"This do in remembrance of me." - 1 Corinthians 11:24
"It seems then, that Christians may forget Christ! There could be no need for this loving exhortation, if there were not a fearful supposition that our memories might prove treacherous... Forget him who never forgot us! Forget him who poured his blood forth for our sins! Forget him who loved us even to the death! Can it be possible? Yes, it is not only possible, but conscience confesses that it is too sadly a fault with all of us." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening
God commands to our weakness and for the benefit of others. He would not have to command us to remember Him if we weren't likely to forget. And He has tied this remembering to a particular practice - the Lord's Supper. We are to regularly break bread and partake of the cup in remembrance of Him. Celebrating communion on a weekly basis assists in developing a regular cadence of remembering. It is, of course, possible for routine to create a callous, but it also makes possible increased dexterity and capacity. Fingers trained by repetition develop padding to prevent injury from frequent use, but they also develop dexterity and ability that idle hands could never acquire. Idle hands may be softer, but that is not a complement to their design.
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Monday, September 13, 2021
day no. 15,666: an army with banners
Song of Songs 6:10
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,
fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners?
An army with banners on your horizon and in your opposition is a terrible prospect. Think of all that is implied by an army with banners.
This is not something that sprung up overnight. This is not some flash mob saber rattling. This is an organized group of soldiers marching on your world.
If they have banners, plural, they are uniform -- each bearing the same colors and symbols. This army is unified under a single head and carry with them the traditions of their fathers. At some point, their ancestors decided what they would stand for and what best represented this in symbol. This symbol has a shape and a form consistent with who they are. The design was discussed and agreed upon, materials in keeping with the motif were gathered and assembled by diligent, dedicated, dexterous hands, and quality control measures were implemented to ensure continuity so as to result in banners, plural, uniform in saying the exact same thing.
An army with banners is large enough to spare some of their men for the sole purpose of brandishing these banners. They have prioritized their organizing principles enough to have banners and to set men aside to waive them. This displays not only the organization of a formidable opponent, but the prioritization of a potentially lethal one.
If you're going to have to face an army, you'd prefer them not to have banners. Banners declare organization, prioritization, tenacity and tradition. This army arrives to fight under and for a banner. The individuals have given their lives to this, but they fight for something more than just there individual lives. They fight for the kingdom their banner represents, for their brothers standing next to them under the same banner, for the people who live under that same banner back at home, for the principles and ideals which these banners represent, and for the lives and traditions of all those who lived and died under these same banners before them.
In short, an army with banners on your horizon and in your opposition is a terrible prospect.
A Christian woman of this character is the glory of her company and a terror to her opposition. The kingdom of darkness trembles at the sight of her on their horizon. May we raise our daughters as we raise our banners, for His glory and our neighbor's good. May our young women aspire to be the right kind of terrible, the kind that God finds delightful and the world finds dreadful. May the banner of the good, true and beautiful waive above them and on their heads as they wage war in their feminine strength of building homes that build communities that build countries that conquer the world.
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,
fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners?
An army with banners on your horizon and in your opposition is a terrible prospect. Think of all that is implied by an army with banners.
This is not something that sprung up overnight. This is not some flash mob saber rattling. This is an organized group of soldiers marching on your world.
If they have banners, plural, they are uniform -- each bearing the same colors and symbols. This army is unified under a single head and carry with them the traditions of their fathers. At some point, their ancestors decided what they would stand for and what best represented this in symbol. This symbol has a shape and a form consistent with who they are. The design was discussed and agreed upon, materials in keeping with the motif were gathered and assembled by diligent, dedicated, dexterous hands, and quality control measures were implemented to ensure continuity so as to result in banners, plural, uniform in saying the exact same thing.
An army with banners is large enough to spare some of their men for the sole purpose of brandishing these banners. They have prioritized their organizing principles enough to have banners and to set men aside to waive them. This displays not only the organization of a formidable opponent, but the prioritization of a potentially lethal one.
If you're going to have to face an army, you'd prefer them not to have banners. Banners declare organization, prioritization, tenacity and tradition. This army arrives to fight under and for a banner. The individuals have given their lives to this, but they fight for something more than just there individual lives. They fight for the kingdom their banner represents, for their brothers standing next to them under the same banner, for the people who live under that same banner back at home, for the principles and ideals which these banners represent, and for the lives and traditions of all those who lived and died under these same banners before them.
