It is Your Word
I comment not,
Thoughts my own
Must come to rot.
For all It stands
And stand it must,
Incarnate Truth;
In You, we trust.
By Light most pure
In Love we see,
Gilding the Lily
Can not be.
(With a nod to Jim Orrick)
Copyright 2021. L. L. Shelton.
My Precious Daughters,
Understand that as a Follower of Jesus your life is not your own, rather it belongs to Him, to your First Love. In the garden, Eve took her eyes off her First Love for an instant and was mesmerized by evil. Darkness personified suggested that she could be not only her own head, needing the leadership of herself alone, but that she could manage the responsibilities of God! She fell for the ploy and the fall has been lengthy and beyond challenging. May I suggest that you begin your journey in Christ by determining to forsake marriage and remain single for the love of Christ alone, or by determining to marry a man who loves Jesus Christ?
Waiting for a boy to grow into a man may be long and difficult. Waiting for a man to learn the unselfishness of God will take a life time. Waiting for a young man to become a Christian may be an altogether fruitless endeavor. The simplest method for ensuring that you are less likely to be joined to an Unbeliever is to set a standard for your romantic life. For example: I will not date at all, or I will date only those young men who profess Christ.
I’m sure the decision to remain single in Jesus and for the sake of the gospel, has its own very great rewards, and there are those faithful to this decision and lifestyle who may be of aid to you, should you take this path. However, I am familiar with the sacrement of marriage. Marriage is the most beautiful illustration of sacrifice and joy because when done with pure intention; it imitates the sacrifice of God in Christ. It is a picture of our relationship to Christ, highlighting the sacrifice He made, loving us while we were unlovable, and the blessing and joy He received and receives continually in an everlasting flow as a result. Christ sits at God’s right hand enjoying Him forever!
Your children, should you receive the blessing of children, will be most greatly affected by your choices in the area of who you consider a contender for the prize of your heart. They will benefit and suffer in large part due to the relationship you choose to form in marriage. These effects will come about as a natural consequence of the design intended by the Creator. You may attempt to use the system in a way that is inconsistent with its design but in return you will miss the consistent blessing of the fruit of obedience. Life is difficult in a fallen world, without the intended blessing it can be unbearable, not for you only but also for your children and grandchildren and their children.
Christian devotion and concern for family requires diligence and sacrifice beyond our merely human strength and regularly employs the Holy Spirit of God in Christ; as we ourselves are occasionally difficult to love, so our husbands and our children, and all within our sphere of influence will be. And yet it is our mandate to love each one well. And if you are able to love each one well, according to God’s definition of love; not perfectly, but well, you will meet with God’s idea of success.
Still, the success you achieve within your own family will not necessarily follow in the world outside your family circle and the circle of the true church. The organized church will be a place of like-minded Believers and fellows in the faith for the most part, but even here you will find some imposters. There will be some within its walls who serve darkness. The world will certainly not be without flaw. And the world will challenge all, including those who have grown up under your leadership, and should you marry, under the leadership of your devoted husband as well. Only each one’s personal relationship with Christ will keep him or her safe from evil. We live within a system marred by sin and hatred for what is right and true. Humans are broken and can only be fixed by God in Christ Jesus.
But in the midst of all, you can find rest knowing that keeping your own eyes on Jesus, you faithfully honored and served your God, and that you led by loving example and tender heart toward those you touched, and that while imperfect, you were an example of His servant leadership to those within your sphere of influence, ever hopeful that each one would receive Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior. It is the best that any woman can do.
I love you ever and always,
Mother
Though one may issue
A directive,
We see it’s all in
The perspective.
Oh Great Designer,
Our praise is due!
As in the taming
Of the shrew,
Truth be told,
Who tamed who?
Copyright 2021. L.L. Shelton.
Darkest winter,
Ice with snow,
Coldest day
I have known.
Birds a-flutter,
Through frosty pane,
Flying to
Then fro again.
By my hearth,
Most cozy be,
I’d bring them all
Inside with me!
