Criminal Mediocrity

“Your danger and mine is not
that we become criminals,
but rather that we become
respectable, decent, commonplace,
mediocre Christians.



















The 21st century temptations that really
sap our spiritual power are the television,
banana cream pie, the easy chair and the
credit card.” -Ray Ortlund


God help me! Perhaps today
we could include
the Computer Screen...
one of my own great
potential time munchers.

Oh the discipline, the hard and fast determination
to remain on course... what can be the rescue!

Vision.
Having a vision.
I mean, a vision straight from God as to what it is
I should be setting my heart and time on. And
then....

Going for it.

Infallible? Yes!.

Ask me if I believe the Bible is infallible...
and I will answer a resounding...

...Yes!

Without reservation!

I'm talking about those versions
of the Bible translated from the
original texts.











There are publishers who take
such classics as The Pilgrim's
Progress, or Uncle Tom's Cabin,
or Les Miserables,
and they simplify the text to
make it easier to understand
(some call it dumbing down).

You would then have a paraphrase -
or an abridged version of the Classic.

Those "abridged" translations of the Bible
are not what I'm referring to.
I'm referring to the Bible that was translated
with the author's original intent in mind -
and mind you - that is not hard to determine.

Not only because we have plenty of documents
supporting the original texts, but because
I know my God is not a limited God...

If He was capable of creating this world...
surely He was capable of leaving His Word.

Am I being childlike...
naive-like?

Yes, I am.

And I love it.











Ask the Spirit of God
to open His Words to you, for
Without Him, His Word is
incomprehensible.

Go.

Ask.

Read.

Feed.

It was written
with you
in Mind.

Start with the Book of John.
And believe...


"Open Thou mine eyes, that I might
behold wondrous things out of thy law."
Psalm 119:18

(Psalm 119 is written entirely
on the subject and glory of
God's Word. Check it out!)

Is Mommy's Slip Showing?

"Moms, don’t be surprised
when the seeds you have planted
by the way you respond to your husband,
to men in general, and to your pastor's
leadership take root in your children."
Nancy Leigh De Moss


If I buck authority,
so will the children.

If with airs, I "correct" authority,
so will the children.

If I choose being right,
(and think God in-capable
of making things right)
so will the children.









They don't miss a thing...


They have their own
bent on sin, I know...
but how much of it
do I demonstrate?

Slips like this are
too destructive
to leave unattended.

I'm taking a good long
look at what comes out
of my mouth. I'm learning
to pay attention and
to pull up the slip
before it shows...

So help me, Father.

Rejoice in Truth

Truth can hurt,
Truth can delight,
Truth can bring despair,

But Truth from the One
who loves you wholeheartedly,
will set you free.

And with His truth,
you can't go wrong.

So, Go for it.
Ask for it.
Seek it out.

What have you got to lose?



"Love rejoices in Truth"
1 Cor. 13:6

Oh God... I Need...

"Yet prayer is nothing but desiring God
to give us the greatest and best things
we can have and that can make us happy."
Jeremy Taylor













So why do I have such a hard time praying?

For me, it's probably a control issue.
I want control of my life, thank you.

Then I wonder why things are still a mess.
Or remain unchanged, or dry, or pointless.

Get on with it, Jocelyne,
prayer is the smartest
use of your time.

Spend it!
Use it up!
Splurge!
Happily!

Peace It Is

It was recommended at a fellow blogger's site...
that we choose a word for this year, and just
be creative with it. Examine it, see it, feel it,
own it, grow into it, spread it around, lift it up,
decorate with it, write it down on wood...
you get the idea.

Well - I picked my word.

Peace.


I chose peace because I am the insecure type.
That's me.
Caring too much about what other people think.
Worrying too much about appearances.
Thinking too much about how I come across.
Fussing about other peoples feelings.
Like it's my business... or my job to fix things.
Wow.
I'm tired just thinking about it.

So - peace it is.


















(Photo taken by Joseph Sade, in Brown City, Mi.)


First and foremost,
I already have
Peace with God.

