There are two that I know. I quite like them both. Both have the Hebrew word for God initialed within their names. One is younger, the other older. One visits the ministry freely, the other refusing to come near.1
There
are two that I know, both claiming the name. One, seeing an oracle
fulfilled, rejected it and threw him out.2
The other, being offered, reached out and took hold of a heart.3
There
are two that I know, both reading the Word. One writes well and talks
a good story. The other, finding the work of the Word, brought their
family in—and lives it.1
There
are two that I know, one cultivated in a good tree. The other, being
wild, was grafted in.
Which
feeds from the Root, and which needs to repent?4
There
are two that I know. One, refusing to leave home, shall lose it. The
other, having left their home, found it.5
Which
are you, and which is the one that pleases God?
In
general, people do not like it when someone records the words of God
and speaks them into their life. This is because they want to think
well of themselves rather than accurately. Surely you will have
noticed how rarely people will honestly compare themselves to God.
They just don’t do it, and if you seek to do so they will shout you
down, marginalize you so that no one will listen to you, or level
accusations, and insults and epithets at you in their effort to
utterly discredit you. But they will not
compare themselves to God—and
won’t be letting you do so, either. When you insist
on
speaking
what they do
not want
to hear, they will refuse to hear.
Such
times can be the midnight of society’s soul. When someone—who
sees themselves as in the Church (yes, capitol C)—witnesses—and
is even themselves the very instrument of—the fulfillment of
prophecy—and rejects it and throws out of their life the person
bringing that prophecy, and, of those around them claiming Christ,
not one person makes protest against those
actions—it can be,
indeed, the midnight of that ἐκκλησία’s6
soul.
The
heart of Christ shines brightly against the blackness of the evil of
society, but those who should be trumpeting His coming instead choose
the comforts of the night.
How
do you think that effects the heart of God? Do you even care?
Which
are you, and which is the one that pleases God?
Are
you the one that pleases God?
Are
you really?
When
is the last time you heard His voice? When is the last time He spoke
into your soul? When is the last time you actually quieted yourself
and sat down to simply listen? When is the last time you were Elijah
upon the mountain
of God?7
Has
He, in fact, ever spoken to you at all? Have you ever heard the voice
of God within your soul? Have you ever felt His arms across your
shoulders? Have you ever felt His embrace surround your soul? When
the time that He took you
from the depths of darkness and despair instantaneously into the
stratosphere of spiritual ecstasy—in
a moment? When the time He prophesied into your
soul?
And
if He did, how do you know that it was Him?
God
is not a man that He should lie! 8
Which
are you, and which is the one that pleases God?
The
heart of God shines brightly
through
the midnight of despair
and
man’s pretensions mist away
as
if they were not there
God
is not deceived by your pretending to spiritual things. When you go
through the motions of a life that is not yours to have or hold you
speak deceit, however bold. You live deceit and do not hold the light
or things you claim to hold. There is no Heaven laid aside for those
with sin they seek to hide.
My
eyes battle tears as I write this, for one of whom I write has been
so very close to my heart and I would not see their eternity shorn
apart, cast asunder, and thrown upon the winds of deceitfulness,
wickedness, sin, and darkness and despair. As
I have said to them, we have a date in Heaven, and I would see them
there. What other reason can there be for showing such deep care?
Those
who would rage against this do not know my heart and will not see me
there. Though I rest in the lap of God, they will not see me there.
If they would, they must repent and display Heaven’s cares. Oh,
beloved, how tender is my heart to see that Heaven shares my love of
those so precious their deaths would my soul tear!
As
I wrote in an earlier hymn, “I have ever been so targeted by
demon-spawn of earth”. Most of that demon-spawn claims Christ. He,
though, does not claim them, for God is not a man that He should
lie8,
and those who attack me are deceitful, seeking to hide their own sin
behind their attacks against me.9
Oh!
