answer should be obvious to us, it is right there inside the question; holy conduct and godliness.  I know, the NASB has that exclamation point at the end, but I see it as a question, as in the KJV.  But what matters is what he is saying; in view of all things melting with fervent heat, what kind of person ought you to be, how should it be conducted?  Or, if you now know that the universe will melt in that glorious day, what should your life reflect?  What should the standard of your conduct and thinking be?  And that's is being in constant being, holy conduct and godliness.

How do you do that?  How do you have a life that is godly and it is defined by holy conduct?  Or to put it in John's perspective, which is Jesus perspective, How do you bear fruit?  All holy conduct and godliness has to be a product of the Spirit doing His work in us; the fruit of the Spirit.

Paul says 'walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh', the works of the flesh are always opposed to the fruit of the Spirit, there is a war between the flesh and the Spirit; Jesus says in John 15:4-5  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.  You can clearly see that walking in the Spirit amounts to abiding in Him and bearing fruit; and how does this happen?  John 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.  This is not a hypothetical situation but a reality.

It is His word that cleanses us, it is His word that supports our communion with Him through the Holy Spirit living in us; it is through His word that the Holy Spirit works in our hearts and minds, He transforms us by renewing our minds, down there where the joint between marrow and bone is, deep inside where the soul meets the Spirit, and right behind the intents and the thoughts of the heart. It is by hearing the word of God that we came to believe the gospel of our salvation, and it is by the same word that we become sanctified, it is the sword that cuts and prunes the branches, the Father being the one doing the pruning; read John 15.  

The truth has to be living in you.  'Let the word of Christ abide in you richly'.  The word has to become the foundational truth that supports every thing I think and say, and do; we have an example of a man fully controlled by the Spirit in the man Christ Jesus; the Spirit points us to Him, we also are to walk just as He walked, says John; and we will, for we know that when we see Him we shall be like Him; and then what does John say? 1John 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 

I have duties to do, but in some very twisted way, I sometimes think that being worldly is cool; my sinful nature is always trying to come back and to be in charge, and sometimes I let it, and foulness comes out of my mouth, it resides in my thinking, which has not been renewed totally yet, or else it would not manifest itself like that, that is the sad reality of my life; and I guess every one else goes through the same thing, at least that is what the bible says, no temptation is uncommon to man, and God is faithful to put a limit to it, and to provide a way of escape, and sometimes I ignore the way of escape, the reason?  I'm not thinking the right way, I'm not thinking the truth of who I really am in Christ, and more importantly the truth of who He is in me, and that is the truth; we do what we don't want to do, and we don't do what we want to do, we are wretched men, and women.  

Anyone who is constantly aware of his or her identity in Christ cannot help but to walk in His ways; the times we stumble is because we are not aware of the reality in the spiritual side of things; we forget, we are so prone to go astray, just like sheep; and sometimes we don't forget but choose to sin for that is the inclination of this body in which we live.  And I think that if you say that I'm lying, then you are lying.

Like I said, better yet, as Paul said, there is a war inside and outside of us; we live in a war zone all day long; the flesh, the world and the devil are at odds with our new nature, all day, every day.  I thank God He has appointed our lives to be 70 or 80 years long, I don't think I could go on like the guys in the old testament who lived for hundreds of years in this corruption, the strain would be too much for me to bear, remember, I'm a humble sinner.

The reality is that the battle that has to be won, is the battle on the inside; that is the key to a successful walk with Christ, I think; and it cannot be won, it is impossible, without the word of God abiding in us, and we in it, and in Him; this is crystal clear in my mind based on what I hear the word of God speak.  What am I to do, how can I live?  It is very simple, but hard to do because I am weak; but then it turns out that when I am weak, He is strong, and my weakness is the backdrop for His strength to be displayed; He certainly chose the weak things to confound the strong, and the foolish to confound the wise of this world.

At this point I'm going to start rambling about how to be religious and have a list of goals, so I have to end the diatribe now, plus I think this is a very long post, and you have heard it before, my blog is too long and I'm not saying anything important anyway.

So be warm, and be filled, and let me know how it turns out, I don't know what it's going to take for us to love each other, I'm just saying, again.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

A Grief Sanctified....