Copyright 2021. L.L. Shelton.
Intricacies of heaven
Bound to dirt of earth,
Aching, straining,
Longing, begging,
Waiting for new birth;
Praying, learning,
Leaning, changing,
Into His Living Word;
With Love abounding,
Joy astounding,
Hoping Him to serve.
Copyright 2021. L.L. Shelton.
My Dearest Sons,
If men do not appreciate the world of today, they must look to themselves. God set up the order of things and placed men at the helm. If what has transpired, if what is, does not suit them, they have only themselves to blame. Maybe it is time to live according to God’s standards? Maybe it is time to value God and His Word above personal comfort and pleasures? Maybe it is time to bring back an individual sense of moral obligation and duty, and a denial of selfish interests?
I’m sure the decision to remain single in Jesus and for the sake of the gospel, has its own very great rewards, and there are those faithful to this decision and lifestyle who may be of aid to you, should you take this path. However, I am familiar with the sacrement of marriage. Marriage is the most beautiful illustration of sacrifice and joy because when done with pure intention; it imitates the sacrifice of God in Christ. It is a picture of our relationship to Christ, highlighting the sacrifice He made, loving us while we were unlovable, and the blessing and joy He received and receives continually in an everlasting flow as a result. Christ sits at God’s right hand enjoying Him forever! If you decide on marriage and want the best insurance that your marriage will be one that glorifies God, begin by dating only a woman who professes to love Jesus Christ, the son of God, and to own Him as her Savior and Lord.
Remember: Man brought about the fall by his abdication of duty in the garden. He chose to honor the gift rather than the giver. He turned away from his First Love, if only for a moment, and failed to lovingly lead. Then, when his Creator came looking for him to talk it over, he blamed God for the whole mess. If unhappiness, oppression, evil is abounding- return to your First Love. Acknowledge Your Creator and turn from your wickedness- and stop blaming God and others for your sin.
Stomping your foot in the backroom will not impress anyone. Yelling at others and demanding that they respect you “just because” will not work. Instilling fear in others may keep them close to you for a season but it will never do for the long haul. You must earn your place of respect in their lives, and it is their duty to respond rightly. Women and children generally and in the absence of illness, do answer well to genuinely loving, gentle guidance, and self-sacrificial leadership. And though they do not, your call to righteousness remains. When you fail, go first to God, and seek His forgiveness. Follow this with an authentic apology to the one or more whom you have wronged and there seek forgiveness. Endeavor always to approach your charges with humility, compassion, and a pure heart, clothed in the quiet strength and resolute confidence that is the result of a completely surrendered life; and you will meet with God’s idea of success.
Still, the success you achieve within your own family will not necessarily follow in the world outside your family circle and the circle of the true church. The organized church will be a place of like-minded Believers and fellows in the faith for the most part, but even here you will find some imposters. There will be some within its walls who serve darkness. The world will certainly not be without flaw. And the world will challenge all, including those who have grown up under your leadership. Only each one’s personal relationship with Christ will keep him or her safe from evil. We live within a system marred by sin and hatred for what is right and true. Humans are broken and only God in Jesus Christ can fix them.
But in the midst of all, you can find rest knowing that keeping your own eyes on Jesus, you faithfully honored and served your God, and that you led by loving example and tender heart toward those you touched, and that while imperfect, you were an example of His servant leadership to those within your sphere of influence, ever hopeful that each one would receive Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior. It is the best that any man can do.
I love you ever and always,
Mother
Copyright 2021. L.L. Shelton.
How grateful I am,
How happy to know,
How You trusted me,
How valued the soul!
How precious the moments,
How quickly they passed,
How high was the honor,
How sweet was the task!
How humbly I hope,
How sweet is the rest,
How often and always,
I’m found at your breast.
Copyright 2021. L.L. Shelton.
