The Inevitable!

As I stood looking down into the coffin which contained the body of an elderly Christian women the weight of my own mortality bore down on me. When I was greeting the family members, one woman of my age remarked that she looked at a picture recently and realized everyone in it except her had passed on. “Yes,” I replied, “we’re next in line.” It could be a depressing fact!

That appointment, deny it though we may in so many ways, is inevitable. For the Christian, there is a promise that gives hope. The end of this earthly life is not the end. It is a change of address as we go home. What a home God promises for us. That eternal home has no sin nor suffering. Tears are wiped away forever and our longings for God are fulfilled. David’s words are mine - "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 27:4, NIV)

Eternity is written into our hearts by our Creator. Solomon said, "God has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NLT)

Dallas Willard one of my favorite Christian teachers, urges Christians to lift their vision, to ‘see’ beyond time’s horizon. A faith-inspired vision of our promised Paradise protects us from despair. He writes –

"I meet many faithful Christians who, in spite of their faith, are deeply disappointed in how their lives have turned out. Sometimes it is a matter of how they experience aging, which they take to mean they no longer have a future. But often, due to circumstances or wrongful decisions and actions by others, what they had hoped to accomplish in life they did not .... Much of the distress of these people comes from a failure to realize that their life lies before them...  one that goes on endlessly before us in the kingdom of God."  (The Divine Conspiracy) 

The frustration and futility that stalk us in this present realm lose much of their power when Heaven is in our heart! Right here, even now, we are eternal creatures. Yes, the bodies we live in are aging. This globe we call home is decaying, but we are alive forever in Christ!

Jesus stood outside of the tomb of a dead friend, looked his sister, Martha, in the eye and promised “You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live." (John 11:25, The Message)

Eternal life begins now, not when we die. The hope of Heaven is ours today, not just when our bodies are in the grave! I am a citizen of Heaven, now by the grace of Jesus Christ. I am connected, right here and right now, with the Lord of Glory, through the Holy Spirit’s immediate Presence. I do not sit around pining for my Heavenly home because I know that my mission is to bring Heaven to earth, even as I live with an expectation of glories to come. I know the joy of overwhelming the darkness of sin with the Light of Heaven, right now!

Let’s be like Abraham. He heard God's call, grasped the reality of eternal life, and lived the rest of days here on earth on pilgrimage. He took some detours from the straight and narrow path, but he never lost sight of where he was going. "It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." (Hebrews 11:8-10, NLT)

The ‘heaven’ of our modern imagination, which fills the movies, is far from the reality of Scripture. Misty fog enveloping transparent spirits floating in a ghostly realm, spirits living at the edge of human consciousness trying to reach us, are inventions of storytellers.

Heaven is a real substantial place, created by the same Person that thought up the refraction of sunlight by water moisture which produces the beauty of a rainbow.
Heaven is unfathomable beauty.
Heaven is suffused with the love which we see in Christ Jesus, who left His place to seek and save those who are lost. The most beautiful music, the deepest love, the most stirring worship, the most blissful day - are just glimpses of what will be ordinary in eternity!

So, by faith, reach out and hold onto Heaven even as you live your life to the full. 
When life is overwhelming, when sin threatens to engulf you, when everything seems futile, when disappointment breaks your heart - look up and thank God that He has written Heaven into your heart. It is precisely the longing for Paradise that makes us unwilling to settle down and desire our best life now. We are headed home!

The word from the Word is a portion of the ‘faith’ chapter that describes the hope of saints in times of trouble. 

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."   (Hebrews 11:13-16, NIV)

The inevitable appointment is robbed of dread when we remember that we are on our way home.
Amen!

Video of this blog

 

https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

Seeing God's Purposes Clearly

When I finished mowing the lawn I noticed that the vision in my left eye was blurred. I didn’t think much of it at the moment figuring that it was just some dust. Later I realized that even when I washed out my eyes the blur remained. My eye was watery and irritated. My conclusion? Apparently, something blew into my eye causing a scratch that needed to heal.

This all made me think about my spiritual vision which has been blurred by the ‘stuff’ of life recently. I have found myself working to sort through conflicting ideas thrown at me by the culture in which I live, trying to make sense of major shifts in values in the world around that make no sense to me, and dealing with angst about the future. Those things are like dust that obscure the promises of God, which blur my vision for His purposes and will. So, I pray that God will wash the dust out of my spiritual eyes and restore unclouded vision!

