This is the 9th of 12 Intertwining, Allegorical Short Stories in a Winter Anthology by Will Callery

entitled

THICKETS

 ♣♥♣

♠♥♠ Heading back out into the Winter of My Years, I find myself Plum out of the earshot of what was once known as civilization and Nellied-Up in a neck-a-the-woods that has the appearance of being seldom tread upon by Creature or critter. The Golden Glow of the Glory of God that, on this past Christmas Day, did fill Isaiah’s fine old Lodge for the Wayfaring Man with the laughter and the camaraderie of my Kindred Kind is now but a precious memory. The further I get down the road toward that City Not Made By Man, it is as if the luminaries have dwindled. It is as if the moon has been confounded and the sun ashamed. (Isaiah 24:23, ¹wcv&²)  For it is not light, and it ain’t dark…. (Zechariah,14:6, ¹wcv&²)… and the temperature feels to have fallen into what can only be described as the frosty forboding of an arctic Leviathan that must have crept in so quickly and unaware that it put on ice the Hearts of Men, freezing them fast in their foggy little Castles In The Air, as if some Great Icy Thicket in the Winter Sky above had entangled them in place.

♠♦♠ Why, it seems as though I have ridden into the barren, deforested, high terrain of unbelief, for the place is riddled with the snags, stumps, and deadfall of those who once deemed themselves to be nothing less than the Magnificent Cedars of Lebanon, the Very Elect.  Briars, brambles, and thickets of heresy, superstition, philosophy, idolatry, and ignorance do now abound, where surely a Majestic Virgin Forest once stood tall.  Still and all, out across what are now nothing more than desolate, sin-swept flats, scarce and solitary though they be, yet with dignity and honor, standing, one here and perhaps one or two between here, there, and the horizon, a few weather-beaten Ancient Oaks of Righteousness, Warriors of an age spent long ago, still lift their massive, royal boughs unto the Lord. How did they survive?

♠ I suppose I am about to find out, for unfortunately, it is here, out on these seemingly endless, barren, sinswept flats, beneath a solitary Ancient Oak of Righteousness that I must, for now, seek Shelter From a Coming Storm, for there is a doozie on the horizon.

♥ Now, Ain’t It So, that OUT OF THE MIDST OF A STORM SUCH AS THIS, only those whose roots reach deep into the Foundational Truths of the Root of Jesse are the only ones to be found, not only STILL STANDING when the storm subsides, but also astonished at how FIRMLY FIXED in the Deeper Mysteries of the Spirit they did become in the thick of such a wild-and-wooley tempest? (Hebrews 6:1,¹wcv&²)  This is why, with all diligence, we must add to our Faith, Virtue, for without excellence in all things, Virtue (which also translates, “Excellence In Standing Strong in the Face of Adversity), we will certainly be put to shame.  To the excellence of Virtue, we must, without hesitation, acquire Knowledge, Revelation Knowledge (for the Holy Spirit is indeed the Head Master of a Trustworthy Prophet; “THE” Revealer of the deeper mysteries hidden in the Word of God, and also the Revealer of the true intentions of the Hearts of Men – with All of the Glory going to God alone; Now, Aint’ That So?). Then to this Revelation Knowledge, Temperance must quickly follow, for Temperance is of the essence (however, much to our chagrin, Temperance is only wrought in the Furnace of Affliction (Isaiah 48:10)). Nontheless, once Tempered, to this Fine Blade, we must add Godliness (Walking In UNFEIGNED HUMILTTY in the Spirit of God’s Omnipotence, Omnipresence, & Omniscience as He Gives them out to us as He sees fit) for it is only out of Godliness secured & maintained, that we can obtainTrue Brotherly Kindness. We can then, only after being captured by True Brotherly Kindness (for IT captures us, we don’t capture IT. Once captured by IT, IT owns us, forever). It is only after being captured by Brotherly Kindness that we can take hold of the Pure Benevolence of God, to keep forever as our own, that we might, on down the road, distribute IT to those in need of IT, as we once were, and still are. The Pure Benevolence of God is nothing less than the Unconditional Love of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  It is the possession of all of the above that truly tailors our character to a more perfect fit of the Divine Nature that will NEVER FALL.  (2 Peter 1:10)

♦ On my chilling trek through the High Terrain of Unbelief, where the luminaries have indeed dwindled, where the moon is confounded for lack of Reflection because the Son refuses to shine on such haughty, High Terrain; it is not light and it ain’t dark…. (Isaiah 24:23, Zechariah 14:6)...Yet it is here, in the Light of the Lord (pun intended), that I believe I have come to believe, on my journey to that City Not Made By The Hands Of Man, that it is only IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM that the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF GOD is spread abroud in out Hearts. (Romans 5:3)

♥ Now, taking all of this into consideration, do you not think it paramount that we come into the understanding of what the Lord means when he says to us, “A door has been opened to us into the ABUNDANCE of the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?….whereby He has given to us EXCEEDINGLY GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES, that IF we do, by FAITH, BELIEVE and RECEIVE these EXCEEDINGLY GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES, it is then that the DIVINE NATURE begins to possess us; in turn making us Possessors of the Divine Nature, The DIVINE NATURE of JESUS CHRIST, our Lord…” (2 Peter 1:11,4, ¹wcv&²)  The NATURE that, NO MATTER WHAT, NEVER FAILS!

♦ And oh, how we are indeed in need of such a NATURE for “We are headed into a Thicket of Times² of which the likes of have never been, nor will they ever be again.” (Matthew 24:21, ¹wcv&²)

And so it is by Faith,

Yet not by Faith alone,

For I must, with Virtue,

Build my Shelter From The Storm.  

For it is the Excellence of Virtue

In my marrow, blood, bone, and soul

That will keep this heart of flesh

From turning into stone.

If I survive this Icy Onslaught,

I will surely have obtained,

Knowledge From Above

And be Tempered like a Blade.

And with this newfound Temperance,

With Patience, I must then

Weather the ComingStorm,

In the Strength of Godliness.

Then, out of the Strength of Godliness,

On down the Road,

Out of Brotherly Kindness, I can say,

Benevolence, I have come to know.         {2 Peter 1:5-8}     {Shelter From the Storm ©Will Callery}

WILDERNESS SPIRITS by Will Callery / William & Cynthia Pub. Co. ©2013 BMI

Painting by Andrew Wyeth – “Sheep Herder”

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¹wcv / My Emphasis / Version  (Always taken from the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, & Arabic translations and connotations)

² / My Insert(s)

Letters From Over Yonder, The Deep Fetch, The Covenant, and Ain’t It So are published by William & Cynthia Pub. Co. ©2024  {All Rights Reserved}