I read a lot of dead people; saints from another era, or from different eras I should say, people like Augustine,  John Owen, Johnathan Edwards, John Calvin, Richard Baxter, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon; and I like it a lot.  Church history is filled with examples of men and women who had one thing, or for whom the main thing, in their minds was to live for the glory of God.  These old saints lived in a dimension of godliness that is very strangely foreign to me, sadly, not only in my experience but in what I have seen in these last days of church history.

I find a common denominator in the lives of these old brothers of mine; they were people who suffered in an insanely intense way.  They lived at at time of history in which life expectancy was 40 to 60 years; all of them suffered from different illnesses and personal grief due to the loss of their wives and even their children- sometimes in more than one occasion- and still they had an amazing love for Jesus Christ.  Their passion in life was to live as much as was in their power to obey God, and most of all, to enjoy God.  They considered, and rightly believed, that God is sovereign even over pain and sorrow, and physical debilitating diseases.  John Calvin suffered from chronic kidney stones and endured unimaginable physical pain, in one of his letters he describes how on one occasion he actually mounted a horse and galloped on it in order to loosen a stuck kidney stone, an experience that almost made him pass out from the pain; and he didn't use any pain killers since they had none, except alcohol, which was never an option for him and all others.

All of them knew that their life on this earth would end at some point in time, and they labored to be prepared to meet their maker, they we concerned to spread the truth of the word of God and then be ready to 'die well', as they put it.

Up to this day, the one man who has impacted the way I think about God the most, has been John Calvin, 'The Theologian'; this man was a giant of the faith, and I really thank God for him and for his writings, mostly for his Institutes of the Christian Religion; right next to him stands John Owen, a puritan of puritans, Cromwell's chaplain, the man who wrote "The death of death in the death of Christ"; I have never read anything like it in my short life, and "The Mortification of Sin", another one of his classic works.

I was introduced to the Puritans by Pastor Barry, and later on by J.I. Packer in a book he wrote called "A Quest for Godliness".  Have you ever read any J.I. Packer books? Like "Knowing God".  If you have not read "Knowing God" you should, really.  Or any of the Puritans?  If your answer is no, I think you should, did I already say that? There are many publishing houses that have reprints of their books, and they are very affordable; the same applies to the Reformers, for example, Calvin's Institutes is only .99 cents for the Kindle version, which you can read if you download a Kindle app from Amazon, you can read on your computer, or your phone, or your iPad, or your Kindle; or get a hard copy, which is my preferred way to read books, for about 20 bucks.

Anyway, did you know that the Westminster Confession of Faith was drafted by the Puritans?  Here is a link to it just in case you want to delight in the work of those 121 godly men:
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/creeds/wcf.htm

Okay, so why am I writing all this?  The only reason is that I want to point your attention to some of the most powerful literature, besides the word of God, in which a child of God can invest his or her time, why?  Because it is a treasure that is available to build you up and cause you to elevate your thoughts to heaven, where you life is hidden in Christ, just like God through Paul commands us to do: Col 3:1-8  If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

That is not a suggestion, 'you must' is a direct commandment to us believers, we must do what God commands; and as Augustine says, "Command what You will, and grant what You command", we know we can't do it unless He empowers us to do it.

Next, I thought I would share a section of "A Grief Sanctified" by Packer and Richard Baxter; Baxter wrote this book after the death of his wife of 19 years, Margaret; and he wrote it in the midst of terrible emotional and spiritual pain.  The book is edited by J.I.Packer and you can get it from Amazon, or from Crossway.  I got mine from Crossway.org and I got a free download of the book so I can read it on my iPad; here is the Crossway website description of the book:

"Their love story is not one of fairy tales. It is one of faithfulness from the beginning through to its tragic ending.

Richard and Margaret Baxter had been married only nineteen years before she died at age forty-five. A prominent pastor and prolific author, Baxter sought consolation and relief the only true way he knew- in Scripture with his discipline of writing. Within days he produced a lover's tribute to his mate and a pastor's celebration of God's grace. It is spiritual storytelling at its best, made all the more poignant by the author's unveiling of his grief.