Paul was inspired by the Spirit to warn of blurry vision. He said that God reveals His majesty to us in the wonder of Creation. Will we see it? Here’s the text - 
"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Romans 1:20-21, NIV)  

The cure for blurry vision is the choice to offer our praise and worship with honest gratitude. When we speak of His wonders, when we offer ourselves in worship, He renews our vision.

Have you become so taken up with the trials and challenges of life that you have lost sight of the big picture? Have you fallen into a pattern of complaint and negativity that obscures the reality of God’s love for you?

Don’t panic. Pause! Take a worship break. Quiet your mind and pick up the Scripture. Turn to a familiar passage of promise: a Psalm, or the rich words of Ephesians that are full of grace, or the revelations of Jesus in the first three chapters of the Revelation – and give thanks to God for HIS steady, unchangeable ways, for His love that never fails, and the dust of doubt will be washed away.

Peter says, “prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1) We have a responsibility for our focus. Martin Luther reminded Christians of the blessings of choosing our thoughts.
He said, “You can't stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.”  When the focus of our thoughts is on Jesus, the Spirit will lead us to the serenity Jesus said is His gift to us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

So…. What do you see this morning?
-about the core purpose of your life?
-for your children's future?
-about finding a way to honor God in what you do as your daily work?
- about making Jesus and His Kingdom visible in this darkened world?

Keeping sharp vision requires constant effort. It is worth it! Without clear and God-formed sight we will quickly become mired in mediocrity, or turn into a burnt-out shell, which will cause us to leave the work of God undone, and the peace of Christ unknown..

Here is the word from the Word. “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, it is put on a lampstand to give light to all who enter the room. Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness.
Make sure that the light you think you have is not really darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight is shining on you.”
(Luke 11:33-36, NLT)

Critics!

Who hasn’t felt the sting of criticism? In my 5 decades of serving as a Pastor, I have been the target of critics more than a few times. Sometimes their words had an element of truth. Sometimes the critic was upset about some situation that had little to do with me, but my semi-public role left me vulnerable. And sometimes the critic was just avoiding his own insecurities.

Let me quickly add that I have known a great deal of support and affirmation, too! But, somehow, the voice of the critics always seems louder.  When critics spoke, my usual response was to take their words to the Lord with a prayer to see clearly, to learn from what was true, to discard what was not.

In all honesty, knowing my self better than anyone else, it is a source of real wonder that God would trust me with the care of His Bride, the Church. I know I am not smart enough, 'Christian' enough, to serve perfectly. I remind myself that the strength, the wisdom, the gifts belong to my Master and Lord. I try to remember that I “serve at His pleasure!”

Do you feel incapable? Have critics made you feel inadequate? Have those feelings bled over into your spiritual life causing your sins and failures to taunt you from the edge of your consciousness, whispering to you - "You’re a failure. You cannot do anything right."

Those voices are not just from inside your head. They may be partially rooted in our own fears but the demons who work at neutralizing or defeating God’s work in this world are ever- present, too. Every person who takes seriously the call to live a holy life, who seeks to do God's will – whether they are a pastor or a plumber- will know that kind of attack.

St. Paul knew this sense of inadequacy. Of the calling to represent the Kingdom of God, he asks, "Who is equal to such a task?" and a little further on the text, "It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God." (2 Corinthians 3:5, NLT) The demons attempt to get the person serious about God and His call to focus on Self. Why? Because the one thing that is the key to doing spiritual work effectively is the Spirit in us. It is not our own strength, cleverness, or skills that provide success.

The Bible says, "For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed." (1 Corinthians 1:5-7, NIV) What a joyful declaration! Christ’s Church is adequate for the task God has given her. We, who are filled with God’s Spirit, can live as a positive effective representative of Christ.

I love the ancient preacher’s inspired words to the people who were trying to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple centuries before the time of Christ. God spoke through him to say - "It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6, NLT) That is still TRUE and the principle is a key to our effective service for Jesus.

What strengths did God see in us that caused Him to choose us? Nothing!
But He called us, at His own initiative, because of His grace. Then He promised, "I will enrich you in every way!" Claim His strength.

Do not foolishly ignore your critics! Winston Churchill, Great Britain’s famed Prime Minister through the terrible years of World War 2 was frequently criticized. He wisely said “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body; it calls attention to the development of an unhealthy state of things. If it is heeded in time, danger may be averted; if it is suppressed, a fatal distemper may develop.”

Be encouraged by the promise of God to use your strengths and weaknesses, to keep you steady, and to do ‘more than you can imagine’ through you.

Here's a Word to take with you today.
"God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God. God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom.

As the Scriptures say, “The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done.” (1 Corinthians 1:28-31, NLT)
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A video of this devotion can be found at 
https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55