Hell….it’s a hot topic. (Pun intended.)
There seems to be a stir in the Christian community about the reality of hell. There have been books written, some prominent teachers speaking against it’s reality. I don’t know why we are so shocked….most of us have lived our lives like it doesn’t exist….
The reality of hell I suppose is important, yet I don’t spend a lot of time trying to convince people of it, and even less personal time thinking about it. But, there was a long period of my life that I did, and I considered it just the less attractive of the two choice.
There was a time that heaven didn’t lure me. I didn’t really yearn to live there eternally. God was there. And He was scary.
But the devil was in hell, and he was scarier. Plus….it was hot and painful there. (I pause to praise Him right now, thank You Lord, for that is no longer true.)
I don’t think about hell much now, and I realize that I don’t try to convince folks they need to find ‘the way’ to stay out of it. (…and there is only one way.)
I do think about our Creator Father a lot, and I do try to convince folks to come to know Him. Not just an ‘out’ for hell, but because of Who He is. He is I AM…
Maybe I need to revisit my thoughts about hell. Maybe people need to be freshly warned about its reality and finality.
Jesus spoke of hell many times. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28) Obviously, it is real, and it is NOT good, it is NOT where He will be…..
For me, that is all I need to know, I don’t want a closer look, don’t really care for more information…. Just thankful for a way of escape. (Again, I pause to praise Him and thank Him for salvation…)
Then again, I’ve already heard many a hell-fire-and-brimstone sermon in my youth. Maybe I would never love my Father as I do, had I not been forced to look into the reality of the fires of hell.
“Fear-of-GOD is a school in skilled living-- first you learn humility, then you experience glory.”(Prov. 15:33 The Message) "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”(Prov. 9:10) Fear kept me from doing many unwise things, and brought about true knowledge of and love for The Holy One.
What about you? What do you know about our God? Where do you want to live out eternity? Do you really want to live in His Presence when this realm of life is over? Or do you just not like the other choice? If that be the case, you have chosen…God help you.
There have always been two choices…good and evil. And God has always allowed us to choose. “…as for me …..I will serve the LORD." (Josh. 24:15 personalized by me)
Both choices are very real. They will one day be final. Eternally….
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Exhausted....
Exhausted… Someone I love is really exhausted tonight. Too many long hot hours, not enough sleep. I pray that he makes it safely back home at the end of the work shift, safely to his bed for a long and thorough time of rest.
I’ll likely be exhausted myself in a few hours. Sleep seems to elude me tonight. I slept soundly until 2:00. Tried twice to snuggle down and drift off again. Not happening…
I’ve considered how exhausted many people have been these last weeks, those who work all day in this unusually hot summer. Exhausted. They must be so very exhausted. The heat seems to suck all of the energy from a person.
There is satisfaction in being tired from a good day’s work. The reward we see in what we have accomplished (and the paycheck we cash!)
I have been really tired a lot of times. But I’ve never known exhaustion like the spiritual exhaustion I struggled with for years. I worked and worked, yet seemed to get no where. I wanted to quit, but felt obligated to keep on and on…trying, harder and harder.
I did quit eventually. I just said, Lord, I can’t do it. I am sorry. But I just can’t ‘do’ all ‘do’s and I end up ‘doing’ the ‘don’t’s. So….I give up.
It was the turning point in my life.
And I’m in good company with the dilemma I was in.
“What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.
So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more!
For if I know the law but still can't keep it…
and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes.
I can will it, but I can't do it.
I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.
My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions.
Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”
(The apostle Paul’s words, Romans 7:16-25 from The Message)
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (The words of Jesus, Matt. 11:28-30 from The Message)
Hallelujah. I found that peace ‘which passeth all understanding’ (Phil. 4:7)
Thank You Lord…..
I’ll likely be exhausted myself in a few hours. Sleep seems to elude me tonight. I slept soundly until 2:00. Tried twice to snuggle down and drift off again. Not happening…
I’ve considered how exhausted many people have been these last weeks, those who work all day in this unusually hot summer. Exhausted. They must be so very exhausted. The heat seems to suck all of the energy from a person.
There is satisfaction in being tired from a good day’s work. The reward we see in what we have accomplished (and the paycheck we cash!)
