Miscellanies 80: How happy is the sinner now made saint

The barren woman sings when at last she produces her own offspring. The blind man, now seeing, first walks gently and then sprints to and fro in great excitement. Likewise those who were once tangled in darkness, nay, swallowed by it, and then afterward rescued unto the light, do give exceeding thanks to their heavenly hero. They say in retrospect, that "woe was me, for I never knew of my true misery and lostness. I had felt that I was altogether in good health, and my sins were never so great and gigantic as the sun in the sky and never so disagreeable too by God. God will forgive me, for my sins are little, and he is such a loving God that he will do no such thing by sending me to an eternal hell. Such a place existeth not, except in the mind of unloving religious fools who believe in a medieval doctrine propagated by Dante's inferno. We are to live as we ought to live, namely a pursuit of our own happiness. And which ever method by which we come to it, as long as it is not in the extreme camp of wickedness, then God, if there is one, blesses our endeavors." So says the unconverted man. But many more have no care, no, no virtuous spring in their heart that should move them with great seriousness to consider their standing before God, namely him who created in beauty and wisely the universe in which we live, although, now very much spoiled and ruined by sin.

But how different does the enlightened mind differ in his thoughts. O, infinitely different. For now he sees the heinousness of his sins and his life before hand, how it every day only served to arouse the wrath of God because it daily released pollution upon his earth, (John 3:36). How, now, he is forever thankful that the God of the earth did not arise to judge him when he was very much a willing servant of Satan, (2 Tim 2:26). O, see. He praises that God withheld his glittering sword, and instead lavished upon him the goodness of his sunshine, namely his grace and mercy. How happy is the sinner now made saint. And such is the disposition of all those who have been rescued, those who know something about their utter depravity and wrath deservedness, (Eph 2:4) that they should now receive mercy and love. This makes them weep tears of joy rather than tears of eternal pain and sorrow.

O be wise tarrying earthling, awake unto the judgment of your maker, for when he rises to Judge you and you are found to be absent in Christ, then you shall have no consolation forever. There shall be no day of bail, nay, no day of freedom. You shall be shut up in that frightening jail and the key for your release shall be thrown into that bottomless pit - that if anybody ever dare seek to retrieve it, they too shall descend endlessly with that key.

K.Oni

The Joy of Confession 26

In all my sins can I come to God? Can I come and touch the throne of grace when there exists within me the fear that I may fail again. When there exists in my members, that tomorrow will cast its darkness over today's repentance and I shall be as I was at first, namely a willful sinner. O this body of death, this wretched principles in me; and who shall deliver me from such a destructive body that goes against all of my happiness?

Thanks be to God who gives us victory in Christ Jesus. O let me taste those Calvary victories, let Christ see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied by seeing my victories won over sin and flesh. O Lord thou art my great redeemer and remedy.

K.Oni

The certain man passing through

Once upon a time, in a plain dusty city, there was a certain man passing through. One rich man in that town caught wind of this news and went by to watch this certain man pass by. He was not the only man in waiting, but wives and children alike flooded the street to watch the man go by. Being short in stature, the rich man climbed up unto a sycamore tree to see the man passing through, for he was about to come his way.

Why the rich man wanted to see a poor peasant can only be attributed to the stories that he had heard about the man passing through from a different city. The stories were spectacular, such as opening the eyes of one man born blind and raising a girl back from the dead. Also, the certain man passing through had among his ranks a tax collector like the rich man; and this was radical because the certain man passing through was a Jew.

The rich man shamed himself by climbing a sycamore tree. He could have exerted his authority I think by having guards to accompany him to this meeting, but no, he would climb a tree. What the rich man did not know was that in climbing a sycamore tree, he would have to climb down again to be the center of attention, or even more so, the center of mercy.

"Zacchaeus," the certain man passing through shouted, "hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."

"My house!" thought Zacchaeus. "I am a sinner and have done many bad things." 

 Before having a time to think more about this unexpected request, Zacchaeus feet had falling to the ground, having a beaming smile of surprise about his face, that certainly it was his honor for this man passing through to stay in his house.

The crowd grumbled and protested among themselves, that how could he go and stay in the house of a sinner, the very person that robs everybody in this city by exorbitant taxes.

But little did they know that this encounter, this noticing of the certain man passing through of this sinner, would be the means by which they were never to be extorted again. In fact, the short rich man was so touched that the poor Galilean man passing through would stay in his house and even more, eat with him, that he declared that he would give half of his goods to the poor; and also, that if he has defrauded anyone of anything (which he has), he would restore four times more.