By the grace of God,
it's signed, sealed
and delivered.

Then there's Peace within.
Not easily attainable.
Peace of heart.
Peace of mind.
Peace of God.

And that is why I chose peace.
To let it Rule my heart and mind
as I relinquish control of each
moment of my life
and lay it into His loving,
merciful,
nail-pierced
Hands.



" And let the peace of God rule in your hearts..."
Col 3:15

There is a Reason

I had a conversation with a man the other day.
He would not acknowledge that there was a God.
He would say... "What kind of God
would create a world like this!
All the pain and misery?"

He had a point.
We do wonder about evil.
It surfaces every day.
In my heart, in your heart,
on the street, in the workplace, on the homefront.
Behind closed doors, and right there on the screen.

But how quickly some,
from the well of their own
confused hearts,
ascribe evil to God.

We forget what He did
that should quell any such notions.

Leaving the halls of heaven,
and taking a giant step for mankind,
He stepped right into our world...

He preached against,
confronted,
and exposed evil.

He preached how to avoid it and
the how to be delivered from it.

He touched and healed
and loved all who
came to him in order
to drive home His message.












And He forgave.
Over and over again.

Then He walked in deeper,
over His head,
allowing evil
to take Him and beat Him...
grab Him by the arms
and hang Him on a cross,
naked,
and finally... allowed evil
to swallow Him up.

All-Good allowed Evil to crucify It.

And because God does not want automatons
(read automorons...)
He would not be satisfied with...
"you will love me because I say so..."

(Love must be willfully chosen to mean anything.)

So... He gives us a scenario
within which we can decide...

Will I or
Won't I?

I imagine Him teaching us,
right here, right now,
the consequences of evil
and how it spoils everything.














Somehow, for some reason,
we all need to learn this,
all the way down to the pain
in our hearts
and the tears in our eyes.

I will not judge the Almighty,
and how He chooses to teach.
Fathers do many wonderful and
unbelievable things that
children do not have the capability
to understand, until later...

And that's where I am.

Standing on His wisdom and His Word.
Standing on His Life and on His Death.
And on the almighty resurrection
of a God no man or devil can kill.

He Knows What He's Doing.
I can trust a God that loves me to death.

I Believe...

Upon joining a writer's group
on this wonderful blog-world,
I was asked to describe my faith.
It was great fun.
Here is what I wrote.
















How Do You Describe Your Faith?


Growing, but firm.
My faith is in God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
I believe God is able to perform miracles,
if it fits in His plan.

I believe the Word of God as it was written,
when read in light of what the authors'
intended meanings were, and that it's infallible.
I believe God's Word is not so mysterious
that it can't be understood, but I believe
The Holy Spirit is the One who reveals it
and I must read it depending on Him
to do so. Without the Holy Spirit's help,
the Word of God cannot be understood.

I believe in the great "Catching Up" (Rapture),
but even though I see Him coming sooner
than any of us realize, I don't date the event.
I long for His coming almost too much.

I believe I have only one life, t'will soon be past,
and that only what's done for Christ will last.
I believe every soul I recruit into God's Army,
as empowered by God,
is the most crucial business I need to attend to.

I believe the Body of Christ is indispensible.
I can go anywhere and feel at home
when brothers and sisters are there.

Now for the faith to walk in all I believe in...

Even Little Things

Even little things can become crazy big.

One little bite once led to a smorgasborg of sin...
(See Genesis 3)

One little photograph copy-and-paste is,

truthfully,

theft.

I am guilty.

I am going to make it right.

I will delete pictures belonging
to professional photographers,
and in time, replace them with
my own, home-grown version.

Deepest apologies to all concerned,
truthbyter bites the truth...
and comes cleaner.

20-20 - Not Good Enough

"To be what we are, and
to become what we are
capable of becoming,
is the only end of life."
-Robert Louis Stevenson

Oh, How dreadfully sad if this were true!


"Eat, drink and be merry"
I say... for tomorrow we die!"

Oh, no no no no no! So glad that
quote is NOT true!

