Eternity in Light of God's Gift of Peace

"When you are dead, you are dead a long time." was my father's only words to me after hearing about the stupid thing I had done.  I'm sure he wanted to say more but chose not to.
 That day on the farm I was a teenage boy working in the field with our LA Case, a strong 4-5 bottom-plow tractor.  As evening neared, rather foolishly, I chose to go home through the ditch instead of going back to the driveway.  From the bottom of the ditch the tractor jerked as it started up the steep incline.  The climb was too much and it suddenly began to lift the front wheels off the ground.  The tractor reared up so quickly that I fell to the ground.  Then I watched in utter dismay as this powerful tractor killed its motor standing straight up just over me.  I slowly crawled out from under it and walked home, in awe at what happened and mostly, that I was still alive.
 In a cartoon by Jeff Larson, a drop of water, representing our life on earth, is falling in to a bucket of water marked eternity. The point is to live your life aware of the fact that your time on earth is extremely short compared to eternity.  Our time of life actually is totally insignificant compared to the billions of years with forever to go that eternity represents, and yet everything depends on what choices or seeds we sow in this realm.
 However, eternity isn't just duration, but rather a quality of life, thanks to God sending and revealing Jesus.  "This is eternal life, that they know thee, the only true God, and the One whom He sent." (John 17:3)  Christmas clearly shows that the Heart of God is to reveal Himself to man and make a way for us to enjoy Him forever.  Jesus came to earth and manifested the very nature and greatness of God, so we could know Him. 
 We come to know Him by accepting who He is and what He has done.  It pleased the Father to provide an innocent, perfect sacrifice to pay for all of man's failures.  Jesus rose from the dead and demonstrated his complete victory over sin and death. We can live because He lives.  And finally, God sends the Holy Spirit to personally reveal Jesus to all who come to Him and desire to walk with Him.
 Peace on earth, good will toward men.  In a quiet, powerful way the little baby born in Bethlehem sends an eternal message that God longs for us to be with Him and He is willing to go to any and all costs to make it possible.   The starting point is realizing that we need His shed blood and sacrifice to cover our wrong choices, and secondly, that trusting His love enough to invite Him to rule over us, we submit to Him as "Lord" forever.
The Christmas carols tell of the quiet and peaceful night. Those who reponded, who came to adore Him, experienced the peace and quiet of God's glory.  Today He asks you to simply "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) and to receive His incredible gift of peace and quiet in your inner man.  Life is much more than these 70 or 80 years on the earth; it really does last, as Dad said, "a long time." So the most important and critical choice you will ever make is to let Jesus change your eternal destiny.  Come, taste and see that He is good.  With a grateful and sincere heart, declare "Jesus, I come to you believing you paid for my sins and I am unashamed to say, Jesus, you are my Lord."
You have just received the gift that Jesus brought for all men at that first Christmas. 

Thanksgiving Opens the Door to BFF Relationship

As a young man I loved airplanes, especially when they took off or landed. So it probably follows that my thoughts during sleep one night floated in this direction.  In my dream I was overwhelmed with the power and beauty of a large 747 landing on the airport runway just a few feet away from me.  My heart pounded at the awesome grace and consuming noise.  Then the words came to me, "the great thing about this is that it will just get better and better forever!"  When I awoke that phrase resounded in my thinking and I felt God was moving my attention to something far more significant than airplanes landing that would get better and better forever.
This week I was reminded again about this great promise and truth as we were teaching our students at school the value and place of thanksgiving in God's kingdom.  Psalm 100 instructs us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  However, once we enter with thanksgivng and go into His courts with praise, then what we do?
I am going to suggest we simply stop, be still, and look at Him.  Know that you are in the awesome presence of the living God, and Jesus Christ, who revealed the Father's love on earth through His taking our place in paying the price of death for our sins.  Take time to behold Him as He really is, One who is both overwhelmingly majestic and yet also who passionately enjoys you. The more we wait in His presence and experience His consuming love the more we are changed.  In His light we become light, meaning our heart and thoughts and emotions start becoming like Him.  God's original purpose for man is to walk with Him and share His nature, so after giving thanks and praise, we are invited by God to stand with Him.
Paul had an understanding of this mystery, as quoted in Philippians, expressing his greatest desire as "to know Him and the power of His resurrection."  Likewise, in Colossians 1:10 he prays we will be fruitful and well pleasing to God as we increase in the knowledge of Him.
Being transformed into God's glorious nature is described in 2 Corinthians 3:18 as a work of the Holy Spirit, which happens as we look upon His glory and greatness.  We can humbly come to Jesus and ask Him to help us see His face, His nature, His substitutional death and overcoming resurrection, and simply enjoy being with Him.   As we behold and consider Him, God promises to change us from glory to glory, strength to strength, and from our fallen nature into His light.
"This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" the Father declared over Jesus after his baptism in the Jordan.   However, since God is no respecter of persons and He declares in His Word that He loves each one of us the same as He loves Jesus, this incredible affection is extended beyond Jesus.  For a moment close your eyes and imagine God the Father saying to you, "You are My beloved son (daughter) in whom I am well pleased."  And for the rest of eternity, this absolutely amazing love and glorious relationship will increase and continue to be revealed to you until you share the fullness of God, know His love for you, and enjoy the glory of being one with Him.   No wonder it only gets better and better forever!
Giving thanks is the door.  Jesus and the opportunity to know Him is the reward waiting to happen.  Jesus prays to His Father in John 17:22-26 for us to receive His glory and the love with which the Father loved Jesus.  God waits to give us and help us know an eternal, ever-increasing love that overcomes all and is permanently sealed with the only true BFF (Best Friend Forever!).

