On The Day That The Old Turns New

 Early this morning while I was listening to a Christian radio station, a woman called in with a question.  In Ezekiel 28:15 it speaks about Lucifer – that he was perfect in all of his ways, even from the day that he was created, until iniquity was found in him.  And so, she went on to ask that if God, his Creator, had no iniquity in Himself, and Lucifer being perfect in all of his ways, had then no iniquity in himself – from where did iniquity come?  The man clearly told her that there was no answer for her question.  I believe that in some sense Deuteronomy 29:29 answers it.  This verse speaks about the things of secret – or I guess you can say, mystery – belonging to the Lord.  I’d say a better answer couldn’t be found anywhere else in scripture.  Sometimes I think we just need to let God be God in His highly exalted position, while we be who we are in the lowly and humble places.

What if one day a man’s very intelligent six – year old asked his father to explain to him all of the many details of the job he worked.  If the man cooperated, the child would understand some things, while others would only make his head spin.  How similar is this to the believer’s experience as he walks under the watchful eye of his Heavenly Father.  And so, while we follow our Lord upon the paths He has marked out for us, He shows to us many things.  He opens the scriptures to us in accordance with how much we have grown in Him, along with our passion to know Him more.  However, I’m sure that no matter how we press Him and pull at His sleeve, that there are certain matters that we will never understand – that is, this side of the Kingdom in its fullness.  Yet in ignorance we may still make efforts to tear down the curtain that separates life on earth from the Life above.  But it will all be for naught.  What we are not ready for, He will not disclose to us.  We then can go on and on in trying to understand heavenly things with earthly minds – this being what we often do – but it will not be given us.  The revelations of God are given only as one becomes of age.  And there is so much that will never become known to us while still in this mortal flesh.

Sometimes I just like to sit and watch my four goldfish.  They always seem to be in such perfect peace as they swim and they swim from morning till night.  Never do they have any weighty matters on their minds.  I wish, I wish,  I wish I was a fish.  Not really.  Because one day it’s all going to happen.  In a flash we are going to be in the Presence of our God and Maker.  Immediate Joy, like has never been known, will begin to flood our spirits.  Every question will be forgotten.  The Light of God will be all about us, unlike any light we have ever known.  We, with Christ our Head, will become the heirs of a new universe– even as it is written of in the book of Hebrews.  The Old is now past.  The New Is Alive Forevermore.

J. Pecoraro

O GREAT DAY

Upon the clouds – where hearts run Free,

And with the Fairest Lover,

There rode a cosmic cavalry

And Glory was their cover.

How songs rang out on the Newborn Day.

They were songs of Joy and Power,

As all sat Tall in vast array,

Each rider like a Tower.

Hope was once their weary test

Concerning the Great Day.

But now all hope was Manifest

As their Captain led the way.

Such Majesty upon His Head

Could Ne’er be told nor written.

And with His Sword so marked by dread

All foes would soon be smitten.

How His Eyes burned o so bright.

They’d lay each rebel Bare,

Exposing in them what was night

And Knowing every hair.

He wore a vesture dipped in Blood;

This to His enemy’s shame.

Yet by that Flowing Crimson Flood

This Warrior gained a Name.

His Name to none He could not show –

Not to those who knew Him best.

For God and God Alone would know

His Triumphs and His Quest.

 

Now there filled the endless skies

Innumerable white steeds,

And fierce, resonant battle cries

While attesting to the Creed.

Columns advanced side by side –

No, none could see their end.

They rode as Deep as they were Wide.

Now Conviction would not bend.

Then all did halt at His Command.

Throughout heaven there was Silence,

As the Captain gazed on a Bloody land

And beheld the peoples’ Violence.

 

To all He signaled – to Far and Wide.

Into a canter broke each steed.

One matched another stride for stride;

Was Glorious indeed.

Suddenly the pace sped up

And hard they all did ride.

Heaven’s Wrath had Filled the cup

With earth no place to hide.

Now the horses Rent the Skies

With pounding hooves of Thunder.

Lightning Flashed, blinding eyes,

And clouds were torn Asunder.

They rode with Fury, every man,

Hearts never so Awoken.

Though as Filled with Fire they ran,

The ranks were never broken.

Soon would start the great descent

To touch down in the east,

A mighty army Heaven-sent

To lay hold of the Beast.

As they alighted on the earth

The Nations were Amazed.

So long they’d heard of a mass Rebirth –

Still, minds were Sorely dazed.

Dismounting from the fairest steed

In the presence of Perdition,

The Captain glared at Satan’s seed

And at all his coalition.

To the Dark One it was shown

That now had come his Final hour,

As they bound him to a Great millstone

And Stripped away his power.

Then the Captain turned to a Weary World

And He vowed that Peace and Love,

Would be upon the earth Unfurled –

He had brought it From Above.

His army raised His Banner high.

He wiped the world’s Tears –

The Prince who rode down from The Sky,

And He Reigned A Thousand Years.

-  J. Pecoraro

This Great Christ Jesus - This One Mediator

There was a time when Jacob was sent by his father Isaac to the land of Paddan – aram, to take a wife for himself there.  It was the land where the people of Jacob’s mother dwelt.  We know her as Rebekah.  The day had arrived and Isaac sent Jacob off with the blessing of Abraham upon him and his descendants.

At some point in Jacob’s journey he had come to a place where he decided to spend the night.  While there he had a dream.  In this dream there was a Ladder set upon the earth with its top reaching into the heavens.  The angels of God were ascending and descending upon it.  Before leaving the following morning Jacob named the place Bethel.

