(11/26/2013) An Unshakeable Kingdom?

Today, a brief study is shared using Scriptures on Scripture to focus on the promise of a home with GOD.

SOME THOUGHTS ON

25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.  For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

26 Whose voice then shook the earth:  but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

29 For our God is a consuming fire.  (Hebrews 12:  25-29, KJV)


1st Timothy 3:  16 (KJV)  16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:  God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.


Exodus 23:  20 (KJV)  20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions:  for my name is in him.

Nehemiah 9:  6-8 (KJV) 6 Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.  7 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;  8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

Hebrews 11:  7-10 (KJV)  7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.  8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.  9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:  10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Hebrews 11:  13-16 (KJV)  13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.  15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.  16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:  wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God:  for he hath prepared for them a city.

Hebrews 12:  22-24 (KJV)  22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,  23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,  24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

John 14:  1-3 (KJV)  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  2 In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

John 17:  24-26 (KJV)  24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me:  for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.  25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.  26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it:  that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Mark 13:  33-37 (KJV)  33 Take ye heed, watch and pray:  for ye know not when the time is.  34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.  35 Watch ye therefore:  for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:  36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.  37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Revelation 1:  4-7 (KJV)  4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia:  Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;  5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.  Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,  6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.  Amen.  7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him:  and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.  Even so, Amen.


There is far more to be said, correctly shared, and spiritually understood.  Again, I ask readers to share Scriptures they feel should be added in the Comments area (see example, below).  I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.  Jesus is coming.


THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(03/01/2013) True North

      Truth be told, I am not sure I am strong enough to return to writing a daily blog. I’ve recently spent considerable time investigating retirement overseas. (Those who account heaven as their home eventually feel that they are misfits in America, in Washington, DC, and in the earth. It becomes increasingly unclear whether those places are still part of the kingdom of GOD. Believers are not condemned as Satan to wander to and fro in the earth. Even so, we know that given the extremes of dishonesty, envy, hate, indifference, isolation and violence, mature believers can never have a true place of rest and safety—a home—on any battlefield. Here, I have been assailed by cold to the point I began to seek shelter in Kingston, Jamaica, then broadened my search to include Aqaba, Jordan, Belize, Panama, the U. S. Virgin Islands, Reno, and Las Vegas.) On the one hand, I’ve not been officially relieved or replaced. On the other hand, I have received no orders sending me to a new post elsewhere, and I have no commandment to abandon my post, here. It is impossible to “give in” or to quit knowing it implies the condemnation and loss of many who are in need and unassisted. Perhaps, the best way to find out what I may do is for me to return to writing with a positive attitude and firm determination, trusting GOD, as always, to oversee all things.


      Today, I have chosen to share a poem written for Black History Month 2013 titled COMPASS (below). Preparing to view the recent annual program awarding Oscars, I saw a trailer to the motion picture Lincoln by Director Stephen Spielberg; and I was deeply impressed by lines delivered from actor Daniel Day Lewis that were attributed to the 16th President of the United States of America. Mr. Lincoln’s words seemed incredibly suited as an introduction to my piece: 


“A compass, I learned when I was surveying, it’ll... It’ll point you True North from where you’re standing, but it’s got no advice about the swamps and deserts and chasms that you’ll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead, heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp... What’s the use of knowing True North?”

Copied from the IMDb Internet site, “Memorable quotes for Lincoln (2012)” 02/25/2013 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/quotes?qt=qt1872291)

THE GOLDEN ARROW: Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2nd Corinthians 4: 1-7, King James Version)

COMPASS
[A Poem for Black History Month 2013]

So great a journey lies behind, ahead
a savage twisting road, a steep ascent
with sudden dips and drops, a dark decline
that swoops up into high above the soaring sun

the sweet expanse of light
it is no wonder we are bent, inclined
to seek great strangers, a special one
one sent, and recognized by turning point

events, great victory, great glory
or great loss, that we long for
known by absence more than deed
because challenge continues, as does need

where we would have an answer speak
and step, before, beside, along with
surely, what we want is called a friend
and our history, together, is called we

the fragments of our struggles rise and fall
and friends determine what we will recall
great strangers are yet strange, and so we fail
to stay upon their path, we blaze a trail

that costs us dear, and dear are only those
who remain near, and trusted, touched
or gently held, we are ourselves the stars
that must shine forth a way to life and truth

the empty hall of heroes must be filled
with a transformed past displaying what should be
so that all the truly great
stand with us now in seeking our today

©Michael Andrew Williams, 2013. All rights reserved.