I have been really tired a lot of times. But I’ve never known exhaustion like the spiritual exhaustion I struggled with for years. I worked and worked, yet seemed to get no where. I wanted to quit, but felt obligated to keep on and on…trying, harder and harder.
I did quit eventually. I just said, Lord, I can’t do it. I am sorry. But I just can’t ‘do’ all ‘do’s and I end up ‘doing’ the ‘don’t’s. So….I give up.
It was the turning point in my life.
And I’m in good company with the dilemma I was in.
“What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.
So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more!
For if I know the law but still can't keep it…
and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes.
I can will it, but I can't do it.
I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.
My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions.
Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”
(The apostle Paul’s words, Romans 7:16-25 from The Message)
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (The words of Jesus, Matt. 11:28-30 from The Message)
Hallelujah. I found that peace ‘which passeth all understanding’ (Phil. 4:7)
Thank You Lord…..
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Cool....
Cool….. I have a new appreciation for it.
I have often thought about what it might have been like to have lived in The Garden.
Tending it would have been pleasant, before the ground was cursed, “…through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…”(Gen. 3:18,19)
Life in The Garden was perfect in the beginning. Everything was provided and readily available…..everything except the fruit of that one tree, the one that brought knowledge of good AND evil. It was the only thing off limits.
It was a great life in The Garden, in the company of Creator God Himself. And it was cool…when He came to visit, it was cool.
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” (Genesis 3:8)
Cool of the day….humm. I haven’t felt that in quite some time !! Or cool of the night for that matter !
God has repeatedly provided protection from the heat of the sun.
He provided a shade vine for Jonah, even though Jonah had disobeyed. “…the LORD God sent a vine and made it grow up over Jonah. It gave him more shade for his head. It made him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy he had the vine.” (Jonah 4:6)
He provided protection from the sun beating down on a tribe of people traveling in a desert. “God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day” (Ps. 105:39)
I have a house with air conditioning that keeps me about 20 degrees cooler than the temperature outside. I have plenty of water, enough even to water some of the flowers and plants I enjoy. He provided me a shade in a giant sweet gum tree in my back yard…
Even though I too disobey Him at times..…
I will to walk with Him in the cool of the day.
I will to walk with Him in the heat of the mid-day sun.
I purpose in my heart to walk with Him, right behind Him, in His steps.
Even and especially when it is not easy and not popular.
Cool or not…
Shade....
Shade… I have a new and deeper appreciation for it….
Never in my lifetime do I remember such intense heat. Maybe it’s been this hot and dry before….maybe I’m just old and soft now.
I have always loved sitting in the deep shade of the sweet gum tree in my back yard. I prune the limbs each year so that the limbs make an umbrella around where my swing and chairs sit. We have bird feeders and squirrel feeders, a bird bath…invitations to share our shade.
When the hot sun beats down with intense heat, we look for something to put between it and us. We look for something to make a shadow for us to stand in, away from the direct sun light.
When life beats down with it’s own intensity, we again look for relief and escape.
Where do you go?
“…….LORD, you are my God. I will honor you. I will praise your name. You have been perfectly faithful. You have done wonderful things. …..You have been a place to hide when storms came. You have been a shade from the heat of the sun….” (Isa. 25:1,4)
“I look up to the hills. Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD. He is the Maker of heaven and earth.
He won't let my foot slip. He who watches over me won't get tired.
In fact, he who watches over me won't get tired or go to sleep.
The LORD watches over me. The LORD is like a shade tree at my right hand.
The sun won't harm me during the day. The moon won't harm me during the night.
The LORD will keep me from every kind of harm. He will watch over my life.
The LORD will watch over my life no matter where I go, both now and forever.”1 (Ps. 121:2-8 personalized by me )
Think you’ve been left out? Is the heat on? Can you not find the comfort of shade from the intense circumstances of your life?
Maybe this phrase I left out of verse one is the key….….“ A song for those who go up to worship the LORD.”
Do you only want the shade? Or do you enjoy and value the Maker of it?
Do you seek His Face? Or only the blessing of His Hand?
“God is serious business, take him seriously; He's put the earth in place and it's not moving. So let heaven rejoice, let earth be jubilant, and pass the word among the nations, "GOD reigns!"(1Ch. 16:30,31 The Message)
“For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.
