Posts Tagged ‘Rebirth’

1
Nov

America Is Not

   Posted by: Sonny    in America, Belief, Body of Christ, Election

There was a time not too long ago when I did not believe in very much, especially not God.  I believed in myself and that was about it.  The belief I am talking about I simply define as the ability to trust, and rely on someone or something. 

I did not know it then, but have come to realize now, that we all are missing something.  There is a place in our “heart” that is empty, until we fill it.  That place is meant to be filled with God.  He is what we are all missing until we get on board with Him.

If we do not fill it with Him then we all find something else to replace Him or we just feel empty.  I have been there and you may have also.  The problem is that the things we fill it with are not everlasting.  They will eventually lose the ability to satisfy. 

When I joined the army I found something bigger than myself to fill that place to a degree.  It’s called patriotism.  I gained a sense of pride for and love of the nation I live in.   Emotions seemed to well up in me when the flag was raised, when the anthem was sung, and when patriots were honored. 

Just a few months after I first got saved and joined my church, on Memorial Day weekend, my pastor called up all the veterans in my church and recognized them honorably for the service they had performed.  It was the first time anyone had ever given me an honorable mention, I believe, in my life.  As I have noted before, I was a loner and as such, just didn’t “belong” or “join” in very much.

But that felt good.  The sense of being a part of something bigger than myself gave me one of the first glimpses of how good it was to “belong”.  And I mistakenly grabbed hold of that patriotism again.  I was newly saved but God had not yet filled the empty places in my heart to the limits.  I squeezed a little bit of that old sense of pride in this nation into the recesses, the nooks and crannies where God was not, yet.

But, as anyone who is actively seeking to grow in relationship with God can attest, He will fill and overfill that place I am talking about.  He will squeeze out all of the empty things we try to fill ourselves with, if we let Him.  And when we do let Him, we will be better for it.      

Thinking of all that I just said, I have come to realize that America is not a “Christian nation”, though at one time it may have been close.  A nation cannot be a Christian.  Only people can.  A Christian is simply a member of the family and the army of God.  A nation cannot be a family member.  A nation is simply a place.  And I do believe we should aspire to be a nation of Christians.  A nation of true Christians, as I have been saying, truly could change the world. 

Some think that just because we are not all Christians then we must allow this country to be the change agent.  That somehow a nation, that has no soul, no morality in itself, can affect change.  The people are the soul of the nation.  And that should show us quickly that this is not a Christian nation because it has been quite a while since the people of this nation were mostly Christians.   

America is not a “shining city on a hill”.   We are a free nation and one of the very best examples of freedom in the world.  We should let our light of freedom be a shining example for the entire world.  But never think that this alone makes us good.  The very freedom we enjoy has also led to the very godlessness that we see on display. 

America is not the “greatest blessing God gave mankind”, though it is a great nation, even somewhat worthy, of our conditional adoration.   But we must remember the greatest blessing God gave man was His Son.  And the greatest benefit of that is that we have become citizens of a new nation, a better nation. 

Patriotic sentiment has its place but we mustn’t let it expand beyond its acceptable borders. We mustn’t let a belief that changing laws, changing elected officials, and changing what political party is in control, is actually going to change people.  Only Jesus changes people. 

We are citizens of both a country and a Kingdom.  Born into the USA but reborn into the Kingdom of God.  And that rebirth is the better of the two.  We must be careful not to confuse the one for the other.

America is not.  It is not going to make you happy.  It is not going to give you peace.  It is not helping you prepare for eternity.  It is not going to get your child, your grandchild, saved. 

America is not. 

Love you all

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2
Oct

Running

   Posted by: Sonny    in Grace, Hope, Love, Personal, Salvation

Please click here for audio edition of running.

Running.  Not fast.  Not slow.  Just running. 

I am running, and have been, for so very long.  I can’t even remember when I started.  Why am I running?  Because I am being chased. 

I don’t know who is chasing me.   I know that I cannot let them catch me.  I can’t see them when I glance back, but I can feel them.  Somehow I know they, or he, is close.  I pick up the pace, even though the pain is becoming unbearable. 

Breathing. Just catching enough of that life sustaining substance called oxygen, has become one of the most important things, in life.  I gasp, for that sweet, invisible element of life itself, with an urgency, that displays my struggle.  The effort to catch my breath almost, overwhelms the pain.  Almost.

