The Volcano

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Written by: Don Goulding
gateway to hell 982x750Sinners are afraid in Zion; panic grips the godless. They say, ʻWho among us can coexist with destructive fire? Who among us can coexist with unquenchable fire. (Isaiah 33:14 NET_FL)
 
To die to self and live for Christ is like jumping into a volcano. Nevertheless, I was so disillusioned with the world’s alternatives that I volunteered for the plunge.
 
My knees flexed ready to spring out but then I led with my head instead of my heart. I was scuffed and slid down on my rear. When you make your leap, don’t hesitate. It only makes the descent painful. Jump into the middle.
 
Now I’m falling inside the volcano, and yet, I’m more alive then ever before. The heat intensifies as one plummets and holy fire chars impurities at each temperature gradient. Once I grew accustomed to the tolerable loss, I realized the joy of the cleansing outweighs what I suffer. It feels beautiful to soar free of those encumbrances.
 
At first, I worried my identity would melt into oblivion, but that’s impossible. Whatever is yielded to the blaze is instantly remade as a new and fireproof me—the real me. 
 
Another observable phenomenon is that the deeper I fall, the more transparent the world appears while the things of the Spirit are increasingly real. Those questions we used to discuss on the rim—is God in our details, does the Spirit still do miracles—in here, all that’s obvious.
 
I’m not there yet but I can see the core is made of molten love. By the time I fall into its radiant heart, there will be less of the old me to burn. I’ll be impervious to heat, as the love-lava passes through my spirit in perfect completion.
 
I can’t wait to get there.
Prayer: Holy Creator, let me fall into white-hot love with you.

Antivirus

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Written by: Don Goulding

dc5932f422992b22e16b6677ab4f96b2 1For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! Romans 5:15 (NETFull)

An inventor excitedly rubbed his hands over his creation. He had discovered a way to make intelligent robots that self-replicated. He added a second unit and grinned as they began their task of building offspring.

An enemy sidled up to tinker with the prototypes. The inventor waited to see how his creations would defend themselves. They engaged with the evil one who infected them with a virus that spread through their subroutines. They were still functional but glitches made them lash out at one another.

The defunct coding was passed on to the progeny. Androids with twisted limbs and destructive habits appeared. The inventor had become attached to his robots, so he devised a plan for repair. First, he let the machines learn how broken they were.

A smile tipped the inventor’s mouth when he introduced the cure—his greatest genius ever. It was another prototype and this one had a piece of his own living tissue embedded into the microprocessor. The living DNA wired into this special unit passed on the creator’s essence. The improved coding could delete the virus.

While his DNA-enabled units multiplied, the master-creator went to work on his ultimate future project. He snatched up robots and analyzed their programming. Those without the antivirus were tossed onto a scrap pile where their circuitry snapped and fizzled. Those with the DNA fix were painstakingly given mega-processing chips and refitted with titanium bodies. Now he had perfect, unbreakable offspring to celebrate through all time. 

Prayer: Father Creator, use the gift of Jesus to complete your purpose in me.

Safe

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Written by: Don Goulding

Frame 03 09 2018 09 23 37The Lord said to Jonah son of Amittai, “Go immediately to Nineveh, that large capital city, and announce judgment against its people because their wickedness has come to my attention.” Instead, Jonah immediately headed off to Tarshish to escape from the commission of the Lord. … The Lord sent a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:1-3, 17 (NETFull)

Two weeks before I left for the Middle East, I received a message from the brother arranging my mission trip.

“I am very sorry to let you know there are many problems in Pakistan. Bombing and shooting. It looks very dangerous but do as the Lord leads you.”

It was a heated election season aggravated by volatile politics with Americans.

I went to the Lord and asked if I should make the trip. He let me recall a Bible verse.  But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Revelation 12:11

What is safety? Jonah would tell us that hiding in anonymity offers no protection. When he tried to avoid ministry he found himself in his most perilous circumstances—tossed into a killer storm and swallowed by a fish. Only when he finally obeyed God did the umbrella of supernatural protection open above him.

I realized there are far greater dangers than the threat of death or deportation. I could loose my one chance to honor Jesus. Waisting the few earthly hours I’m given on my temporal self is the ultimate in foolish risky behavior.

Safety comes from abiding in the exact spot God calls me to. Even if my health suffers, or my bank account zeros, or my friendships sour—obeying God guarantees my soul is in the center of the safety-nest.

I did go to Pakistan. We had to take precautions such as traveling at night and posting guards, but I learned that serving Jesus makes me soar on wings of angels. For me, it was much better than hiding at home with the stench of a fish belly.

Prayer: Father, help me obey your direction and rest in your protection.

  1. Melting Mirrors
  2. My Gorilla
  3. Join Creation

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