All tagged eternal
My devotional reading in “The Power of Prayer” this morning was titled "God Called Men", and it was wonderful. Pastor E. M. Bounds wrote that all things are truly possible through God. Which I believe firmly, and that prayer leads us there. He was profound when he wrote these words:
"If God's people would pray as they ought to pray, the great things that happened in the past would happen again and again." E. M. Bounds
I was reading about what is called commonplace religion, that is, religion which is shaped around what is easy, formed around what others say and not by fervent prayer, God's Word, His will, and our own self-denial. Today we live in a feel good society in which people say "if it feels good then it must be good and right." But that isn't what the bible teaches us. We were never meant to shape our own religion, or alter the Word of God, we were never meant to form a commonplace religion that serves our whims.
Where do we look for wisdom? How about righteousness, sanctification, and redemption? Do we find them in church or bible study? Do we seek them out while plodding along a pilgrimage path in some far off country? The answer is that we find them in one place only... Jesus Christ, and He can be found in all of these places.
It is good to routinely ask ourselves challenging questions. My question today is "Am I seeking those things which are truly important in life?" I am contemplating what I actually hold as highest in my life by asking myself if those things are really as valuable as I believe them to be. Am I placing value on fleeting things at the expense of the eternal treasures of faith?
Are we being busy for Jesus, so busy we never stop to hear what He is really calling us to do? I worry about this often. I fill my life with the things that I know are those which Jesus did, or has told us in scripture to do, but are these things what He is asking of me right now? Today? Every day is new, and the Lord's mercies and compassions are new as well. So how is it that we feel inclined to latch onto a single thing that the Lord has told us to do and revisit it every day?
God blesses us and we are thankful for our blessing, but does God’s commitment to His blessing end once it is given? Does the Lord bless us and then simply walk away? Sarah had a son but her blessing didn’t end there. It continued when the Lord provided a sacrifice for him later in life as Abraham was preparing to sacrifice him. Again, when God gave the Shunammite woman a son at Elisha’s request it didn’t end there either… later in his life he died, and God raised him from the dead for her. Our blessings are not simply events… they have eternal lives and continue on. Do we believe, and have confidence in this, or do we see our blessings like lightening in the sky that flashes and then is gone? The Shunammite woman didn’t see her blessing as having an expiration date… do we?
If we believe in Jesus we have life, but we can’t just believe that He was a man that once lived, or a mighty prophet; no, we must acknowledge Him as the Son of God. If we believe in this way then we have life, eternal life, but what kind of life is it that we are seeking to live forever? People in the world around us choose to live their lives in all kinds of ways; some being extremely happy, while others are sad. Some people are quiet while their neighbors are loud and outgoing, and there are those who are industrious while their brethren are sedentary. So if we are to live forever, what kind of life do we want to live; more than that, what kind of life does God want us to live? God wants us to live as His Son Jesus Christ lives. We are to abandon who we are at the moment we first believe, and become transformed; to become measure, by measure, like Christ Himself. We are to accept the gift of salvation that God has prepared for us.
I am thinking today on the timeless nature of my relationship with Jesus; not on being either in or outside of time itself, but the unending nature of it. Do I truly understand His faithfulness and how incredibly deep His love is for me? Is my love for Him as far reaching?
Have you ever faced a personal life or death situation, or prayed through one in the life of someone near to you? Have you come to a point in a long relationship with a loved one in which you find you have been taking them for granted, and their love for you is about to end because of your complacency? In moments such as these our feelings are suddenly heightened, reignited, reinvigorated, and we cling desperately to life, or to our love for another. Suddenly, in these desperate times, we realize the importance of life, or the depth of a relationship that is teetering on the edge of being lost. As Christian believers, these are situations that draw us closest to God, and in our suffering or despair we find our faith in Him has sprung to life, and reached a crescendo. These moments of suffering cause us to lean on the Lord in ways that might have grown cold in us during the calm and peaceful times when we felt in control of our own destinies.
We long for eternal life, and yet we want to remain here in this place we have come to know forever, but although we will receive the gift of eternal life that God has promised us in Christ, this place we have called home will know us no more. Something far greater, and more wonderful, awaits us as we put on immortality.
We often pray for strength, but are we simply asking for physical strength that is of this world, or for Spiritual strength that is eternal, and lifts us up through Jesus Christ into the presence of God? We pray a great deal for the things that God has created, but let’s think back on our prayers and weigh them on a scale, placing the spiritual on one side and the earthly on the other… this will determine where our treasure is, and our hearts desire. This will show us what we actually worship… what we value most.
What do you see in your mind’s eye when you envision Jesus? When at last you behold God’s glory will it be all that you have imagined, greater than you could have possibly guessed, or do you fear that His appearance will disappoint you in some way? Well, in this world we see with our eyes, but on that day when we behold Him face to face, our eyesight will yield to our other senses, and we will see Him more completely with our entire being, our heart, and our soul… it will overwhelm us like lightning. On that day all of creation will meet us in Him, and Him in us, for the first magnificent time.
We are told to pray without ceasing and although many of us take this to mean precisely that, and live in a constant state of prayer, some translate this verse to mean that we are to pray regularly as if on a schedule, but how many of us adhere to even this limited regimen of prayer? Aren’t there those among us who only remember to talk with the Lord when trouble or need overwhelms them, while others are hard pressed to pray at all? Which of these describes our specific prayer life, and what is God’s desire when it comes to prayer?
We have talked a great deal this month about intercession, and we have read scripture that states that Jesus makes intercession for us before God, but we haven’t really considered the fact that Jesus lives forever, and that because of this, His intercession is without end. We, on the other hand, intercede for others during our lifetimes, so today, let’s look at what scripture says about the role He plays as our High Priest, not just during our lives on earth, but for all eternity.
Christmas Day is but two days away, and when it arrives we will celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, but as we lift Him up in joyous song we should never forget why He was sent to us. All stories have a beginning, and are meant to have an end, the redemption story of our savior Jesus is no different. So as we celebrate the child being born to a virgin, we need to keep in mind His ministry, the empty tomb, and the second coming that we are still longing for.