A Glimpse of Gory

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago…was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words. 2 Corinthians 12:2,4

What do you think Heaven will be like? Studies show that most American Christians think that Heaven will be just one great, big, unending church service. How sad is that?

I mean, a lot of church-goers don’t even come for all of church. They either like the music and leave before the preaching starts or they like the preaching and come late so they don’t have to endure so much music. And then these people, discouraged about what they expect in Heaven, turn toward the things of this world to find whatever they can down here.

Listen, if Heaven is nothing more than a bunch of halo-wearing, harp-playing, cloudsitting little cherubs with wings, I’m not going there. It’s like, no wonder people are out to seek significance and satisfaction here on this planet, in this life, when they’ve been given very little to look forward to in Heaven.

Gang, let’s take it from someone who glimpsed Heaven that these pictures I’ve described so far are nothing like the real thing. In fact, our witness Paul tells us that Heaven can’t be described by human words.

It would be like you trying to describe the sunset at La Jolla Shores with the green grass coming up to the white sand and the waves breaking and the pinks and the oranges and the reds of the sunset to someone who’s been blind their entire life.

You say to your blind friend, Oh, how I wish you could see this. And he says, So do I. Explain it to me.

And you’re like, Well, the greens are so green.

And he’s like, What’s green?

I don’t know, but it’s nothing like the sand, which is so white, reflecting the sun. What’s the sun?

I don’t know, but it’s turning orange and pink.

What’s pink?

I don’t know. It’s a combination of red and…

What’s red?

He just is not getting it. And neither do we yet. We have no ability to understand what God has in store for us in Heaven.

So let’s stop telling lies about Heaven that make people think Earth is the better deal and instead start talking about it as it really is-indescribable Paradise-and invite our friends to the higher place.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for such a wonderful place as Heaven will be! Please help me to change how people think about Heaven so we can live together with our eyes set on the eternity You have for us!

Amen

How Far Is Heaven?

Thus says the LORD: Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?…But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.’ Isaiah 66:1-2

God is just a crutch for people who can’t make it on their own. Have you ever heard that before? I hear it all the time and you know how I respond? I tell the person that they’re right.

They’re right. I’m not good enough. I can’t make it alone. But the truth is that none of us can. None of us can fix ourselves; we’re all bankrupt when it comes to that. We need a Savior! God wants all of us to learn this truth for ourselves, and in our verse today, He gives a promise for all who do. He says that He will look upon those who are contrite in spirit. The Hebrew word there that’s translated contrite is only used two other times in the Old Testament. Both times refer to the same person-Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Jonathan whom David took into his own home.

Crippled. That’s what this word contrite means. Do you feel crippled in your spirit? Are you convinced of your inability to walk anywhere without God? Are you ready, like the lame man in Acts 3, to receive better than silver and gold, and beyond that to receive strength in the legs of your life so that you can walk freely in abundant life?

This is what God wants to do for us and it’s what David did for Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth thought David was going to kill him because he was the only living relative of King Saul, but David did the opposite. He searched him out to carry him into the palace, to let him eat from the king’s table, to have all of his needs met from the king’s bounty for the rest of his life.

God will do all this for us if we will just let Him, recognizing our inability to do it on our own. He is looking for those who will choose to humble themselves and become contrite in spirit.

Is God my crutch? You bet. I couldn’t walk without Him.

Prayer Lord God,

Thank You for looking on those who know they need You, because I really need You! Please come and carry me in my life. Let me lean on Your strength and live off the things You have for me, not on the little things I can find for myself!

Amen

Getting Plowed

Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow…He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Mark 4:3,9

Have you checked your heart lately? It could be that your heart isn’t in as good of condition as you think it is.

I am not talking about your cardiovascular health. I am talking about whether your heart is in the right condition for God to be able to speak to you!

Jesus compared our hearts to four different types of soil, and if we are not careful then we can find that our hearts have become unfruitful for the work of God’s kingdom.

