ISAIAH 31:1-3

Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD

Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.

Now the Egyptians are men and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

The tendancy to place our confidence in what we see can seem unavoidable at times. It requires no faith to believe that it’s there and if it appears able to deliver those within its proximity, we are quick to place our trust therein. This is what many were doing in Isaiahs time. They saw Egypt as a safe haven that could hold its own against any foe and offer a stable environment to anyone living within its borders. Yet the Egyptians were human and their horses were a temporary commodity. Each was, at any given time, merely a heartbeat away from ceasing to be a player in this world. There’s no promise of a tomorrow, but everyone has an appointed time in which they will stand before the Creator of all that is.

Our demise can come without warning. Today we tend to place confidence in our country, our leaders, our resume, people in our ambience, and a host of other havens that appear to offer us a certain perception of security. Yet none of these things can truly deliver in the times of shaking. Everything has a breaking point and when all has come down, only those that do know their God will be strong and do exploits. If we are in Christ, we may well go through ths same shaking that everyone else is going through, but we have nothing to fear from that shaking. The threatening circumstances in the world should cause us to draw closer to Jesus and to be reminded that he is more than able to deliver. And when our time in this world is completed, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. “

Blessings always in Jesus name.

 

ECCLESIASTES 8:8

There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.”

At some point, everyone leaves this world. Their lives, be they prolonged or cut off suddenly in the primary years, will at some point be concluded and everything gathered over the course of those years will be scattered to the wind. We look at the surroundings and it seems so steadfast. We go about our lives, day in and dayout and in general see little difference between them each day seems to mimic the previous and we expect tomorrow to run a similar course. How often does the thought of an interruption in the flow of events come to mind. One mishap on a freeway, a brain clot, falling victim to a criminal, any moment could easily be our final snapshot of life on planet earth. I have no promise of finishing this post; even though it’s certain to be a short one.

A lifetime is all but nothing when compared to eternity. Seventy or eighty years if everything goes smoothly with the latter years involving divers medical complications as the outward man slowly peririshes. In short, the only thing that matters is our standing with God. When the final moment arrives, (and it “will” arrive) the house we live in, the accomplishments in this world, our reputation amongst our peers, our treasures in this life, none of it will matter. It will all become as nothing. The only thing that matters at that moment will be “is your name written in heaven?” Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; the only one who can forgive sins? I would, with all diligence, inquire of this matter. Set aside everything that you think you know and search this out.

A soul is eternal. The job will someday cease to be, the career path completed, the kids will be out of the nest, youth will succumb to the relentless advances of time, and everything treasured in this life will, at some point vanish. But you will abide forever and ever, either in the paradise of God or in a place of everlasting regret and torment. No issue in life is more important than this one. If you have never truly repented of the sin that separates you from God and asked Jesus to save you, please don’t wait until it’s too late. As the verse above warns us, “there is no discharge in that war.” Or in other words, tomorrow is not a promise to anyone.

James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

This may seem radical, or even uncomfortable to many, but if serious about this matter please pray. Even if you happen to be a committed athiest please, with all sincerety, ask “God if you are really there, please reveal this to me.” Don’t let pride stand in the way. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance. There comes a moment,however, when time runs out. For anyone reading this, time hasn’t run out yet, but could at any moment.

 

“It’s All About the Word”

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. (John1:1)

Occasionally, the question is raised by those who question the deity of Christ “how can be be the Son of God and God manifest in the flesh at the same time?” The verse above, in the eyes of such would raise the same question. The Word was both “with God” and “was God.” It’s a truth upon which our faith is founded; Jesus Christ the only begotten of the Father. Trying to explain it in its entirety would be like trying to explain how God can be from everlasting and to everlasting. We know from scripture that he is, however our mind would tell us “this can’t be. He had to come from somewhere.” The truth of Gods omnipotence shows just how little we know about all that is and we like to have things figured out. There are those who spend their entire lives trying to figure it all out.

This blog was started some time ago, however, I was uncertain as to where to go with it. I’ve decided to focus strictly upon the word of God; bringing forth scriptures and thinking out loud, as it were about them.  There are verses that are so deep; so outside of our consideration, that as we read them and read them again, increasingly profound truth comes forth. They just keep getting deeper and more fascinating as the Holy Spirit grants understanding. (Careful to not allow the imagination to get in the way) Jesus stated that his word would abide forever; long after the heavens and the earth are but a distant memory. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending. His word testifies to a fallen world that “God is,” he desires to have a relationship with us, and has made provision for that relationship through the blood of Jesus that was shed for us.

This blog is intended to stay focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word manifest in the flesh. It will not enter the treacherous waters of geo-political wranglings or become wrapped up in the ongoing controversies of the day. It’s a place to set all of the circus acts currently keeping the world in suspense, and consider the deep things of God. I pray that as we think on these things, that we’ll find ourselves seated in heavenly places and remembering that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to with the glory that shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

After the Fire

Last night I read a posting that challenged the reader to consider the amount of time and effort given to the kingdom of God as compared to the amount of time spent on our own lives here. My guess is that for most of us, the two are not even close. I know that we live in a time when careers, families, and seeming necessities of life have many running nonstop, however, even this fails as an acceptable excuse. For example, regardless of our busy itinerary, if a loved one in another city was at the point of death and needed us there, I believe that even the bussiest prson would find time to go to that person in their hour of need.