What Shall the Righteous Do?

If the foundations are shaken, what shall the righteous do? Psalm 11 further asks how can you say "Flee as a bird to the mountains" rather than trust God.  That the godly foundation of America is shaken is unquestionable.  No wonder many Christians feel like running away from it all. 
One of the realities of the recent election is that the majority of Americans voted for those who favor killing babies in abortion and perverting marriage with acceptance of homosexuality.  God's principles were simply not important enough or considered too narrow. Even strong pleas from godly leadership like David Barton and Billy Graham were unheeded.
  Abraham Lincoln wisely stated that what happens in the schools in one generation will be in the government in the next.  So it follows that since God and His Ten Commandments were thrown out of our schools in the sixties, that this generation has grown into the adults that have no place for God's standards in the election of today.
  Which brings us to the original question, what shall the righteous do? Rather than run, it is time to turn to God and cry out for mercy.  A bedrock principle is that God is not mocked.  Judgment will surely follow any country that slaughters innocent babies and perverts the godly ordinance of marriage and the God-given purpose of sex.  The only hope is for someone to stand in the gap and intercede for the land.      
  God would have saved Sodom and Gomorrah for 10 righteous people. The 2 Chronicles 7:14 promise still stands today, if God's people in America will humble themselves and pray, turning from their wicked ways, then God will hear from heaven and heal our land.  Obviously God delights in mercy.  He takes no pleasure in the death and judgment of the wicked.  He longs to rescue the lost and to change the hearts of men.  So a major part of His plan is calling intercessors to turn whole-heartedly to Him and to seek Him with humble repentance and worshipful praise. 
God has warned in Isaiah 60 that darkness will cover the earth, but His light and glory will be seen on you (believers).  So even if there is gross darkness in the hearts of voters who give approval of abortion and homosexuality, God hasn't given up.  He is seeking those who will respond to the challenge by diligently seeking His face and obeying the leading of His Spirit to stand as a light in the midst of a "crooked and perverse" generation.  Stand in the gap and cry out for mercy, with praise and thanksgiving to an absolutely wonderful Father who cares infinitely much about His children.  His glory will be seen upon you.

Choosing Weakness?

Power!  We live in the NFL football age when everyone gets excited about a powerful fullback who can crush through the hefty defensive line.  We admire power and speed.  Nobody wants to be the 97-pound weakling.

In almost total contrast, Jesus in the sermon on the mount lays out the foundation for the kingdom of God.  Significantly all the keys to life He gives suggest laying your life down and trusting God to supernaturally reward and empower you.  However, rather than laying down your life in death, you are called to live with a surrender style by doing such things as pray, fast, give, serve, and yes, even bless and love your enemies.

Notice that each of these practices allow you to lay down your life by giving of your time, effort, feelings, thoughts, and strong sentiments.  Each of these demand you choose the position of weakness.  In prayer, you pour out your heart and cry out to God, choosing the attitude of weakness that God has to do it, you can't.  In fasting, you deliberately let your body energy get weak and trust God to enable you through increasing your spiritual relationship and depending on His strength.  In giving, you deliberately decrease your financial resources trusting that God sees and will reward you.  In serving, you give or lose your own time and effort to help someone else, while your own desired use of the time is denied.  And finally, in loving your enemies, you have to override your thoughts and sentiments toward the one who wronged you and deliberately bless the other person in obedience to the Lord's instruction.  You make youurself weak.  God becomes your strength.

A person would be a fool to deliberately become weak and get run over by the other guy, unless God said to do it and He backed up His Word with action.

Jesus started His public ministry by laying out these simple attitudes and practices to point out that the kingdom of God is the exact opposite of fallen human nature's desires.  The weakness principle can also be summarized by Jesus' words, "he who loses his life for my sake shall find it." The question is "Do you believe that enough to actually do the very things He stated as a step of faith that you know He will do His part?"