In short, an army with banners on your horizon and in your opposition is a terrible prospect.
A Christian woman of this character is the glory of her company and a terror to her opposition. The kingdom of darkness trembles at the sight of her on their horizon. May we raise our daughters as we raise our banners, for His glory and our neighbor's good. May our young women aspire to be the right kind of terrible, the kind that God finds delightful and the world finds dreadful. May the banner of the good, true and beautiful waive above them and on their heads as they wage war in their feminine strength of building homes that build communities that build countries that conquer the world.
Women are born with generations and nations within them.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
day no. 15,665: worship or warfare because worship is warfare
God shall arise and by His might put all His enemies to flight;
In conquest shall He quell them.
Let those who hate Him, scattered, flee before His glorious majesty
For God Himself shall fell them.
-- Huguenot Battle Hymn, Cantus Christi
These rhymes derive their life from Psalm 68:1-3
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered:
Let them also that hate him flee before him.
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away:
As wax melteth before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God:
Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
When it comes to Jesus it is either worship or warfare. This is because worship IS warfare. If you are not worshiping Him, you are at war with Him. If you are are worshiping Him, you are at war with what opposes Him. Enmity is hard-wired into the system by God the Father. We must fight because our Father does and we must not fall further from the apple tree than we already have.
In conquest shall He quell them.
Let those who hate Him, scattered, flee before His glorious majesty
For God Himself shall fell them.
-- Huguenot Battle Hymn, Cantus Christi
These rhymes derive their life from Psalm 68:1-3
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered:
Let them also that hate him flee before him.
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away:
As wax melteth before the fire,
So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God:
Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
When it comes to Jesus it is either worship or warfare. This is because worship IS warfare. If you are not worshiping Him, you are at war with Him. If you are are worshiping Him, you are at war with what opposes Him. Enmity is hard-wired into the system by God the Father. We must fight because our Father does and we must not fall further from the apple tree than we already have.
Saturday, September 11, 2021
day no. 15,664: vengeance belongs to God, thou shalt not steal.
Romans 12:19
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Vengeance belongs to God. The reason we are commanded not to take it is because it already belongs to Him. The Bible forbids theft.
Exodus 20:15
Thou shalt not steal.
Vengeance belongs to God. If you take it, you steal it from Him.
Some try to keep you from taking revenge by saying that taking vengeance is wrong. But that is only half true. Vengeance is not evil. It is not wrong to take revenge. It is wrong for US to take revenge. If it were wrong, then God would be wrong to take it. Revenge is not evil, it is God's. It is wrong if we take it or try to exact it. It's not ours to take.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Vengeance belongs to God. The reason we are commanded not to take it is because it already belongs to Him. The Bible forbids theft.
Exodus 20:15
Thou shalt not steal.
Vengeance belongs to God. If you take it, you steal it from Him.
Some try to keep you from taking revenge by saying that taking vengeance is wrong. But that is only half true. Vengeance is not evil. It is not wrong to take revenge. It is wrong for US to take revenge. If it were wrong, then God would be wrong to take it. Revenge is not evil, it is God's. It is wrong if we take it or try to exact it. It's not ours to take.
Friday, September 10, 2021
day no. 15,663: false positive
1 Timothy 3:8-13
Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
A deacon is to a deaconess what a king is to a queen. They are not merely the same thing with different genders. A deaconess is not simply the name of a female occupying a familiar office anymore than a queen is merely a female king. There is no such thing as a female king. There is such a thing as a queen, but to have a queen is not the same thing as to have a king anymore than to have a deaconess is the same as to have a deacon. They are not interchangeable. A false positive is not the same as a true negative.
Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
A deacon is to a deaconess what a king is to a queen. They are not merely the same thing with different genders. A deaconess is not simply the name of a female occupying a familiar office anymore than a queen is merely a female king. There is no such thing as a female king. There is such a thing as a queen, but to have a queen is not the same thing as to have a king anymore than to have a deaconess is the same as to have a deacon. They are not interchangeable. A false positive is not the same as a true negative.
Thursday, September 9, 2021
day no. 15,662: I live, I die, in me, for me
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Our lives are defined by our use of "I" and "Me."
As per usual, we have gotten these exactly backwards. Since we are born bent we call evil, "good" and good, "evil" by default. We think of "I" the way we should think of "me" and "me" the way we ought to think of "I."
