MidSouth Shooters SupplyTitan ReloadingReloading EverythingLoad Data
WidenersRepackboxLee PrecisionInline Fabrication
RotoMetals2
Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: For Thought and Meditation

  1. #1
    USMC 77, USRA 79


    Markopolo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Remote island in SE Alaska
    Posts
    2,999

    For Thought and Meditation

    When they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. —Mark 4:34
    Our Solitude with Him. Jesus doesn’t take us aside and explain things to us all the time; He explains things to us as we are able to understand them. The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work— so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?

    We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires— things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.
    Any technology not understood, can seem like Magic!!!

    I will love the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master




    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    WV
    Posts
    4,709
    Amen!

  3. #3
    In Remembrance / Boolit Grand Master Boaz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    11,571
    Good lesson this morning . He gives understanding in increments during our different stages of life . He knows when we are ready . Much could be said on the subject .
    No turning back , No turning back !

  4. #4
    Moderator Emeritus

    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    7,620
    Wow! This is really strong meat! Our Lord is long suffering with us. I guess maybe He has to be, considering our intellect and our willfulness? There is no other love like that of our Lord Jesus Christ's! He loves us when we're in the midst of our sins, and takes care of us when we aren't doing that for our own selves! Again, there is and has never been a love like His, nor more Grace than that which He renders to us, even though we could never deserve a single iota of it.

    We tend strongly to be quick to blame and condemn others, and snail-slow to recognize and admit our own shortcomings and sins. When confronted with what is clearly our own sins, we usually if not always tend to deny them, and if that doesn't work, we try to "justify" them, and if that doesn't work, we rationalize them. Why is it so very hard for us to admit our failures? In business, a wise man sees his mistakes, and just sets out immediately to counter and heal them. Why can't we do that? The only possible answer is our simple willfulness. We are not humble enough to admit our sins and shortcomings. We WANT to think of ourselves as "sanctified" and always inerrant in our lives. But every one of us knows better, at least somewhere down deep inside. And in all this, Christ still loves us, and beckons us to come to Him, and adhere to the directions and advice He left for us to follow, that we might one day be fit for entry into Heaven. It's almost as if we try our best to cram ourselves into hell! Not quite, of course, but it's as though we did something like that.

    Lord, teach us to be humble, and honest with our own selves, as well as to others. Stop us before we wind up losing what we desire most. Hold us close, Lord, and thank you for loving us, and looking after us, even when we err. You are my Lord and my Savior, my Redeemer and my best friend ever. In you is our only real hope or salvation. You have left us a large volume of your best and most knowledgeable directions and advice to follow. Help us to follow these sage passages, and internalize them into our lives daily, I pray. In your Holy name I pray. Amen.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master

    Wayne Smith's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Hampton Roads, Virginia
    Posts
    13,617
    More than that - he made each of us unique and thus he customizes his sanctification of each of us uniquely. That means not only that I can't criticize someone else's sanctification process, I can't even understand it!

    Dennis, you are more right than you know. We literally do 'try our best to cram ourselves into hell'! It is our natural, sinful bent and is inherent in all of us. I am a hopeless, helpless sinner desperately in need of Jesus Christ. There is nothing I can do that is adequate to save me. In fact there is nothing I can do that God cannot do infinitely quicker, perfectly, and beautifully than I can. My 'doing' is worthless. His interest is in who I am becoming. After all, what is His name? I AM THAT I AM - a form of the verb 'to be'.
    Wayne the Shrink

    There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!

  6. #6
    Moderator Emeritus

    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    7,620
    Amen, Wayne! I always love your posts.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check