Choosing weakness isn't weak.  It is the wisdom and power of God put into action.  Praise God forever for giving us the way to life and the power to live supernaturally on this earth!

Raising Cain

Many of us are "Cains."  Fallen human nature raises Cain.  Our flesh tends to follow the attitude that Cain displayed toward God.  In Genesis 4, Cain offers to God what he wants to give.  In contrast, Abel offers to God what God really wants.  As "Cains," we do things for others and for God, but it is only what we want to give, not necessarily what the other really wants.

Man-made religion performs various rituals and practices in order to gain God's favor. However, the truth is God has already chosen us and given us His infinite favor. This revealed love, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), is not earned, just given. All God seeks is for man to receive what Jesus has done and come into a loving relationship with Him.   Our only honest and humble response is to honor Him by choosing to do what He wants.  In one word, obey.

We would rather do things for God than obey from the heart.  Yet, Samuel reminds us, "Obedience is better than sacrifice."  Even when describing Jesus in Hebrews 10, the Word  states that "sacrifices and offerings You did not desire," but rather, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." 
Obviously coming to do God's will is what God desires. 

Our challenge is simple.  Rather than adopting the "give only what I want" attitude of Cain, find out what God really wants and simply do it.

Do What? Be What? Impossible!

Have you ever noticed how God almost casually states things that seem utterly impossible to man?  He told Adam to name all the animals.  He told Noah to build an ark (450 ft. by 75 ft.) when it had never been done before and it had never rained.  He told Joshua to march around Jericho and shout to defeat an impenetratable fortress!  He told Moses to speak to Pharaoh to let all his slaves go.  Likewise Jesus often told His apostles to do "impossible" things: fear not in the storm, feed the crowd of 5000 with five loaves and two fish, even to heal the sick and raise the dead.  He told believers to "Be holy."  Throughout history God has instructed man to do seemingly impossible things.
However nothing compares with God's command,  "Be holy, for I am holy."   What could be more impossible than being holy like God?  Furthermore, Hebrews 12:14 states that we should "Pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord."  So not only does God command holiness, He declares that it is a necessity to see Him.
"Holy" is the essential character of God Himself.   All created beings will cry "Holy, holy, holy" for eternity in God's presence.    The word can be partially defined as "set apart, consecrated, pure, transcendent."  The point is that clearly reaching this state or characteristic is impossible for man and his abilities.  So the answer must be God.  He has to do it. "With God all things are possible."
In the beatitiudes, or the declaration of the principles of God's Kingdom, Jesus stated, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  Matthew 5:8  These simple statements accentuate the qualities God wants us to desire and value as eternally important.  Those "set apart, consecrated, pure in heart" ones will see God.
One of the principles of God's Kingdom is the working of our participation and God's power.  When we seek Him with our whole heart, He will be found.  When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us.  When we forgive others He forgives us.  So in the case of the qualities of the beatitudes and holiness, when we choose and seek these responses, we allow Him to do that work in us. 
Jesus said in a little differently in John 12, "believe in the light that you may become sons of light."  That belief or faith is further explained in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."  The point isn't God's holiness, or man's impossibility of attaining it by himself; but rather it is knowing and trusting that God will reward or come through for those who seek Him. 
God calls us to be holy, we desire and choose to seek it, He does it in us.  "He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it." 1 Thess 5:24  Be holy.

To Will and to Work for His Good Pleasure

We serve an amazing God!  He puts the desire in us to do something and then as we embrace that choice and stand in faith, He does it (through us).  And to top it off, it pleases Him.  Philippians 2:13 states "for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

What work do we have to do?  Clearly the Word of God in James points out that faith without works is dead.  Likewise, Ephesians 2:10 declares "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  He intends for us to work as a result of our faith, and He has prepared things for us to do.

Does He do it or do we do it? Yes.  Let me ask you a question.  Did you believe to get saved or did God give you the grace to believe and you simply received it?  The answer is "yes."

Perhaps Galatians 2:20 can shed light on our dilemma. "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."  In other words, when I accept that Jesus gave Himself for me and realize by faith that I, my old man, died with Him, then, also by faith, I now live in His resurrected life.  My new life is hidden in the living risen Lord and He is in all I do.  We are eternally joined.  So everything I now do is by His strength and power through faith.  Instead of complaining about having to work, we now understand that God enables me to do all things as a way to partner with Him.  My working together with Him gives Him pleasure.

What a great perspective--we can please the Creator of the Universe simply by doing the things set before as an act of cheerful worship.  Faith makes it happen.  Jesus said the work of God is to believe in the One whom He sent.  When we believe in Jesus and His life in us, everything we do comes from God and is by God's strength.

God's desire from the beginning was to have fellowship with us. He is pleased to accomplish work together with us.  He gives us the desire and provides the power and we get the joy of accomplishing the work.