J. I. Packer has added his own astute reflections along with his edited version of this exquisite memoir that considers six of life's realities-love, faith, death, grief, hope, and patience. He guides you in comparing and contrasting the world's and the Bible's ideals on coping with these tides of life. The powerful combination of Packer's insights and Baxter's grief gives you a beacon if you are searching for God, a pathfinder for your relationships, and a lifeline if you are grieving."

And here is a taste of it:

"The second lesson that Richard aimed to enforce from Margaret’s story was also a large one, namely that struggles, temptations, and constant imperfect performance mark the lives of all God’s saints. In their quest for obedience to God, which is and must ever be their main concern, they have to cope with distractions, deceptions, perversities, and pitfalls all the way, all the time.

Both the peace of not having problems and the perfection of being totally free from sin are blessings that belong to the next world; here, our sanctification is incomplete, our obedience is always flawed, and our spiritual reach regularly exceeds our spiritual grasp. The thought is manysided, but its key facets are these:
'Take heed of expecting too much from so frail and bad a thing as man. . . . They that come near us find more faults and badness in us than others at a distance know. . . . It is too common an error with honest souls to think that a hard heart lieth most in want of sorrow and tears, when as it lieth most in want of a tractable  compliance and yielding to the commands and will of God, . . .and to think that a new and tender heart is principally a heart that can weep and mourn, when it is chiefly a heart that easily receiveth all the impressions of God’s commands and promises and threats, and easily yieldeth to his known will. . . . Fear and avoid self-willedness. . . . We must learn to follow and not to lead, and to say: The will of the Lord be done; not mine, Lord, but thine, and in every estate to be content. There is no rest but in God’s will. [A lesson Margaret had to learn at Kidderminster before they were married.] . . . God’s service lieth more in deeds than in words.

My dear wife was faulty indeed in talking so little of religion in company. . . . But her religion lay in doing more than talk. Yet her example tells us that it is one of Satan’s wiles to draw us to one sin to avoid another . . . and leave much undone for fear of doing it amiss . . . .It is not God’s or our enemies’ afflicting us in worldly losses or sufferings (especially when we suffer for righteousness’ sake) which is half so painful as our own inward infirmities. . . .My poor wife made nothing of prisons, distrainings, reproaches, and such crosses, but her burden was most inward, from her own tenderness, and next from those whom she over-loved.

And for mine own part, all that ever either enemies or friends have done against me is but a flea-biting to me in comparison of the daily burden of a pained body and the weakness of my soul in faith, hope, love, and heavenly desires and delights.  The nature of true religion, holiness, obedience, and all duty to God and man was printed in her conceptions, in so clear and distinct a character as made her . . . look at greater exactness than I and such as I could reach. . . . And in this respect she was the meetest helper that I could have had; . . . for I was apt to be overcareless in my speech and too backward to my duty, and she was always endeavoring to bring me to greater wariness and strictness in both.

If I spoke rashly or sharply, it offended her; if I behaved (as I was apt) with too much neglect of ceremony or humble compliment to any, she would modestly tell me of it; if my very looks seemed not pleasant, she would have me amend them (which my weak pained state of body undisposed me to do); if I forgot any week to catechize my servants and familiarly instruct them personally (besides my ordinary family duties), she was troubled at my  remissness'.

Richard’s purpose of writing “true history” led him to recount Margaret’s weaknesses, flaws, and struggles alongside her strengths,virtues, and achievements. He does not present her as a plaster saint but as a born-again servant of God with a heart of gold, feet of clay, and huge natural vulnerabilities. His two chapters “Of Her Exceeding Desires to Do Good” and “Of Her Qualifications and Infirmities” give us an utterly fascinating pen-portrait—humble, factual, discerning, and affectionate throughout—of the complex, brilliant, highly strung, delicate, secretive, passionate, restless, loyal, managing woman that Margaret was.

“A good wife contains so many persons in herself,” wrote Lewis (C.S Lewis). Joy “was my daughter and my mother, my pupil and my teacher, my subject and my sovereign; and always, holding all this in solution, my trusty comrade, friend, shipmate, fellow-soldier. My mistress; but at the same time all that any man friend (and I have good ones) has ever been to me. Perhaps more.”

