Saturday, January 30, 2010

There Will be a Day

We all have times in our lives when we reach certain milestones: The first day of school or becoming a teenager, turning thirteen, thirty, fifty or eighty. Perhaps getting your drivers license or graduating from high school, college, or university are some of the milestones we celebrate. These are times of achieving a goal in our lives which tells us and others; “Hurray - we have succeeded.” Now we are ready to go on to the next phase of our lives or accomplish our next set of goals.

I remember when I was a young girl and talking to my Aunt about growing older. She was then thirty five years older than I. At that time, I just could not wait to be an adult. Of course, my Aunt said, “Enjoy being twelve. Life goes by way too fast. You will be an adult soon enough and then you will wish you were young again.”

At the time, it was difficult to relate to what she said. For me as a twelve year old, time stood still. Now here I am thirty six years later understanding what she then said to me. Where did the time go? I now look in the mirror and each day I see a new wrinkle on my face. No matter how much moisturizer I use, the fine lines keep coming. The little white hairs that creep up one at a time and stand straight like soldiers from my scalp send me to battle. I pull them out one at a time. Then another pops up. I reach for the hair dye. Feel a little better for about a month and then look at my roots coming in, a little more grey each month. The battle with age never ends. Time and aging go hand and hand like two lovers in a courtship. No matter what I do. I can’t separate the two of them.

Talking to my Aunt this week, who is still thirty five years older than me, I realized that fact has not changed. She reminded me how old I will be twenty years from now. She went on to tell me about all her aches and pains and warns me to take care of my body now while I am young. I don’t feel as young as I once did. Depending on our perspective about aging, it can be a depressing thought to think that in another twenty years, I could suffer the same or even worse symptoms of aging or disease. The future can look very grim. Again it would depend on the perspective we have for our future. It would depend on what we believe about life and death. As a Christian believer I realize that life as I know it to be, is just one experience after another, living through the different stages and milestones. I believe that life is really a time of preparation for a life eternal. Life is a woven tapestry where our lives intertwine with the lives of others. There is a God purpose and a plan.

Having a Christian perspective, when I look all around me, I can only conclude that there is definitely a God. Everything is made so perfect that it could not have possibly just evolved from an amoeba. God created a perfect balance in all things. The eco-system is so intricate. One animal feeds off of another. Millions of different species of plants, bugs, animals, mammals, vegetation, herbs and on and on the list goes. These things prove to me that there had to be an intelligent being to make a world that can survive on itself. God even put in place all the gases and oils, minerals, and water in place, knowing well in advance that this world would some day advance in technology to use these minerals to transport and survive. It shows us a God that is all knowing. The bible says that he even knows the hairs on our head. That in human perception is an infinite number of hairs, considering how many humans now live and how many humans have lived on planet earth. How can atheists ignore such in your face evidence? Atheists can put up as many bus signs as they want denying that there is a God. You cannot call an apple an orange. An apple is an apple no matter how you try to disguise it. An orange is an orange even if you make it into orange juice.

The (world) meaning the people who live in the world want to believe in something so desperately that many people are willing to believe in anything except God. In the first sign of crisis in one’s life, who will that unbelieving person turn to for help? Ninety percent of the time they pray to their unknown God. For Christian’s we turn to Jesus. We can know him. God in His infinite wisdom has made a simple concept for us to believe and understand. He kept it simple by using an example of sacrifice and atonement for our stupidity and sinful choices by giving us His son Jesus Christ. Christ’s death for our eternal life. We just have to believe. Pretty simple, yet only a handful of the world population receive that gift.

For those who do believe in a Savior, their perspective on life and the way to live life changes. It changes because they believe and know that this life is a time to fulfill something much more than a nine to five job. It is a time to learn who we are in Christ; a time to learn about this God who created us and loves us and knows us better than we know ourselves. It is a time to prepare us for eternity. One could look at it like a little holding tank where we are aloud to live life and do whatever we please, good or bad. We can make choices with our free will. God watches the choices we make. Do we live for Him and to bring Him glory by living to fulfill God’s mandate which is to love our neighbors, feed the widows, help those in need and share the love of Christ with all those people we meet during our life span? Or do we live oblivious to the fact that God really exists and live this life like it is the last chance. There is no hope in the latter statement. No, the bible tells us that there is life eternal when we die from this life. It is simply stated and made clear in scripture. Live in a new heaven and a new earth or live in hell?

I choose life with God. The bible gives us hope through Christ Jesus the Son of the Living God. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” “For God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have ever lasting life.” These two quotes from the bible say it simple and clear. The key word is “believe”. These are only two quotes of many found throughout the bible which leads the way to eternal life. They are not just nice sayings for someone to read on a sign as they drive by. These messages are God’s truth for each of us to embrace. Embrace life not death and you will have a new life changing perspective which will get you through any milestone, any trial, hurt or pain. In that perspective you will find the grace of God to be sufficient for you to endure and overcome. We are all just passing through. Life is to be enjoyed, shared, grasped and lived to its full potential no matter how long our life may be.

Some people move on to the next life before others. Even when we miss our loved ones, we have a hope that they have a life eternal. That life eternal is more than we can imagine. Revelation 21 tells of a day with no more death, no more pain, no suffering. The lame will walk the blind will see, the deaf will hear. All things will be made new. If God can make this earth and the entire universe in its entire splendor, how much more God can make a new earth to replace the one that we humans are destroying. God can do all things. He is not a little God that we can put in a little Genie bottle and let out whenever we feel like it. God cannot be contained, limited, destroyed or erased. God is and was and is to come. Before the heavens God existed. Our limited minds cannot fully comprehend the depth to God. Our minds can comprehend the basic principles of which are written in the bible. “New York Times Best Seller” may not be written on the cover of the Bible, yet it is the most important and life giving book ever read by man or woman. It has sold more books than any best seller. Before you decide that God is not real, nor does He exist, be wise enough to research the bible. A good informed decision is the beginning of wisdom. A closed mind can limit the truth and keep it hidden away while a mind that is open too wide can allow the brains to fall out. One can begin to believe in anything. One can believe a tree stump is their God and worship it. That belief is as dead as the stump. For those who are deceived into believing in false idols or Gods, that kind of faith is useless and ritualistic. New age believers would rather give all there cares to a mood stone. Is that logical? I’d rather give my cares to God. The bible says that he would not give us a stone if we ask for bread.

Pray and seek the living God as one who is thirsty and seeks living water. Then you will find God and your thirst will be quenched by living water that leads to eternal life. Revelation 21:6-9 “And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of Life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers and all liars – their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Does finding salvation in Christ mean that we become perfect or sinless in an instant? I don't believe so. Salvation is a life changing process. Salvation is the beginning of our journey toward God's Holiness and life eternal.

For information on how to know you are a child of God and have salvation - Read (John 1:12-13), (John 3 1-16), (John 14:6), (John 17:1-5), (Romans 6:23), (Colossians 1:13-14) (Romans 10:8-10)

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