eternity

Things God Never Says #1

“Almost certainly God is not in time. His life does not consist of moments one following another…Ten-thirty– and every other moment from the beginning of the world–is always Present for Him. If you like to put it this way, He has all eternity in which to listen to the split second of prayer put up by a pilot as his plane crashes in flames.” – C. S. Lewis

Do you ever wonder how God does it? How he can listen to thousands of prayers at the same time and be personally involved in every one of them? How he can care, truly care, about every human being ever created? He is never like the frazzled parent who says to a demanding child, “Sorry, I’m busy right now.”

Why does God never say that? He’s eternal. He’s not hampered by 24-hour days or frustrated at having only 60-minutes in an hour. He doesn’t have a calendar with appointments on it. God created time when he created the earth with a sun to mark the days and years. He can enter time whenever he chooses, but it does not restrict him. He actually can answer our prayers before we pray them because being outside of time means he already knows what we will ask for.

Do you find that hard to wrap your mind around? I hope so! If we can fully understand God, he’s not God. But we do know he always has time for us. We never have to stand in line to talk to him. The instant we begin to think of him or talk to him, he responds – always willing to listen. Always caring. Never impatient. Never in a hurry.

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” – 1 Timothy 1:17

Letting Go

“This is how our holiness grows, by small surrenders, without which we cannot finally become free.” – Emilie Griffin

We want to be in control of where we go, what we eat, how we dress, how we spend, where we work, where we worship, and everything else. Yet God calls us to surrender. Surrendering means letting God control all of those decisions. Surrendering is hard. Maybe impossible.

So how does anyone do the impossible? One small step at a time. One small surrender at a time: Letting someone else choose the movie. Going to church when we’d rather be working in the garden. Not taking charge of every conversation. Even going to sleep at night can be a surrender.

J Todd Billings in his book, The End of the Christian Life, says that when we fall asleep at night. “We don’t think ourselves to sleep. We surrender our bodies to being overtaken (by sleep). . .” To Billings, going to sleep at night is a way of learning to surrender control of our bodies, our minds. Maybe that’s why some of us have a hard time sleeping. Our minds are still engaged in trying to control the world around us.

And, whether we are healthy or sick, young or old, we are eventually facing death. How can we live full and productive lives knowing that an end is coming over which we have no control? How will we be able to surrender our bodies and souls to him in life or in death? Only by small surrenders now, bigger ones as we get grow in our faith. The better we get at surrendering day-by-day, the easier our final surrender will be.

“. . . this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.” – Isaiah 66:2b

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Care and Feeding of the Soul

“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing” – C. S. Lewis

We focus a lot on our bodies. We try to exercise, eat good food, get enough sleep, and take the right supplements. Why do we do these things? So our bodies will be healthy, our organs will be free to do what they were designed to do, we’ll have less pain, we’ll live longer, and we’ll be useful. On the other hand, there are practices that will destroy our bodies: addictions, inactivity, poor diet, and stress, to name a few.

Just as there are healthy practices for our bodies, there are healthy practices for our souls. We can feed our souls by reading and meditating on the Bible, slowing our pace, and spending time with others who are also feeding their souls. We can exercise our souls by worshipping God and by loving others. We can undergird our soul health with sincere prayers to the one who created us and who is preparing a place for us to be with him forever.

Caution: Just as with our bodies, there are things that can damage our souls: Lies, evil influences through people or media, hardheartedness toward others, bad attitudes, and neglect of God. Run from those!

God wants us to take care of our bodies. He made us, and caring for ourselves honors him. But, if we want to be happy and to live meaningful lives, we must not neglect our souls. A sick body with a healthy soul is at peace. A healthy body with a sick soul will never be satisfied. Do we need to adjust some priorities?

 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” – 1 Timothy 4:8

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What matters really?

“Right now counts forever.” – R. C. Sproul

When scribes of old copied a biblical text, they saw it as a sacrificial work done out of their love for God. They wrote, often in dim candlelight, on parchment usually, with nibs dipped in ink – letter-by-letter. It was hard work with physical side effects such as poor eyesight and deformed bodies from bending over the text, but they persevered.