There is an eternity ahead of us.
We need to look up to eternity...
...to see this little life in light of it.















(Photo taken by Joseph Sade, in Brown City, MI.)

There is more to life than being somebody
who inhabits the earth, and who does his
best at being who he is or is yet to be.

It does sound lofty, though.

That I can be all I can be.... and just
think... the possibilities are endless!

And it is true that being all you are capable
of being brings satisfaction, however, a man
with no God knows too little.

But the man who knows God will view
and live life as one who sees with eternity
in mind. For him, 20-20 vision is insufficient.

And who do I pity the most on this old
planet of ours? The one whom Jesus
resurrected from the dead... Lazarus.

He had it so good.

But God will even bring back the dead,
if it will prove a point and point us to Him.

We can be way too near-sighted.


"In Him (Christ) was life, and the life
was the light of men. And the light
shines in the darkness..." John 1:4,5a

"...Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
one is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." John 3:3

Digging the Word

Can I say that I get into the Word
With a Pharisee kind of intensity...

Can I say I know the Word
as well as Saul did,
before he became Paul?

Can I say I have Searched the Scriptures...









As the Bereans did?

Can I say I can give a reason for the hope
of the calling of God within me?

I'd like to think so.
I'd like to make sure I can.
But may it all lead to Christ-likeness...
and not some glorified seat of knowledge.
Because knowledge can puff up.

The last thing
the world needs is
another puffed up fish.

.

It's not About Happiness

C.S. Lewis said this...

“If you think of this world as a place
intended simply for our happiness,
you find it quite intolerable: think of it
as a place of training and correction
and it’s not so bad.” - God in the Dock











Boot camp. That's what I would call it.
Well, more accurately, full out war.

There's no mistaking it - we exist
in a world of conflicting powers.

The power of evil,
anxious to control;
and the power of good;
each wanting my soul.

Some don't think there's a war
going on. I understand that.
And this is where we split ways...
But I believe there is a war going on.

Ever heard of landing
on enemy territory
and doing nothing?
Guess who's dog meat?

There is no off-duty.

I can choose to be defensive...
or get on the offensive...
but I better not be a sitting duck.

It is definetly my move.

Though happiness does not
fit in this picture of war,
Joy does...

Why?

1. Because I am not alone.

(One Who is closer than a brother,
and loves me beyond understanding,
abides within me and strengthens me.)

2. And because this is not my
final destination.

(On this earth, there simply
is no place like Home...
and just the thought of Home
delights my Heart.)

And to the degree that
I believe these two things,
to that degree,
I will experience joy.

This year, I'm in pursuit of the joy
that is to be found only in Him.



The thief cometh not, but for to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy: I am come
that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

Many Many Troubles

"I am an old man and

I've had many troubles-

most of which

never happened."

-Mark Twain

Thanks, Mr. Twain,

I needed to hear that.

TAKE FIVE

This couple:
















is magnificently blessed

Not counting their beautiful
canine... together,
with these charming young men...they



















...make Five.

My greatest desire,
from the deepest
recesses of my heart...
is that when that great
Uplifting Rapture comes...

It will Take Five.

The five of us,

along with all the others...

Oh, God, so be it.
May I, this year,
show myself
faithful in prayer,
faithful in word,
faithful in deed,
and faithful in
devotion...

that such a desire
would come true,
not because of me,
but because YOU are faithful.

Thank you for my men.
Thank you for our lives.
Thank you for giving
Your life... for ours.

Amen!

Feelings.....

(Regarding silly girls)


"They had a feeling,
or a feeling had them,
till another feeling came
and took its place.
When a feeling was there,
they felt as if it would never go;
when it was gone they felt as if it had never been;
when it returned, they felt as if it had never gone."
-George MacDonald


Feelings.













They'll throw me if I don't watch it.
So I will keep watch over them,
by day and by night!


And when they get out of hand...
I will check the culprit...

My thinking.

I really believe what I think
determines how I feel... "as a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he..."
Proverbs 23:7


I hope to keep the following verse
in the forefront of my mind at all times...

