'Make It Plain' Essays
Consider The Vision
The Adoration of The Kings
The Hireling Shepherd
The Light of The World
Noli Me Tangere
Pilgrimage: The Way, The Truth, The Life
St George and The Dragon
Link To The Vision
'Lively Stones' Meditations
The Writer
SOME OF THE POSTS BELOW ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF BEING TRANSFERRED TO THIS WEBSITE, BUT CAN BE FOUND BY GOING TO THE '
WRITE THE VISION BLOGSPOT
'
From the summit of Dunadd looking out to the Inner Hebrides
God Shall Bring Them Into The Land
God is concealing His handiwork because it is
a
n internal work, and it is the glory of us as
kings to search out what He is doing – to get
understanding of His ways – so that we can walk in
them and allow Him, in turn, to foster and grow His
seed in us. In this way, we can become the revelation
of His Holy Spirit and His power in the earth. And He
will be revealed in a people at a time of His choosing,
if we will only seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness.
READ MORE ...
THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS IS THE POWER OF GOD
We talk blithely about the Holy Ghost in power, about His mighty power, God is my strength and power, mighty men of power ...
... In Hebrew (a 'word poor' language by some standards), there is no word for 'very', so to emphasise something, the word is repeated, which does not read well in translation.
By saying
God is my strength and strength
, the intention is to stre
ss that our God is truly mighty.
But
I venture to suggest that spiritually there is an additional quality here. It is one of transcendence, of awe...
and
energy.
READ MORE ...
"AWAKE, AWAKE,
O ZION"
At the beginning of
Isaiah
Chapter 51, the prophet calls three times
Hearken to me.
The threefold repetition reveals that he brings a word from on high. These are not my thoughts, my instructions, but those of Almighty God, he is saying.
1 ¶ Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
4 ¶ Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
READ MORE ...
DID NOT OUR HEART BURN WITHIN US?
Visiting my Mother recently, she showed me my Grandmother's Bible. Written in the frontispiece was: "All things point to Christ's Resurrection - All things depend upon it."
We have special cause to reflect on this statement – for if we each have answered the call to live the life of Christ
[
Colossians 1:27
'Christ in you the hope of glory
{in: or, among}
'
]
, then indeed 'all things depend on [the Resurrection]'.
and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Sometimes our meetings with Christ can be restricted to formal occasions - church on Sunday; funerals; weddings ...
READ MORE
I WILL GIVE YOUR LIFE TO YOU
The Lord speaks to believers; He speaks here in Jeremiah's short prophecy to
Baruch the son of Neriah
, which interpreted means that this prophecy is addressed to the Blessed, who are born from the light of God; for that is what those names mean.
It comes from the prophet Jeremiah, who can be trusted to speak the words of The Lord, because
his
name – and thus his nature; his whole purpose – tells us that he is 'appointed by God'.
There is a time frame involved here too; the prophecy is for a specific time;
the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah
...
READ MORE...
PILGRIMAGE: WALKING IN HIS TRUTH
This post considers a painting of mine, currently (June, July and August 2013) on exhibition in Argyll as part of the Iona 2013 celebrations. The exhibition is named
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF COLUMBA.
The painting exhibited is the middle segment of an illustrative triptych, its inspiration the idea of Pilgrimage. Although often taken to be merely a journey to a shrine or holy place, the scriptural idea is one of 'walking with Jesus' - in reality, allowing the Holy Spirit to govern one's life so completely that the spirit of those faithful and that of God are inextricably joined ...
READ MORE
THE UNITY
OF THE
FAITH
I am a great admirer of the writing of Alexander McCall Smith, the author of many books including the
No 1 Ladies Detective Agency
and
44 Scotland Street
. I subscribe to his Facebook messages and some little time ago, I found this little essay:
"
Last weekend I travelled to Wigtown, a small town in the south west of Scotland that is famous for its many bookshops and now for its literary festival.
READ MORE
...
A GOING IN
THE TOPS OF
THE MULBERRY TREE
I have visions only occasionally, although a number of people I know, including my wife Gill do; but recently I had a picture of God’s pure white light being refracted through the three-in-one clear prism of His person to show the many rainbow colours of His nature.
These many colours could also show the many-membered corporate Body of Christ – they certainly speak of the Christ nature – as did Joseph’s coat of many colours.
READ MORE ...
OUR
DIVINE
APPOINTMENT
My wife and I were trying to get from Dublin to Powerscourt House to set up for a wedding. We were trying to find the southbound carriageway of the M50
Coming out of the city, I was diligently following the roadsigns for the M50 south, until we found ourselves heading away from the motorway onto a small back road to a place called Lost. It is very like a place called
Amach
, until I realised it was the Irish Gaelic for 'exit'.
READ MORE ..
.
'Make It Plain' Essays
Consider The Vision
The Adoration of The Kings
The Hireling Shepherd
The Light of The World
Noli Me Tangere
Pilgrimage: The Way, The Truth, The Life
St George and The Dragon
Link To The Vision
'Lively Stones' Meditations
The Writer