(1 Ch. 16:25NIV)
Never in my lifetime do I remember such intense heat. Maybe it’s been this hot and dry before….maybe I’m just old and soft now.
I have always loved sitting in the deep shade of the sweet gum tree in my back yard. I prune the limbs each year so that the limbs make an umbrella around where my swing and chairs sit. We have bird feeders and squirrel feeders, a bird bath…invitations to share our shade.
When the hot sun beats down with intense heat, we look for something to put between it and us. We look for something to make a shadow for us to stand in, away from the direct sun light.
When life beats down with it’s own intensity, we again look for relief and escape.
Where do you go?
“…….LORD, you are my God. I will honor you. I will praise your name. You have been perfectly faithful. You have done wonderful things. …..You have been a place to hide when storms came. You have been a shade from the heat of the sun….” (Isa. 25:1,4)
“I look up to the hills. Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD. He is the Maker of heaven and earth.
He won't let my foot slip. He who watches over me won't get tired.
In fact, he who watches over me won't get tired or go to sleep.
The LORD watches over me. The LORD is like a shade tree at my right hand.
The sun won't harm me during the day. The moon won't harm me during the night.
The LORD will keep me from every kind of harm. He will watch over my life.
The LORD will watch over my life no matter where I go, both now and forever.”1 (Ps. 121:2-8 personalized by me )
Think you’ve been left out? Is the heat on? Can you not find the comfort of shade from the intense circumstances of your life?
Maybe this phrase I left out of verse one is the key….….“ A song for those who go up to worship the LORD.”
Do you only want the shade? Or do you enjoy and value the Maker of it?
Do you seek His Face? Or only the blessing of His Hand?
“God is serious business, take him seriously; He's put the earth in place and it's not moving. So let heaven rejoice, let earth be jubilant, and pass the word among the nations, "GOD reigns!"(1Ch. 16:30,31 The Message)
“For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.
(1 Ch. 16:25NIV)
Monday, August 1, 2011
Love....
Love…Is it a feeling? Is it an emotion? Can it be achieved? Or is it super-natural zap from a little red cupid arrow?
What does it mean to love?
I read a line in a fictional story about a real person, Bathsheba. Speaking of the husband her father had chosen for her, ‘…I will show him the respect and obedience he deserves. But love cannot be commanded.” (Rivers, Francine (2009-01-10). A Lineage of Grace (p. 316). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. )
Love can not be commanded? Hummm….tell that to Jesus.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34)
The problem arises from our definition of the word. What do you consider love to BE?
Does it accompany physical attraction?
Jesus was NOT loved because of his physical attractiveness, regardless of how many pictures of a good looking man you see…..scripture is plain, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isa. 53:2)
I fear that in our culture, we misuse and overuse the word love. We say it quickly. We use it easily. And we forget we even say it….and something so easily forgotten can not be love.
What does it mean to love?
I read a line in a fictional story about a real person, Bathsheba. Speaking of the husband her father had chosen for her, ‘…I will show him the respect and obedience he deserves. But love cannot be commanded.” (Rivers, Francine (2009-01-10). A Lineage of Grace (p. 316). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. )
Love can not be commanded? Hummm….tell that to Jesus.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34)
The problem arises from our definition of the word. What do you consider love to BE?
Does it accompany physical attraction?
Jesus was NOT loved because of his physical attractiveness, regardless of how many pictures of a good looking man you see…..scripture is plain, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isa. 53:2)
I fear that in our culture, we misuse and overuse the word love. We say it quickly. We use it easily. And we forget we even say it….and something so easily forgotten can not be love.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Disappointed....
Disappointed… You can’t be disappointed if you don’t have expectations.
I don’t know how you do that. How do you NOT have some sort of expectation?
I find that while trying to keep an opened mind, while not setting unrealistic expectations…I just end up having LOW expectations.
I suppose it’s better to be pleasantly surprised by having low expectations blown away…than it is to be sadly disappointed when high expectations are unmet.
I realize that I recently set some very low expectations.
I expected what I have experienced in the past. I expected that ‘same ole’ same ole’…..
What a pleasant surprise to have those expectations unmet !
What a joy to find that some ‘same ole’ things’ are not.
