Fallen Captive

You've fallen captive to what you thought would save you,

what you thought would clean your slate.
You're in the thick of it now and you have swallowed the hook.
What's done is done.
We'll continue on with or without you.
Pain must exist in order for healing to survive.
Neither one will ever serve their purpose alone.
You've fallen in love with a dream you've never had.
You've fallen in love with a surreal way of living.
Too late to wake, farewell and good luck to you.
See you at the end.

August Burns Red
Black Sheep

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Reminder of Rescue

Whenever God tells the children of Israel not to fear because He rescued them from Egypt, it is a reminder of two things. The first is a reminder that they were once slaves and are now sojourners. This reminder humbles and brings low. Slaves are owned and do the work of their master. That ownership has been broken and they are now sojourners doing the work of God. So their ownership changes along with their direction, existence, and work. The second is a reminder that God is the one who rescued them and now leads them. This establishes a position of thankfulness, reverence, and fear. It also gives reason to have no fear of what God asks them to do. He is the one who not only now owns them, but is the one who freed them from a seemingly impossible situation. Why fear anything once rescued? Why doubt the leading of the one who blessed you? As Christians, we can think in the same way. The one who rescued us from bondage is the one who now leads us. Why fear persecution or trials being owned by Almighty God? Fear only the one mighty enough to save you. No longer slaves to sin, but now sojourners in a foreign land. Follow Christ, and do His bidding. For confidence, boldness, and peace, look to these reminders.

Taste of Vomit

We pick and chisel at sin, thinking if it be less frequent that we've had some type of victory. Not that sin would cease in this life, but that our salvation would be made sure by a distaste and disenchantment with our most favorite sin. O that Christ would sweeten our tongue making sin taste like dung.

You Are Dying

If we would remind ourselves daily that we are dying then we would see through the veneer fog of the present and press forward for what is eternal, for what is to come.

For Dr. Joslin

The following entry is for a friend of mine who just lost his grandfather. After 88 years an old man has passed from life unto death. Only those who have passed from death unto life can grieve with hope. Only the one who has defeated death could bring us out of death in this life and raise us after mortal death. Only a God who is in control can know when it is time to give life and take life. Only a perfect and loving being such as God could comfort us in the depths of despair. And only the redeemed can defiantly shout through tears, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

Death Was Necessary

Jesus coming changes the need for death as punishment commanded so often in the Old Testament. He died the ultimate death and underwent the ultimate punishment. So the death, genocide, and stoning of the Old Testament should make us look to Christ. I'm sure the men and women of Israel looked forward to a time when all the death and killing was no longer necessary. God warned Adam that death would be the result of sin, and so it was. The Old Testament doesn't make God a tyrant, it makes Him someone who honors His word. And in honoring His word and promise, Christ came, removing the need for death and providing a way to defeat death. This makes Christ all the more beautiful. He is the answer, He is the fulfillment, He is the ultimate solution. So when people question God's goodness because of what happened in the Old Testament, they are ignoring glaring facts: death was the necessary result of man's actions and God was keeping His word. And secondly, Christ came as a gracious solution to man's problem.