At the end of the manuscript, they usually signed their names and often added a comment, the most common of which was this: “Reader take note: While the hand that copied this text rots in the grave, the word of God lives forever.” Hundreds of years later, we’re reading the Bible in part because this monk, whose body is long gone, valued the text enough to commit his life to copying it for future generations.

What are we doing that will outlast us? The eternal things are generally seen in people we influence – our family members, co-workers, neighbors, and even our enemies. And those eternal influences flow out of the Bible and its message to humans.

We may not copy God’s word as the monks did, but maybe we are today’s scribes by living the message of the Bible every day – adding our notes and pointing to God as we do.

God’s word is his revelation of who he is and his desire to relate to humans in forgiveness and love. It’s a message to be cherished and shared. In the busy-ness of everyday, what we do matters – to someone’s eternal salvation, to someone’s deeper walk with God, and then, to all the people they will touch because of their understanding. May something we do today matter 100 years from now!

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. – Isaiah 40:8

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The Judge

“If you want to see what judgment looks like, go to the cross. If you want to see what love looks like, go to the cross.” – D.A. Carson

I went to court once just as support for a friend who was fighting against a person who reneged on a contract. It seemed obvious to us that the law was on her side. It should be a slam dunk.

But, as we walked into the courtroom, I realized that the matter now was entirely out of her control. The judge’s ruling would be what she would have to live with. Her fate was in his hands.

I have to admit that created some stress in me. Then I thought about the fact that Jesus is returning someday to judge the world. It won’t be enough to have lived a pretty good life. None us can live up to what is required in the heavenly court.

There is a way to avoid that judgment: Settle out of court! Jesus invites us to come to him now so we can know him as Savior and then not have to face him as judge. Our record will be clean because he will have paid our penalty. Those who choose not to accept Jesus’s payment in this life will stand before him as Judge where opinions, excuses, and apologies won’t make a difference.

Take care of the charges against you while you can because once the Judge enters the room, it’s out of your hands. And his decision will be final. No arguing, no appeals. It will just be as it is – forever.

“It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” – Romans 8:33a-34

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Send it on ahead.

“He who lays up treasures in heaven looks forward to eternity; he’s moving daily toward his treasures. To him, death is gain.” – Randy Alcorn

We recently had the privilege of traveling through Greece. We saw a great deal of history including some of the tombs in which the leaders and influencers from earlier eras were buried – often surrounded by great caches of gold, jewelry, crowns, and shields. They thought this treasure would benefit them in the next life.

The problem? The tombs were robbed. The treasures the great ones thought they were protecting for eternity were stolen from them. Occasionally, an archaeologist will uncover a tomb that has not been raided, and they find the gold and jewels that were buried with the deceased. What the dying person thought he could take into the next life was, in fact, left behind.

The Bible addresses this problem, doesn’t it? “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6 20-21).

So how do we accumulate treasures in heaven? By using our money, time, and skills to advance God’s Kingdom here on earth: Giving to ministries sharing the good news of Jesus around the world; helping those who are in need – physically, mentally or spiritually; taking time to share our own understanding of God and the Bible with others; living generously. And, if God wills, earthly treasures used this way will translate into people from around the world worshiping God with us in heaven. They are the treasure that really matters.

We can’t take it with us, but we can send it on ahead.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:22

Note: Original thought for this was from a fellow traveler in Greece. My thanks to him.

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Easter changes everything.

“If Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be, . . . then, for all history past and all history future it is relevant because that is the very focal point for forgiveness and redemption.” – Josh McDowell

Leviticus teaches about unintentional sins – things people do that hurt or damage someone else or offend God, and they don’t even know they’d done it. When they realize their sin, they’re held responsible for making it right (Leviticus 5:17). And that meant actually taking an animal to the priest to be sacrificed to pay for the sin committed. Cumbersome. Messy. Expensive. Time-consuming. Embarrassing. Sin, even if unintentional, has terrible consequences!