The pain.  I try to work through the pain. The pain is in every part of my body.  Needles piercing my shins.  Fire settling into my thighs.  Intense pressure on my lower back.  Cramps in my sides.  Acid filling my lungs. 

Running.  Endlessly.  A glance over my shoulder again.  No sign of my pursuer but, I know he is closing in on me.  I can feel it.

The pain grows. Transforms.  Metamorphoses’ into a wholly different kind of pain, that is worse than before.  The needles, fire, and pressure, are still there, but seem distant. Still excruciating and intense.  But now there are new pains. 

The sweat has drenched my clothing and causes it to rub raw any part of me that is in contact.  And that, is all of me.

Running. How long must I keep this up?  As I said, I don’t even know how long I have been running.  Maybe all my life.  How long?  Had I really been running all my life?  Impossible, but, I cannot remember a time, when I was not running.  When did I start running?  I JUST WANT TO STOP!  Just let him catch me and see what will happen.  But I can’t.  I am scared. 

The pain again.  My shoes hitting the ground with a wet sloppy sounding plop.  This is probably from the sweat and the blood.  Yes, blood.  I have been running so long, that the blisters seem to form, fill and burst every second.  Or so it seems.  And the raw places, all over my body, are starting to bleed.  Looking back, I see a trail of blood, sweat and tears that my enemy cannot help but follow easily.

Tears?  They start flowing like a steady stream as if someone, has left a faucet on.  Mixing, with the sweat and blood.  Or, am I just, crying tears of, blood?

The sweating stops.  The tears form dry crusty trails on my face.  Nasal passages are dry, and on fire.  I need hydration.  But the blood still flows freely, from various parts of my body.  Who would have thought, that you could run yourself to death.  This is what I am doing.  Maybe, I will just stop. 

I stumble, and almost fall.  Barely catching myself in time.  Another glance back gives me the impression that he is almost on me.  Still can’t see him though.  The enemy.  Why is he chasing me? 

Running.  The pain.  A wave of terror engulfs me as I realize that, I have to stop.  Can’t go on.   Every inch of my body is screaming in pain.  Even the cells.  A human being is not made to be in perpetual motion.   

A truth suddenly occurs to me.  It is okay.  I do not have to fear anymore.  It is time to die.  Nothing in life is worth keeping on this way.  And the sting of death, cannot possibly, compare, to the pain I have endured.  Running.  From my invisible enemy.  Maybe all my life. 

I stop.  Ready to die. 

Then I am hit from behind, and tackled and taken to the ground.  Bowled over by the moon.  Or so it seems.

The power that is against me is, incomprehensible.  I struggle.  I cry out with a sound that I cannot imagine a man could make.  I only thought I had felt pain.  But this, is pain.  The running had caused excruciating pain but this is torturous, unendurable.  It feels like mountains are being slammed into me.  I scream, and wrestle, and scream.

All while I marvel at the realization that my enemy is, really, invisible. He seems to be absorbing me.  Becoming one with me.  Taking over my very being.  I am no more but, I am still here.  Please, just let me die, or kill me fast. 

 

 

Suddenly, I realize the pain, is subsiding.  I realize he is not, and has not caused me any pain.  He is, actually, removing it.  But, the removal is more intense than the original occurrence.  But the pain, is decreasing.  And in its place, another sensation.  One that I don’t know.  I have never felt this.  I do not know the name for it.  But it is, good. 

Then, in an instant, all of the pain is gone.  And the enemy?  Or is he?  The presence, seems to be separating from me.  I feel like me now.  But not me.  He is gone, but not totally.  He left some of himself, with me, and in me.  And I am not me.  I am new.  Different.  Alive.  For the first time in my life. 

I know all things.  I know nothing.  I have been reborn.  Or born again.  I am a new creation.  Sensations I could not name a few moments ago.  Could this be-peace.  And joy unspeakable. 

My enemy?  Chasing me all my life.  To harm me?  No. Only trying to give me a precious gift.  He was not my enemy.  I was his.  But for some strange, and incredible reason, He loves me.  And gives me the gift– of Himself.

Why?  Why did I run? 

Now I stand.  Alive for the first time in my life. 

Amazed.

Love you all

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