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthins 10:5


And for another incentinve...

When I was a child,
I spake as a child,
I understood as a child,
I thought as a child:
but when I became a man,
I put away childish things.
1 Cor. 13:11

"Baby" God

TO ALL FRIENDS AND FAMILY...

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE...

Jesus was born into "my" Humanity for a reason.

(He didn't have to come...but He did.)

Why? Why did He come to be

Emmanuel, i.e.

God with me?













Because...

He was...

Born to Crush Evil within me,

to Deliver me, a Captive,

to Reveal God to me,

to Come Live in Me,

to Give me Life Abundantly,

to Conquer Sin in me,

Born.... to pay the price and

Die,

for me.










All of His earthly, Human/God life
was for my good and your good.

All the way to the gruesome end
and further on to His grand
resurrection finale.













Now that's the spirit, Santa,
...you've got it right.
And I...
will do the same.

Merry ChristMass to all,

truthbyter

DOUBLE EDGED TRUTH

Truth is sharper than
a double-edged sword.









On one side of the blade,
Truth cuts deep,
spills blood,
makes a mess,
creates sorrow...
and really really hurts
like a 10 on the pain scale.
Truth on this side
reveals where deception
has been at work.

On the other side,
Truth has the power
to disengage a soul
from life-long,
crippling,
paralyzing and
agonizing deceptions.
This side of Truth
releases the soul
from bondage and
sets it free.

__________________________


But before I can have this release,
this freedom from deception,
there must be surgery.


And before I can have surgery,
there must be a willingness.














"MUST I have surgery?" I may ask.
(Must I face up to this crippling fault?
Must I submit to the removal of it?)

"YES!" is the Surgeon's
merciful answer.

Am I wanting to disengage
from harmful lifestyles,
engagements, habits,
relationships, etc?

The Merciful, Master Surgeon
must have his patient's consent,
and the patient must be still.
I must let the blade do the work,
and trust Him completely.




"For the word of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart."

Hebrews 4:12

Beatrix Potter's Relief

"Thank goodness I was never sent to school;
it would have rubbed off some of the originality. "

- Beatrix Potter

















Ah, you can survive public school alright -

but at home, you just get to be yourself
without being laughed at or ridiculed.
You can also be yourself and find joy in it!
And if your parents are smart - they will let you
be you and they will help you be your best.
And the "bestest" thing about homeschool?

Reading is Cool.

Big Difference

Cute.


===============














Not so cute.


===============


Evil exists.
Satan exists.
And he hates you,
Specifically.


I must respect evil
for the harm it causes.
I will not ignore it
at my own peril.

Two powers vie for my attention.
One good, and the other evil.
Which will I side with?
Which will I give myself to?
Which will I choose to serve?










There is no middle ground.
There's too much war, too
much misery, too much pain,
to just turn my head and
go about my self-serving ways.

God help me take life seriously.
God help me make my life meaningful
by being part of the answer -
rather than being part of the problem.




"Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour ."
1 Peter 5:8



"Ye are of God, little children ...
greater is He that is in you,
than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4

Deep Calls Unto Deep

Have I found a treasure!

It is hard to express
the effect it had
on me.

It represents all I try to communicate
in these little blogs of mine - little
expressions of inner discoveries
and inner convictions.

Here's the excerpt...

"For myself, I long ago decided that I would
rather know the truth than be happy in
ignorance. If I cannot have both truth and
happiness, give me truth. We'll have a long
time to be happy in heaven." A.W. Tozer

This little bundle of words
represents Truthbyter.

Someday I'll have the pleasure
of shaking the hand of Tozer, who,
unbeknownst to himself, nodded
with approval and understanding
and kindred sympathy towards me.

Thank you, Father.

You, who are Father
of all those who quietly
suffer such inward battles
with sin, with imperfection
and unhappiness, that after
a while, Truth becomes sweeter
even than happiness.











Truth that brings to light
what is of greatest value.

"Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall set you free."
John 8:32