Why don’t we handle guilt that way anymore? Because we don’t have to! Jesus came as the one-time-only sacrifice for the sins of the world (Hebrews 10:10b). We still hurt people or wrong them in many ways. We still offend God. But since Jesus came to die for us, we no longer have to bear our own sin. He took it all on himself on the cross. Since his resurrection that very first Easter Sunday, we simply believe that Jesus gave his life for us and confess our sinfulness to him. He forgives, cleanses, and makes us into new creatures able and willing to follow him.

What then? We worship him by giving ourselves and our bodies back to him in complete surrender to his will. “ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). He gave his body for us. We give ours to his service.

That’s why we’re thankful, why we worship, why we can live without guilt or regret. Jesus makes all things new!

” . . . if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9b

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Even so, come.

“It is the only ray of hope that shines as an ever-brightening beam in a darkening world.” – Billy Graham speaking about Jesus’ return

Jesus spent his ministry inviting people to come to him, to follow him. And many did. In him they found a teacher, friend, and savior.

He still invites us to come:

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” – John 7:37

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”– Matthew 11:28

We don’t have to get all cleaned up or wear our best clothes to come to Jesus. We don’t have to know a lot about the Bible either. The early followers came as they were: curious, cautious, ignorant, but wanting to know more, wanting to be with him. That’s how we come, too. And, as we yield to him and include him in our lives and prayers and decisions day-by-day, we learn to know him better. We keep coming back to the one who gives us real life, quenches our thirst, and offers rest from our struggle.

Before his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples he would die, rise again, and return to the Father, but, at some point in history, he would come back. Jesus returned to Heaven 40 days after his resurrection. He is there now, but as he was ascending into the sky, two angels appeared and reassured the watching disciples that he would come back.

After all the invitations Jesus has given to come to him, to follow him, we now can turn the tables by anticipating that great day when he will come again to earth – as our Lord and King. While we wait, we breathe this prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

“Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! – Revelation 22:20b

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How’s your love life?

“The world is not a playground; it is a school-room. Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love.” – Henry Drummond

I had a pastor years ago who said that, when we stand before God, he will have one question, “How was your love life?” I still think about that because I believe he was right.

Loving is good, but we have to be very careful where we direct our love. Read this ” . . . in the last days people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud . . . lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (from 2 Timothy 3:1-4). Paul is describing people who are good lovers, but they are loving the wrong things! He mentions three areas:

Self: We should value our lives, appreciate the unique way God has made us, and live with confidence. But we go wrong when our focus is on ourselves, what we want, where we are going.

Money: We have to have money to live, but when money becomes our primary focus, not for survival, but for prestige, affluence, or luxury, it’s a dangerous love.

Pleasure: We work hard and we get stressed. So, there are times when we should throttle back and enjoy the good things life offers. That’s great, but only if we are not living just for pleasure – the next thrill or trip or indulgence.

Jesus told us where our love should be directed: Toward God and toward others. We will never do it perfectly, but when that is our goal, God will give us contentment, confidence, and joy – and when we stand before God, he will be pleased that we loved wisely and well.


“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23

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New

“The people of God are not merely to mark time, waiting for God to step in and set right all that is wrong. Rather, they are to model the new heaven and new earth, and by so doing awaken longings for what God will someday bring to pass.” ~ Philip Yancey

It’s a new year. We have celebrated its coming and have lived a few of its days. How’s it going so far? For me, it feels an awful lot like the old year!

God’s idea of new is different from ours. Read Revelation 21 and you’ll see what I mean. He says, “Behold I am am making all things new.” Not just a new page on the calendar. All things new. And the chapter tells us what he means: a new heaven, a new earth, an entirely new way of living. Amazing, right?

As wonderful as that will be, we don’t have to wait until the end of time to experience God’s idea of new. Those who choose to accept Jesus’ invitation to forgiveness of sins and relationship with him experience a newness that begins right then. Immediate goodbye to the frustration of trying to handle everything alone – including not only life’s challenges but also our guilt, regrets, and fears. Instead we greet a new life where we are guided, accepted, forgiven, and secure forever.

Once we begin to follow Jesus, we live a new and renewed life every day – one filled with anticipation, adventure, God’s presence, and, sometimes, his surprises.

Let’s not settle for a new year when we can have a new life!

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” – Romans 6:4