This is the 12th of 15 Allegorical Short Stories Forged & Fashioned by the Spirit of God into

An Anthology of a Wayfaring Man

as penned by Will Callery.

The 12th is entitled

THICKETS

 ♣♥♣

♠♥♠ Heading back out into the Winter of My Years, I find myself Plum out of 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 a Creature or a 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, war-torn 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 STORMS SUCH AS THESE, 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, 1 Corinthians 4:1 &14:2,¹wcv&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 alone is the Head Master of all Trustworthy Prophecies, as well as “THE” Revealer of the deeper mysteries hidden in the Word of God, and the Revealer of the true intentions of the Hearts of Men – with All of the Glory going to God and no other). 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, this Fine Blade, with Patience must wait for Godliness to come into view, (which is garning the ability, which sometimes comes through much failure, to Walk In an UNFEIGNED HUMILTTY  in the Lord’s Omnipotence, Omnipresence, & Omniscience as doled out by the Spirit as He sees fit) for it is only out of Godliness secured & maintained, that we can obtain True 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, a Great Blessing befalls us; 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 us to a more perfect fit of the Divine Nature of Christ that will, not only NEVER FALL, but, IN THE MIDST OF EACH AND EVERY STORM,  FIX US more deeply in the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God, Hidden in Christ.  (2 Peter 1:10, Matthew 13:11, 1 Corinthians 4:1)

♦ On my chilling trek through this High Terrain of Unbelief, the luminaries have indeed dwindled, and the moon is dolefully confounded for lack of Reflection because the Son absolutely refuses to be seen in all His fullness in the company of such haughty, High Terrain; therefore, it is not light and it ain’t dark…. (Isaiah 24:23, Zechariah 14:6)...Notwithstanding, it is here, in the Light of the Lord (pun intended), that I have concluded, just how paramount it is that we GET A HANDLE ON exactly what it is the Lord means when he says that it is, “For A Time Such As This…that a door has been opened to us into the ♥ ABUNDANCE ♥ , ♥ ABUNDANCE ♥ , ♥ ABUNDANCE ♥ of the EVERLASTING KINGDOM of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?….whereby He gives to us EXCEEDINGLY GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES, that IF we do, by FAITH, BELIEVE and RECEIVE these EXCEEDINGLY GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES, that the DIVINE NATURE will begin to Possess us in a far greater degree, which in turn, makes us, the Possesser; Partakers 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 I am indeed in need of the DIVINE NATURE of LOVINGKINDNESS that possesses the ATTRIBUTES to handle such GODLY POWER and ABUNDANCE, 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 this 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 will then

Weather the Coming Storm,

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}

THE OUTSHINING by Will Callery / William & Cynthia Pub. Co. ©2008 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}