I do things.
Things happen to me.
I is a subject.
Me is an object.
I acts.
Me is acted upon.
We think we're taking action where we're being acted upon and we believe we're being acted upon precisely where we need to take action. So we use the word "I" to describe all of that for which we imagine we deserve credit and "me" to explain where someone else deserves blame.
1 Corinthians 15:31
I die daily.
Rebirth and regeneration restore proper perspective and help us to see "me" as an opportunity to give credit to someone else and "I" to explain where I am to blame. We see we're being acted upon in our "I" and we're to take action in our "me" to forgive others.
We are to die to ourselves and live for others.
We must die to our "I's" and our “me's" and live as His "My’s” and for His "another's."
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
day no. 15,661: the righteous cannot stay down
Micah 7:8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy:
when I fall, I shall arise;
when I sit in darkness,
the LORD shall be a light unto me.
We fight the good fight not afraid to fall for by faith we believe that we shall rise. We know that if we die, we rise; so either way, we win. God either grants us the victory in seeing our enemies defeated or we die by their hands in faithful battle and rise to see them defeated by our sacrifice.
Psalm 20:7-8
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses:
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought down and fallen:
but we are risen, and stand upright.
The faithful fight and when they fall, they rise. Our hope is not that we cannot fall, but that we cannot stay down. The righteous can be knocked down, but they cannot remain down. We do not believe we are owed health, wealth or prosperity. Rather we believe that we cannot remain sick, poor or taken advantage of forever. We believe the meek will inherit God's green earth because it's His to give and He has already promised. And God does not renege.
Psalm 37:23-24
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:
and he delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:
for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
It may be God's good will to allow His good men to fall, but it is never His will to leave them where they lay. The Lord keeps those who fall in faith from falling indefinitely. He breaks their fall by breaking the Fall and gives them a hand by raising them again to stand in His presence.
Proverbs 24:15-16
Lay not wait, O wicked man,
against the dwelling of the righteous;
spoil not his resting place:
for a just man falleth seven times,
and riseth up again:
but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
The man made just by living in faith cannot be kept down. He may fall, even up to seven times, but he rises yet again. He cannot stay fallen. Faith rises. Resurrection destroys insurrection every time. You cannot end that which can renew. But the wicked fall without anyone to catch them. They fall and their fallenness cannot help them rise. They do not live in hope of resurrection, so when they crash, they remain wrecked, when they fall, they stay down. All who live in resurrection power survive whatever setbacks they experience and rise again in life that cannot be held by death since the One who holds them could not Himself be held by it.
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy:
when I fall, I shall arise;
when I sit in darkness,
the LORD shall be a light unto me.
We fight the good fight not afraid to fall for by faith we believe that we shall rise. We know that if we die, we rise; so either way, we win. God either grants us the victory in seeing our enemies defeated or we die by their hands in faithful battle and rise to see them defeated by our sacrifice.
Psalm 20:7-8
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses:
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought down and fallen:
but we are risen, and stand upright.
The faithful fight and when they fall, they rise. Our hope is not that we cannot fall, but that we cannot stay down. The righteous can be knocked down, but they cannot remain down. We do not believe we are owed health, wealth or prosperity. Rather we believe that we cannot remain sick, poor or taken advantage of forever. We believe the meek will inherit God's green earth because it's His to give and He has already promised. And God does not renege.
Psalm 37:23-24
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:
and he delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:
for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
It may be God's good will to allow His good men to fall, but it is never His will to leave them where they lay. The Lord keeps those who fall in faith from falling indefinitely. He breaks their fall by breaking the Fall and gives them a hand by raising them again to stand in His presence.
Proverbs 24:15-16
Lay not wait, O wicked man,
against the dwelling of the righteous;
spoil not his resting place:
for a just man falleth seven times,
and riseth up again:
but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
The man made just by living in faith cannot be kept down. He may fall, even up to seven times, but he rises yet again. He cannot stay fallen. Faith rises. Resurrection destroys insurrection every time. You cannot end that which can renew. But the wicked fall without anyone to catch them. They fall and their fallenness cannot help them rise. They do not live in hope of resurrection, so when they crash, they remain wrecked, when they fall, they stay down. All who live in resurrection power survive whatever setbacks they experience and rise again in life that cannot be held by death since the One who holds them could not Himself be held by it.
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