Plainly, as Joy was all this to Lewis, so was Margaret to Richard, and Richard, like Lewis, had a flair for focusing the three-dimensional humanity of his much younger mate.  So mercurial Margaret, with her vigorous initiatives, sweet restraint with her servants, twice-monthly migraines and recurring chest congestion, and permanent hidden fears of all sorts fueled by nightmare memories and frequent actual nightmares (worrisome dreams “of fire and murderers”), springs to uncannily vivid life under the grieving widower’s pen. Pastor Richard having decided to save the theological evaluations till the end of the book, husband Richard is free in these chapters to use his memories and insights to present her as she was—“warts and all,” as Oliver Cromwell once put it".

So, the closer we get to the end of the line, the more I should seek to know God by all means; this is eternal life, our Savior said, that you know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent; and in this knowing I should live, as much as it is in my power, for His glory; I hope you think the same way.

Be blessed my brothers and sisters, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given unto you, knock and it shall be opened unto you; let us ask for each other, that we all may obtain together, and seek His glory in our tiny worlds for the sake of Christ our only mediator.

Have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com

To know Christ...

God knows every single star by name; He made them and gave each one a name, and they remain there sustained by His power, the Power of His word:

Isa 40:26  Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.

Heb 1:1-4  Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

The power of God is so immeasurable, and so far out of the reach of our puny minds, that it is impossible for us to comprehend it.  This is one of those statements that make my head spin out of control, and then brings me back into focus into the person of Christ; He upholds the universe by the word of His power.  Is that not amazing?

Not a single star is missing in this universe we live in, which means that not a single atom in the whole universe is missing from His direction and ever present wisdom and providence; for Him is nothing to assign a place and a name for each star, and to number them when He created them.  To put this in perspective, think about it like this: it has been estimated by scientists that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is comprised of 100 billion stars; and if I started to count them one by one, one per second, it would take me approximately 3,170.9 years to finish my little endeavor; it is arrogance to even think that I could do that, or even start; but for our God is only glorious to make known to us that He is the one who put them all in their respective place, and then gave them all a name.

Brought to the most simple terms, I can put it like this: YHWH reigns, period; and the word 'period' is not necessary.  The Lord God Almighty, The Living God, The Logos, our God, He reigns over all things, and all personalities and powers in the heavenly places; in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, He reigns supreme over all.  God reigns over the good and the evil, He plainly declares Himself to be the One who brings all things to pass:

Isa 45:7  I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

God has never apologized for being in control of all things, and He never will; He doesn't depend on mankind to excuse Him for that which He makes known about Himself in His own word; He rules in all dimensions of existence, the Self-Existing One declares and proclaims that all things are subject to Him, and He does what He pleases in heaven and in the universe.

Isa 40:10-15  Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

These are some of the most comforting words in the bible for me, because they pierce my heart and my mind to make me understand that I exist because He was delighted to make me who I am, He decided to choose me before the creation of the world to adopt me into His family, and to present me holy and without blame before Him according to the good pleasure of His will and for the praise of the glory of His grace.

My life, the universe, His word, His purpose, His reigning over all molecules, His amazing grace in saving sinners like me, is all to the praise of the glory of His grace, and most of all, for His glory alone.  That is what really matters to God, to display His glory in all He has done; and to exalt His name and be the most famous person we will ever know.  At the same time, He promises to carry me as a sheep of His fold, in His bosom; close to His heart, like a shepherd; that is what He says there in Isaiah.  When that day comes in which I will cross the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for He is with me; and then I will be like Him for I shall see Him as He is.

Through all these years of walking with God, I have always been amazed at the fact that I have faith to believe God's word, are you not amazed at His kindness?  That He would be so compassionate and condescending to reveal His Son to me; that He would grant me this gift of faith; that He would open the eyes of my understanding to know Him, and to show me how depraved I am at the same time?  I consider that an amazing love, who am I that He shows me mercy?

Nothing in this life could be about me since I am a wretched man; every thing is about Jesus and for Jesus and from Jesus.

Will I still trust Him and stand on His promise?  I will for He will finish His work in me; if He knows all the stars by name, would He not know mine? Yes, Isa 49:15-16  "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

1Peter 1:3-5  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We are being guarded by the power of God through faith; that is rock solid consolation for the ones who suffer for a little while; "so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Oh joy inexpressible and filled with glory!  To know Christ and be known by Him.

Have a nice day.

http://makariotes.blogspot.com