Is it probable that we have so abused our liberty that we have propelled our nation into a choice between thinly veiled fascism and slightly obscured communism? Is it too late for any rational choice- too late for our healing? Has the time passed for our recognition of the other’s point of view and a sincere attempt to find a common moral ground? Professing Christians stand resolutely on both sides of the divide, each one sure of his perspective and of his thoughts regarding it. Each idealogical camp accuses the other of a lack of regard for the living. Each group is sure that the other is a culture committed to death of one kind or another; therefore each assembly is pushing for its members to vote according to conscience.
What if each individual and morally grounded voter is honestly compelled to consider an issue that he believes is a promotion of our culture of death, and is certain that the other party is oblivious to said issue; therefore he casts his ballot in the opposite direction? In this case, are we not obliged to consider that each congregation’s view of death is different. As our president so aptly stated during a press briefing related to the possibility of reopening the country during the COVID Crisis, and for these words I applaud him, “There are many ways to die.”
While good Christians are united in their belief in their need of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and in their belief in His divinely appointed position as the only begotten Son Of God, good Christians are diverse in their genetic compositions as well as in their life experiences, lifestyles, and in their personal and cultural histories. These differences allow for the development of a curious array of perspectives. What if each of us on both sides of the aisle- that is each one who is truly sane- understands that death is the ultimate evil ushered into the world by sin and longs for life to prevail? What if our greatest need is to sit with the other at a round table and discover the other’s understanding of the nature, structure, and definition of death? What if, presently, our greatest common good would be to cultivate a true comprehension of the other Christian American’s view? (This is not to say that the table should accommodate those who do not profess Christ as Savior and Lord. The table I imagine would seat my friends and family members who are fruit producing, baptized Believers, as well as their loved ones who are in the same position, and as the true church we would come together to discuss our opinions of God’s communication of what constitutes oppression and death, and to further our understanding of the other tribe’s dialect concerning such things.)
I find that I agree with Ayn Rand (who by her own admission, thought under the influence of Aristotle) in specifically this: For one man to demand that another man give up his own life and personal happiness for the sake of another is the ultimate selfishness and is evil. That said, I wholeheartedly believe that the Creator God who exists does ask this of each man for the other, and encourage the Christian education that exposes others to this Biblical Truth, and the subsequent explanation of all Scripture. I hope for the church to continually propagate her beliefs founded in The Word of God to man, and that many will give up their own self-centeredness to the better man in Christ Jesus, to the power of His Holy Spirit, and to the will of God.
In conclusion, it is apparent that some good Christians are assured of the science evident in the natural physical world and other good Christians avow the “magic” of Aslan, and that some of us embrace both; of course both in the purest sense are True, as both in the purest sense can be known. Come, let the church of America reason together. Let us remember our history, and in all gravity, think on the mistakes of the past and learn from them. Let us consider the abundant evidence of resulting corruption and reject fascism, communism, and all other terrible notions. Let us avoid the evil of a totalitarian regime, as it is an absolute government of man in the place of God; and may He Himself have mercy on our souls!
Copyright 2020. L.L. Shelton.
How is it that you read
Lady Chatterly’s Lover,
And come away simply aroused by a passionate affair?
That you are acquainted with
The Diary of Anne Frank,
And note only the introspections of a young girl becoming familiar with her body?
That you have knowledge of
Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret,
And are moved merely by the description of menses?
That you read
Huckleberry Finn,
And place your focus on one foul word?
That you study Orwell and are stunned only by illustrations of suffering?
Perhaps you, as Alice, drank a vile potion?
Copyright 2020. L.L. Shelton.
Precariously perched,
Bright new wings unfurled,
Her wretched screaming slowed,
Still at her past Is hurled;
And round the fragile stem of life
Her feeble feet are curled,
“I cannot save you from yourself,
I recognize the plea;
For many years I heard the cry
Yet I could not save me.
Now here I stand with heart in hand,
The child is finally free.”
Light blinds her temporarily,
She’s startled by the noise;
Walking slowly to the edge
Though in her pain is poised,
To take to flight across the sky,
Embracing future joys.
Copyright 2020. L.L. Shelton.