It was about two thousand years later that our Lord Jesus met with Nathanael – one who would be among the chosen twelve.  Upon seeing Nathanael drawing towards him Jesus exclaimed, “ Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”  Nathanael asked how it was that Jesus knew of him.  Jesus answered and said to him, “ before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”  Nathanael was astonished, confessing to the Lord that surely he was the Son of God.  The Lord responded with these words.  “ Hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” 

And so, who was it that the Ladder in Jacob’s dream would be representing?  Doubtless it was our Lord.  But what does the  matter speak to us of?  It’s telling us that it is none but our precious Lord Jesus, who in his Spirit stands upon the earth, while reaching even to the heavens.  In this he has become the One and only Mediator between heaven and earth.  By this he joins every believer to the Father – in and through the Person of himself.  But what is the purpose of the angels ascending and descending upon him?  No doubt, this is to do his bidding in whatever the matters may be.  At times it may be for them to attend to we believers, who are members of his body – connected by and through the Spirit.  No doubt this is why Hebrews 1:14 reads, “ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”

Nevertheless, I’m sure that Bethel – the place of Jacob’s Ladder, is not the only place  where the Spirit of Christ fills all space between heaven and the surface of our world.  It would only make sense that the totality of earth’s atmosphere is filled with the presence of the Spirit of Christ Jesus, since He is God the Son, and in Him are no limits.  True that today He is seated at the right hand of the Father.  Yet by His Spirit He fills all that is of the earth and beyond -  even all of the heavens of God.

J. Pecoraro

The Paths of God

For every believer there is a course to follow – and on it should the eye always remain.  It is all that we are called to; It is all that we should desire; it is all that we must come to know.  And so we gaze intently at His holy Word, while our path becomes full of light before us.  Eagerly must we set our feet upon the paths of God, that we may search them out.  In a world only in part yet full of wonder, should we not ever explore them?  And as we travel on He broadens the way; then more splendid grows the Light.

Love and Power and Glory and Beauty envelop the way of the adventurer that treads the paths of God.  I am careful to set my foot in no place wherein my Captain has not first made me a way.  For it is He alone that goes before us and makes ready every byway that must receive us, formed and fashioned by the Almighty’s hand.  Though He goes before me, it is not every path that is pleasant.  Many are they that become darkened for reason of approaching storms.  For we must not only know the joys and delights of the One who leads us, but also the trials and the burdens and the heavy heart which were once known by Him.  These are roads stony and not smooth, slippery and not easy to hold to.  Still, His sure and steady hand is ever stretched out behind Him, and to it we hold in those dark places where the tempest rages and heavy rains sting the face of the one who treads the paths of God.

But it is not long and there appears a silver lining, so that soon every ominous cloud makes haste, obeying the will of their Master on high.  Ahead lies a season of refreshing and fellowship divine with the One who our souls love – the One who we are joined to forever.  Again do we drink from brooks of living waters and eat of the bountiful fruit of the land.  Together under setting sun do we taste of the wine of our desire.  Once more life is good. Our path is full of light again; in this light do we bask all the day.  We catch hold of the wind and on it we ride to wondrous heights – heights not ordinarily encountered by most who tread the paths of God.

Lonely are the heights of heaven, those roads that great souls travel, where the hush of true holiness falls.  Here like pure snow it covers all the land.  This is sanctuary, a world hid away from all others.  Those to be encountered in these places are but a few, but when one’s way does cross with the way of another, most wonderful is that meeting.  So glorious are the heights of heaven for those who tread the paths of God.

But even in heaven’s heights do wars occur, and so one must remain vigilant.  Whether in high or low places; whether in the sunshine or the storm; whether in the morning or in the noontide, war may suddenly be waged.  And so at all times and in all places seven swords will be needed.  With these we are able to lay waste the enemy.  And these are the seven swords that we must never be discovered without.  They are Faith and Hope and Love; they are Knowledge and Wisdom and Understanding.  And the last and seventh sword is the sword of the Person of the Spirit.  It is He that makes sharp the blades of the other six; and that by the working of His own blade, so that they may become of powerful effect.

But one Day every sword shall become a plowshare; and as these become changed so will their purpose become radically different.  Instead of tools to bring down an enemy to the ground, they will serve to bring the elect up from the ground.  Then they will be implemented in such a way so that the good fruits of the Father’s election become grown and harvested; and whoever may taste of them shall be nourished and strengthened.

And in those days the heavy rains will no longer sting the face of the one who treads the paths of God.  Nor will the storms bring anything to ruin anymore.  The tempest will never again blow with relentless fury.  Then, as it is written, “All of the rough places shall become smooth, and every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.  Made straight in the desert will be a highway for our God, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.”  Yes this is the future and surely this is the certain hope for all who tread the paths of God.

“For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”

J. Pecoraro                                      

The Wild Stallion

A wild stallion once was I,
Running the grasslands, spirits high.
And though my life was filled with ease,

A greater one I could not please.

This greater one, a son of man,
Desired to put me on his land.
To break my will, and to break my heart,
And require of me my every part.

So why did I take to such a notion
Of boundless loyalty and devotion?
Had I become witless, or did I merely need change,
For life had grown wearisome on that range?

One brisk autumn morning a rider drew near,
But somehow I knew there was nothing to fear.
Unlike other times when I’d just run away,
I willfully laid down my freedom that day.

There were hard times ahead and stubborn was I
For the ways of the free do not easily die.
But my master was gentle and loving and kind
And when the task was complete there was newness of mind.

I no longer run for my own foolish pleasure.
I’ll reveal you a secret, an invaluable treasure.
A horse of the wild may run freer and faster,
But the horse that’s fulfilled is the horse with a master.

J. Pecoraro

A poem that I wrote for a message I gave back in the nineties.  And I guess I can say it's my testimony.