The apostle Paul had the dilemma as well. “I do admit that I have fears that when I come you'll disappoint me and I'll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces-…(2Cor. 12:20 The Message)
I had a face-to-face meeting with a friend I‘d never met. I do admit that I had fears that when I came, I would disappoint him, and he would disappoint me…and that the friendship would fall to pieces….
I was tempted to opt out of the meeting.
I am so thankful that I did not.
I am so thankful that God’s people are one, regardless of the sign-out-front.
I am so thankful that my un-met friend now has skin on.
I am even thankful that God has shown me my sin in acting out of my own experience and passing judgment on others based solely on those experiences.
I don’t know how you do that. How do you NOT have some sort of expectation?
I find that while trying to keep an opened mind, while not setting unrealistic expectations…I just end up having LOW expectations.
I suppose it’s better to be pleasantly surprised by having low expectations blown away…than it is to be sadly disappointed when high expectations are unmet.
I realize that I recently set some very low expectations.
I expected what I have experienced in the past. I expected that ‘same ole’ same ole’…..
What a pleasant surprise to have those expectations unmet !
What a joy to find that some ‘same ole’ things’ are not.
The apostle Paul had the dilemma as well. “I do admit that I have fears that when I come you'll disappoint me and I'll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces-…(2Cor. 12:20 The Message)
I had a face-to-face meeting with a friend I‘d never met. I do admit that I had fears that when I came, I would disappoint him, and he would disappoint me…and that the friendship would fall to pieces….
I was tempted to opt out of the meeting.
I am so thankful that I did not.
I am so thankful that God’s people are one, regardless of the sign-out-front.
I am so thankful that my un-met friend now has skin on.
I am even thankful that God has shown me my sin in acting out of my own experience and passing judgment on others based solely on those experiences.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Giving...
Giving… I have a problem with it sometimes. The hardest thing is not deciding IF…..it is deciding what to give and who to give to.
I don’t consider myself stingy. I do struggle with my flesh and selfishness, yet I don’t think I am completely selfish. I know there is fault within me, and I pray “God, see what is in my heart. Know what is there. Put me to the test. Know what I'm thinking. See if there's anything in my life you don't like. Help me live in the way that is always right. (Ps. 139:24 NIrV)
Having spent quite some time this morning listening to some challenging messages about who Christians are and how they impact the culture they live in, I drove down a nearby street and was twice approached while at a stop light by people asking for money.
The accusing voice came. “so….are you going to give? You have a cross around your neck, may I remind you that Jesus said “Give to every man who asks you.” (Yes, He did say that, in John 6:30 and Rev. 12:10 speaks of the accuser.)
It is a dilemma.
I am thankful for the whole of scripture, and thankful for the teaching of Paul…
“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.” (2Thes. 3:10)
There ARE people who need help.
Yet somehow, if a person can stand on a concrete sidewalk, beside lanes of hot asphalt with hundreds of cars going by, in the heat of a scorching Texas day,
…could they not be doing something besides asking for handouts? Seems to me like they are working awfully hard just to NOT work.
I don’t consider myself stingy. I do struggle with my flesh and selfishness, yet I don’t think I am completely selfish. I know there is fault within me, and I pray “God, see what is in my heart. Know what is there. Put me to the test. Know what I'm thinking. See if there's anything in my life you don't like. Help me live in the way that is always right. (Ps. 139:24 NIrV)
Having spent quite some time this morning listening to some challenging messages about who Christians are and how they impact the culture they live in, I drove down a nearby street and was twice approached while at a stop light by people asking for money.
The accusing voice came. “so….are you going to give? You have a cross around your neck, may I remind you that Jesus said “Give to every man who asks you.” (Yes, He did say that, in John 6:30 and Rev. 12:10 speaks of the accuser.)
It is a dilemma.
I am thankful for the whole of scripture, and thankful for the teaching of Paul…
“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.” (2Thes. 3:10)
There ARE people who need help.
Yet somehow, if a person can stand on a concrete sidewalk, beside lanes of hot asphalt with hundreds of cars going by, in the heat of a scorching Texas day,
…could they not be doing something besides asking for handouts? Seems to me like they are working awfully hard just to NOT work.
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