What is often overlooked in this parable, however, is the sower. Did you ever notice that there is only one sower? The sower is the Holy Spirit. And though He uses knuckleheaded people to get the message out, it is important to recognize that it is the Holy Spirit trying to teach us God’s Word.

Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth. A pastor does the best job he can, but ultimately, he is only a tool of the Holy Spirit to help lead the body of Christ into all truth.

Our job is to listen. Have you been sitting in the pew, listening to the pastor preaching, when all of a sudden something he says strikes a chord deep inside you? In that moment, did you feel like something needed to change in your life? If so, then it wasn’t the pastor speaking to you; it was the Holy Spirit.

We need to have ears that hear. The key is believing that while some human is talking up front, the God of the Universe may butt in and sow seed into our heart.

Will the Sower find good soil in your heart? The answer depends on whether you are willing to hear.

Prayer Holy Spirit,

Thank You for leading me into all truth! Help me to hear Your promptings and to keep my heart prepared to receive the seed You sow.

Amen

Being Wise in Foolish Times

Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice?…She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors:…Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her. Proverbs 8:1-3,10-11

Can you hear her? Of course you can; she’s everywhere. The real question is whether you’re listening.

So many of us, especially in the last few years, have faced moments when we needed wisdom. Trying times force us to make difficult decisions, and in that moment it doesn’t matter how much you know because right then what matters is what we do with what we know.

What do I do? I need direction. I need advice. I need help. I need counsel. These are the words of someone who needs wisdom. Should I move? Should I take that job? Which college should I go to? Is buying that house the right decision right now? Is this person really the one I should marry? Should we send our kids to public school, private school, or homeschool?

And a lot of us, when we’re asking these kinds of questions, we want the answer to be quick, easy, and painless. So for all of us in this journey of life, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that wisdom is simple to understand and eager to help you. The bad news is that you will have to reprioritize your life to find her or her words won’t make any sense to you.

If you desire wisdom more than anything else, she’ll speak to you and teach you under-

standing. But if you think you can just pop into her storefront, grab your pat answer, and ditch her until your next need, then forget it. Wisdom knows the value of what she has and who she is. She is not going to give herself away to someone who doesn’t value her the same way she does.

In other words, wisdom wants to help you, but if you think gold, silver, precious stones, fancy clothes, great cars, and all this world has to offer are better than her, then you won’t understand a word she says.

Instead, choose to fear God above all else, more than what might happen if you don’t take that new job, buy that new house, or end up at the wrong college. Then, because you fear Him, seek His wisdom and will in everything you do. Then, finally, you will understand wisdom and have all the counsel you need for every decision.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

I really need wisdom, so I thank You that You are all the wisdom I need! I choose to seek You first and value wisdom above anything I could find in this world. Please teach me to understand her voice as she daily speaks into my life!

Amen

Preparing for the End

Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. But this I say: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:5-6

There are certain cardinal don’ts of the Christmas season. Don’t shout. Don’t cry. Don’t pout. Why? Because Santa Claus is coming to town!

While the Christmas season is behind us, Someone else will soon be coming to town, and His name is Jesus. And just as with Christmas, there are a few important don’ts for us to observe while we await His coming.

First, don’t freak out. Just look at the last few years-the Arab Spring, the Japan earthquake and tsunami, the ups and downs of the world economy-they have been filled with upheaval. With all this going on, people around us are going to feel anxiety about the future, but we shouldn’t. We should have peace because we have Jesus. And when people ask us why we’re so calm, Jesus is the answer.

Don’t be deceived. In the last days, which we are in, there is going to be a great falling away. This means that people who used to call themselves Christians decide to stop believing in Jesus. It means that many Christians are going to be deceived by a lie that steals them from the truth. Don’t let it be you.

Don’t let anyone steal your identity in the Lord. In the end, the anti-Christ will call himself God, exalting himself above everything that’s worshiped, but not for long. Jesus will come and destroy him with the breath of His mouth! Make sure you’re on the right side of that battle. Stay firm in the Lord.