How many times I have sought to warn them against the wickedness of
their hearts and they respond, not with repentance, but with
finger-pointing at me, accusing me of making excuses for my own sin!
Sin
has no excuse10,
and none can be made, for God is not mocked11,
and is not deceived by pretenses to Christianity by those who, truly,
know nothing of Him, but seek after the desires of their own flesh.12
When
the light is shined upon them they rebel, seeking the darkness in
their effort to extinguish that which exposes their wickedness and
filth and depravity and sin.13
Those who live in darkness hate the light.
Do
not let them deceive you: They are children of darkness and the spawn
of Hell, though they claim to be of the light.14
These,
however, hold no exclusive dominion over the hearts of men. As it is
written, “I have yet
7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Ba’al!” 15
The
tenderness of heart that persists and insists upon tenderness and
mercy will eventually be met with its kind.16
One might say that you meet with an angel, perhaps, unawares.
Therefore, entertain rightly, that you may live.17
This
very day, in fact, I was out and about, having prayed for someone to
accompany me along the way. I
was thinking about the one I had invited along, but who
was too ill to make the journey, and pondering whether to bring
something back for them, or avoid risking further difficulties for
them. Yes, I wrestled with the idea.
Having
thought better, I began returning along my way. Very shortly, someone
approached. I greeted her, striking up a conversation. We found
a shared love of music. I even sang
for her a little bit, even though I had already confessed that I
quickly run out of breath. This small, frail-looking lady, though, is
a player of the bag-pipes. Oh! The irony! And,
Oh! How I love the pipes,
rightly played!
Sadly,
I do not even remember her name, though I can hope that she remembers
mine. Her name, though, is
not really the point. The point is this:
Do
you see how God answers the open heart? Had my friend—who was
willing—been healthy enough to attend, I probably would never have
met the music lover, who plays in churches all around, apparently.
She, on the other hand would not have met a positive witness for
those who are in need. Do you see how God answers the open heart?
The
one who refuses to come near to the poor will not be come near to by
God,18
but the one who gives mercy shall find it.16
I
have been a poor, decrepit, wicked and evil man, but when God called
I answered. I have not closed my heart to those to whom God is open,
and now, God is open to me.19
Do
you see how God answers the open heart?
When
I am tired and nothing want but sleeping,
When
I am worn and evil beckons me,
And
my heart cries to God in His sweet mercy,
I
feel His arms enfold and circle me!
When
I am sad and my eyes fill with weeping,
When
darkness comes and doubts encumber me,
And
I seek peace and solace from the Savior,
Beneath
His wings He gathers and shields me!
But
for His love I am nothing but evil!
But
for His love I am a demon seed!
But
for His love I am a thrall of Satan!
But
Jesus bled and died to make me clean!
When
I’m alone and nothing see but silence,
When
all is dark and nothing covers me,
The
rains come down and death would see me freezing,
I
cry to God and angels cover me!
For
by His love I am the seed of Jesus,
And
by His love the darkness flees from me
And
by His love a chariot waits for me,
For
Jesus died and rose to set me free!
Yes,
Jesus died and rose to set me free!
©2016
William F. Maddock; all rights reserved; used by permission
Oh,
beloved, know this; hear this and know it well: that God will respond
to a true tenderness of heart.
1James
2:17
2John
1:11
3Luke
18:13
4Romans
10:16-11:24
5Matthew
16:25
6A
Greek word meaning “a calling out” or “a gathering”, in
particular, a religious gathering, such as a synagogue or a
Christian congregation.
71
Kings 19
8Titus
1:2
9Psalm
141:9-10
10Romans
1:20
11Galatians
6:7
12Romans
1:21-32
13John
3:19
142
Corinthians 11:13-15
151
Kings 19:18
16Matthew
5:7
17Hebrews
13:1-2
18Proverbs
21:13; James 2:13
192
Chronicles 15:2; Zechariah 1:3; Malachi 3:7; James 4:8
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