What if the biggest problem in America is not drugs, or pornography, or abortion, or poverty, or low education, or terrorism, or crime? What if the biggest problem in America is simply the lack of goodness? The Bible says we overcome evil with good, so why are we building more prisons than hospitals? Why are there “no go” areas in our major cities? Why do the police have to walk around in combat dress all the time? Why are certain areas of our culture and our society rabidly out of control? I think it’s because the church does not understand who she is, and she is so busy railing against sin, which is not our job. Our job is to bring down the goodness of God into the earth.
~ Graham Cooke
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
~ Jesus, King of The Universe, in Matthew 5
Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
~ Nehemiah, proclaiming a glorious truth, in Nehemiah 8
Oh beloved, it is true. We are in the falling dark of the world. And the darkness is so thick as to be tangible. It is not just shadow. It is a creeping muck that would clog all our senses of the Divine. It is a conspiracy too. There are multiple forces at work against us.
The Satan. The liar and accuser of the brethren.
The Cosmos. The system of this world.
The Flesh. Me. My old man.
And this triad works incredibly hard against each of us. From within. From above. From below. From all around is the incessant dim and hum and catcalling that would take us away from the only thing that can save us.
Our sparks of our belief get trampled by circumstance
Our moments of hope get crushed by bad news
Our minutes of rest get overwhelmed by the urgent
Our instants of strength get drained by despair.
There is, though, a place away from the darkness. And it is more real than the temporary night we can see. There is a nexus of reality that can now be entered by believing it is there. And all of this has been made possible by the One we are actually trying to find.
This fool of a writer has been a “christian” for many years. But decades of it were stained by my lack of belief in this Place. I was trudging on down through the darkness of this world and had fallen so many times that i thought i might never get out of the snares that had entangled my soul.
Said more simply: sin had blinded me to The Light.
Self, Satan and The System had thrown so much muck in the eyes of my mind and soul and spirit, that i had lost all hope. And while i had been given opportunities and experiences well beyond the dreams of billions, i was an impoverished wretch. I hurt so badly that i was nearly a black hole sucking life out of everyone around me.
Do you know this dark place dear reader?
This other Place though. Let’s talk about this instead. At the bottom of my failures, i found that there was one gift He had not ever taken away from me, and it was not really under the influence of any of the garbage that would take me away from it. I had the ability to believe.
Something within each of us knows this. You know it too. Perhaps it is the poverty of everything else that brings belief into sharp relief. We know that nothing else has ever worked, and that it never will. And so, as we crash on down through the crisis of our life we see it even more clearly: we can believe.
For me, it started with a little refrigerator magnet i saw in a rehab. I guess the thousands of pages of reading and years of christian study were not enough. It was a passage in Exodus where G_d proclaims to Moses that His Presence will go with him, and that He will see the journey to the end.
Suddenly i knew. HE was the place. In the shattering of my disbelief came that moment of faith where we say “OH! It’s true!!!” His Spirit had struck a final and devastating blow to my disbelief, and in place of my poverty came instantly a strength that is so powerful I can taste it. People can feel it. I am alive and real and whole and free in Him.
I am so thankful that this moment came for me. For now, in place of wretchedness, I am indeed one of the richest people in all of history. All of the wonderful experiences are now seen in The Light of His Presence. And from this, i see that He really does work all things together for good for those who but Love Him and let Him have His way in our live.
It does get better.
Can we see it? Before, i was alone and penniless. Now, i am dear friend of The King of The Universe. This alone is so strengthening as to be completely beyond words to describe. And all of this has come into being for me (and can also for you) simply by believing The Truth.
So, is your life difficult? Are you failing? We all have. And this writer still does sometimes too. But now, i realize that the failures really have nothing to do with all the stuff i thought they did before. No, all of the failure is simply because we won’t believe there is any other way.
Tonight is your night beloved. Time to believe in The Stronghold of His Presence. You know it’s there.