And there’s the problem. People are dying. All around us, every day and even evry hour. Each morning we awaken to a new world in which new souls have been born while some who were alive the night before are now in  eternity. We awaken; without any guarentee that everyone in our circle is still here. And yet we go with the flow, unable to find time to visit the prisoner or tell someone who is perishing that Jesus paid for their sins 2000 years ago on Calvary. We buy, sell, visit our favorite restaurant, and max out the credit cards as we pile on the stuff. (after all, there’s not much difference between a balance of $15,732.32 and a balance of $15,794.21 Right) Yet thousands remain unreached. People who are daily before us, but we’re too busy to take a few moments and find out where they are spiritually.

II Corinthians 5:10 reads “For we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Every idle word, every idle deed, every hour parked in front of a television, every moment that a need remained as such because we we were just too busy to look beyond ourselves, will be called into account. I fear that very few of us understand the whole of this verse.

I Corinthians 3:13-15 explains it perfectly; both the fact that our works will be judged, but that our works are not the basis of our salvation. (Works make manifest the contents of a persons heart. They do not save, rather they reveal what’s already there.) The portion of scripture reads “Every mans work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is. If any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any mans work shal be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved.” When this truth reches our heart of hearts, I imagine that for most of us, a colossal reshuffling of priorities will be in order.

Heres the post that I alluded to earlier, which explains this much more adequately. Thoughts of Time and Strength We should all take inventory of what we catagorize as important compared to where the heart of God is.

 

 

The Real World

It’s always interesting to revisit places that were once a part of our daily life, such as a farm that we grew up on, a school that we once attended, or even a place where we were once employed. Such visits to the past bring to our rememberance the season, the events, and quite possibly the spiritual condition that we were in at the time. My younger son is currently attending the same elementary school that I attended, which is also the place where they hold their weekly cub scout meetings. Each time I enter the building, I notice the things that have changed over the years, the things that are still as they used to be, and indicators of things to come. During the weekly den meetings, I feel as though I’m in a time passage where, for a moment, the mid 1970s merge with the year 2008.

II Corinthians 4:18 reads “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” While this is a truth that’s certain to receive a unanimous “well DUH” it warrants commenting on because most of us make decisions based on the temporal. Our financial decisions, career choices, the community that we choose to settle in, the pastimes that we choose to engage in, and the relationships that we pursue, are primarily based on the circumstances of this temporal world. We tend to work as to make tomorrow in this world more pleasing than today was.

Yet everything that’s comprised of atoms will one day cease to be. If we were to climb into, as it were, a time machine and set it for twenty years in the future, we would find ourselves in a world where very little of what we knew beforetime would remain. There may be buildings, streets, possibly certain trees, and the like. But it’s likely that everything would be vastly different, from vehicles, styles of dress, even the vocabulary would have notable alterations. The makeup of the population would also be forwarded, with many being in eternity and everyone under the age of twenty being previously unknown. It would be as though the world that we remembered was gone, other than a few superficial reminders. Just like when I go into the elementary school each week. The building is still there, but has been added on to and remodeled. The environment within makes it perfectly clear that 1975 is gone forever.

Everything around us will, at some point, cease to be. If we were to venture a hundred years into the future, the world before us would be unrecognizable. The only thing in our ambience that will not cease to be is the people that we interract with. Everyone has an eternal soul and everyone will abide for all of eternity. Ten million years from now, everyone that we have ever known will still be a part of the everlasting. They will either be in the New Jerusalem (if they knew Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord) or in a lake of fire. (if they rejected Jesus and sought another way) When we get this into our heart as it should be, we’ll conduct our lives accordingly. The large house on the beach suddenly doesn’t seem so important, nor does the myriad of other worldly trappings that folks invest incredible amounts of time and money into as to secure them for a season.

This is a very basic concept, but we have a tendancy to overlook obvious truths such as this. They remain in the head, but rarely make their way into the heart. My prayer is that everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, will move into an eternal perspective and not become over consumed by those things which have an expiration date. Every soul is eternal and priceless.

Mission Statement

This purpose of this blog is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. My desire is to admonish the church to understand the lateness of the hour, and compell those who do not know Jesus as Savior and Lord to consider where they will be if tomorrow finds them no longer dwelling in the land of the living. When we take our final breath in this life, the only thing that matters is our standing with God. In life we may have had an abundance of possessions or just a few items that could fit in a small chest. We may have seen grandchildren and great grandchildren, or we may have dwelt alone all of our days. We may have been a high ranking executive or one who cleans offices at night. We may live 90 plus years or we may not reach our 19th birthday. None of this matters in the final moment. The intent of this blogs author is to keep the conversation fixed on heavenly things which have eternal implications.

My only request concerning future postings is that they be read in conjunction with a prayerful searching of the scriptures. Like all others who maintain the testimony of Jesus, I see through a glass darkly. There are scriptural truths that cannot be denied such as Jesus Christ being God manifest in the flesh. Some issues, however, such as how close we are to the end of this age, have yet to be defined for us.

 

 

 

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