My honourable friends who have Christianity in thier hearts. Would you, like this man go into the house of a criminal, or of a corrupt politician with much mercy and grace in your heart and eat with him? Would you go into the house of those who oppose you and eat with them having a passion to grant them pardon?

Whenever you are passing through anywhere, always keep an eye out for the man sitting on top of the tree.

K.Oni

The certain man passing through was Jesus Christ. He can forgive you of your sins if you will only believe and trust in him. 

Broken

I cry to myself the storms of my heart

I write in ink the despair of my life

I am a soul alone, with grief beyond compare

A broken stone without repair.

K.Oni

I knew a sad boy - Sick of everything

I once knew a sad boy who was sick. He was sick of life. 
He was sick of living,
He was sick of breathing,
Sick of wanting,
Sick of seeing,
Sick of thinking,
And worst of all, he was sick of being. 

K.Oni

Book review: Beautiful lies - You Are More Than *What Men Think *What the Mirror Reflects *What Magazines Tell You

Lies can be pretty, but Truth is beautiful, writes Jennifer Strickland a former professional model who knows all about the lie and distortions the culture feeds young women. At just seventeen years of age, Jennifer met with Nina Blanchard, the legendary empress of the West Coast modelling world and signed a contract with her. Nina named Jennifer, the “Face of the Nineties,” and was introduced to Steven Spielberg, Eileen Ford, Georgio Armani and Patrick Demarchelier, the favoured photographer of Princess Diana. Jennifer reflected that this interaction was a continuation of the first beautiful lie that she believed, namely that 'if a man or woman thinks I'm pretty, I am. If he or she thinks I have potential, I do. If they want me, I'm worth wanting.'

Are you what man thinks of you? Or do you think that men could measure your value? I (Ken) say to you, that don't be so hasty to deny that you are currently pandering to men's opinions, but search your heart and scrutinize your motives to see if this men/society pleasing trait is well sipped into your veins.

“In this book you will find five beautiful lies which leaves our hearts locked at the bottom of the sea, the splendour within us growing dull and grimy like old, tarnished stones in a treasure chest,” writes Jennifer Strickland about the content of her book which is more an invitation into her heart and into yours. Accompanied with these beautiful lies are five solid truths to help you disable and dismiss the lies that you have come to accept about yourself and embrace the only opinion that matters, namely what your heavenly Father thinks.

It is a languishing cry that over 80 percent of women are unsatisfied with their appearance and that seventy percent are actually depressed about their size and shape. And perhaps, this is because we have a generation of mothers enslaved by the mirror who are trying to raise a generation of princesses in the image of worldly beauty. In one speaking event, Strickland recounts the comments written haphazardly in multicoloured ink all over the mirrors by young girls, which says: I will never be beautiful. I am ugly. No one loves me, not even my father. I am fat and nasty. I will never heal from my rape. Everybody hates me. I am not lovable, not even by God. I am worthless.

What lies are you believing as a woman? Are you identifying your worth with your appearance? Have you forgotten that 'the average model is thinner than 98% of American women?' Have you allowed the truth of the Word to enter in, so that you can discern the lies, contradictions, and confusions of the magazines?

But it is not only men who are telling women and girls that they have to be pretty enough, but it is women who run the fashion magazines, from the head editorial staff to those who create the content and edit the magazines that are preaching the message that 'women have to change to be pretty enough. That while their flesh is their value; ultimately, their flesh has no value. It's usable, replaceable, and disposable, (pg 97).'

Jennifer Strickland does a wonderful work in identifying the 'beautiful lies' which often cripples a woman from fulfilling their God given potential and she offers a stunning truth on combating such thinking disorders with the Word of truth, namely the scriptures. Jennifer has first hand experiences on the beautiful lies which she herself once believed; and now she is an instrument of God in disarming such lies and replacing them with heavenly truth. 

I highly recommend this book for women of all ages as a book either for yourself or for counselling other women in recognising the 'beautiful lies,' which they have accepted from the world. This book is relevant because the issue is present all across the mind of women, who are in need of affirmation, and to be encouraged to root their identity and worth in Christ alone. That they are beloved daughters and temple of the Holy Spirit.  

You can place an order here for the book: http://harvesthousepublishers.com/book/beautiful-lies-2013/

K.Oni

I once knew a sad boy

I once knew a sad boy who had no one to listen to him. All he ever wanted was for someone to listen to his stories, but no one stayed for more than a minute. He would go here and there but everyone turned away from him. So he spoke to the trees instead and every time he began his story, the wind came and blew his voice away. In time, the boy had only his own ears to listen to his stories and as time went by, his story became sadder. They were once full of life and hope but now it is full of sorrow and death. 

K.Oni