The Wicked Dismantle Bricks From Rome; The Good Lay Them Down
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Every day there is a battle over the soul between evil and good; the evil serves the appetite, filling us up with everything that we want this instant; while good, or God, calls us to step aside, to deny our own desire, and wait on him. Then he is the one who fills us, and it is God who brings us to that peace we were seeking but not finding, to that hope we thought was soon to be ahead of us, but which remained elusive to us.
When we sin and are afflicted by chaos and confusion, we have turned away from God and opened ourselves to spirits which lead away from God and to hell. Choosing self is choosing the unrighteous path, and if we serve this path, we are on the way to damnation, because before we love and glorify God by our lives, we love and glorify ourselves. We chase an idol, a light of false belief, and go down a road that does not lead to home; but to a desert, a pit, a shadow, a wasteland of sin. But there is always hope to the sinner in a God who mercy is endless, who will always accept every contrite heart that draws near to him.
We have a choice in our combat against sin, in the freedom the Lord gives us, to seek the Kingdom and the fruit of the Kingdom, or to seek the world and be satisfied in the world.
If we seek the world, and do not turn – if we are inspired by the things of the world and seek them before God – we will reap the crop we have planted, and find ourselves empty and barren; our lives absent of the joy which we hoped to find in these false lights. This joy escapes us, even as we do not understand why; and only if we turn back to God, and open our hearts to his Holy Spirit, do we see how we were foolish, and where we had first sought ourselves before Jesus.
But if we repent of our selfishness, we will turn to see a God who loves us, whose arms are open to all who repent – that is Jesus!
As we seek the good, we open our hearts to the good, and God can make his dwelling place in us – and it is God who leads us to produce good fruit. We do not choose how to produce good fruit, or learn how to be good through fierce study – but it is through a simple faith, a simple willingness to seek the good, that God begins to work in us. And through us, he begins to accomplish his mission here on earth; as he makes use of us as his instruments.
The law of a Christian is revealed in part by Holy Scripture; but this is only the proof, or test, which measures the heart, and not the goodness of the heart itself – that is Jesus.
"For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Galatians 5:14)
It is the love of Jesus that is our law; and this love is always with us, leading us gently towards righteousness, instructing us patiently in all things – which we know, and understand, if we are willing to listen. If anything else occupies our hearts, we will be deaf to the good voice of Jesus; but if we are humble, then we will understand the truth that escapes our distractions, that God is all around us, leading us, calling us always to pick up our cross and follow him!
If we scorn aside as dust those things which we think are very important, and instead give everything to Jesus; our lives are led by him, and everything is arranged not by our own plans, but by him. We are clothed in new garments that are not our own, but from Jesus; our lives are not recognizeable to ourselves, but are good, as God has led them to be good. The more we control, the more our lives will grow hollow and cold; but the more we surrender, the more God will work in our lives to fulifill his will.
As we seek the Kingdom first above everything, not worried about all the things that press upon us, God does all the rest. As we draw near to Heaven, as we learn to listen to God as he himself teaches us, leads us, and calls us to be a witness to others – God transforms our lives into something we would never have planned, nor anticipated, nor ever chosen for ourselves. In this life there is peace, and there is a hope for the world to come. If we stray from God, this peace will withdraw; but if we repent, and turn back to Jesus, there is always hope. Every moment of our lives, we are called to live in Christ; this life does not conform with our own will or understanding, it does not obey the terms which the world – the whole world – argues are essential. It stands against every wave of the world like a protuding rock refusing to flounder, remaining firm on truth even as all chaos abounds around us. Should we hold to Jesus, trusting him absolutely – nothing, no storm no mater how terrible, will endure; but in Christ we will be led victory by victory to the final judgement day of all Creation, where we and all others who shared in God’s mission, will rejoice together not in anything we did or choose for ourselves, but out of a gratitude for all which the Lord – with no regard to our own worthiness in the matter – did for us sinners. All of this is available to us, if we cease from going our own way, and open ourselves to the life of faith – which is always here before us, regardless of where we are or whatever it is we are doing.
I am a Catholic of the Iowa area, from the St Theresa Parish from the local Des Moines diocese. I enjoy writing with the time that I have, and also helping out where I can at my local parish. I am working on a creative project called Leydaelphos, that I am still struggling to finish as it continues to get more and more complex, and I also write theological essays during Scripture devotionals. In these and also articles I write, I seek inspiration, and to write towards the end of that inspiration – trusting God to carry me through. Often he does, leading me onwards on roads I never before imagined, roads I discover only as I first seek God. He speaks very simply, and very directly, and as we remain in him, so does he remain in us, and carries us into worlds that lie far beyond ourselves. To always be seeking his mystery, this is where God is calling us to be; to love all things unconditionally! Though alas, sinners we be, God is yet rich in grace and mercy.