Don’t be stubborn, don’t be stupid. Don’t be one of those people who hear the truth of God’s love for you and refuse to receive it. I mean, you have to be deceived by something to hear about love like God has for you and reject it. His love is so big, so deep, so penetrating, so transforming; I really am afraid for those who reject this love.

And that gets us to the bottom line today-God’s love. Let God’s love give you peace. Let God’s love hold you in His truth. Let God’s love define who you are in Him. Receive His love now, today, and every day for the rest of your life until Jesus comes to town.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for loving me! I want to receive Your love today and always! I believe Your love for me and invite You to lead me in Your love every day for the rest of my life.

Amen

The Promise of the Presence of the Power of the Holy Spirit

But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 1 Corinthians 12:18-20

Do you remember back to when you were inside your mother’s womb?

No, obviously not, but if you could, it’s not hard to image God’s voice speaking over you, His hands carefully crafting you, His heart dreaming ahead into your life of all the things you might become. He is, after all, a good Father and the Creator of us all.

In that creation, God put into the very core of us which part of His body we were called to become. This part of us lay dormant like a seed until the Holy Spirit filled us upon conver-

sion and brought life to that God-given identity and calling with which we were born.

Now we face a choice. Will we allow the Holy Spirit to determine our identity, to tell us where we fit in the body of Christ? Or will we insist that we know better than Him, forcing our way into what we want the most or think we’ll like the best?

This should be a silly question. In fact, it should not be a question at all. Obviously, if God is good and trustworthy-and we are believing that He’s good and trustworthy enough to save us from our sins and give us Heaven, after all-then we should trust that whom He created us to be will be the most fulfilling and life-giving identity we could have, beyond all we could accomplish for ourselves.

Nevertheless, oftentimes we come to church and strive to be like the people around us. Or we strive to be like the leadership up front. Some insecurity about who we are tells us that we need to stand in front of the congregation to be important. We need to be on a board. We need to teach a class. We need to be seen.

Nonsense. We need to be the part of the body that God determined we would be.

Submit your life to the Holy Spirit today and allow Him to determine your steps. Let Him set you apart for service in the body and make your time in church about those around you instead of yourself. Then, and only then, will you find the fulfillment you desire.

Prayer Holy Spirit,

Thank You that You know more about me than I do! I give my life to You today and ask that You help me become the part of Christ’s body You created me to be.

Amen

Vision: A View from the Top

Yet surely My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? Zechariah 1:6

Do you know what my greatest fear is? It is that I would be successful at the wrong thing. That should be your greatest fear, too, because do you know what that would mean? It would mean succeeding and failing at the same time, to miss out on why God has you here because you weren’t listening to Him, you weren’t yielding your heart to Him, and that you weren’t in a place to really hear His voice or see the vision that He has for you, your marriage, and your future.

You see, it is possible for you to go through life serving God, but never following Him. On the other hand, it is impossible to follow God without serving Him.

People serve God without following Him all the time. They do the religious thing and check the box, saying, See? I served. I went to church. I taught in Sunday school. I passed the bags for the offering. I served!

You can do these things, and that’s great, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re following Jesus. Following Jesus means that you need to hear His word and respond, and you can’t do that without picking up your cross and taking that up in your service to Him.

For example, I have three kids. Imagine that they are the best kids they could possibly be. They get perfect grades, always choose good friends, make wise decisions, work hard, and are responsible with everything they do. Yes, they do all these things, but what if they don’t listen when I speak to them? What if my words mean nothing to them?

What if they did all those things I mentioned, but then they decide to buy into some Zen religious thing, and nothing I say to them makes them turn back to God? Do you think I would be pleased with them as my children?

The answer is no. A perfect child who ignores their parents’ voices will break their parents’ hearts. That’s what God is saying to us here.

Listen, you and I will not live long, but God’s words last forever. Let’s pay attention.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for speaking to me! Please teach my heart to listen carefully to You and help me to understand Your words and everything You say. I do not want to just serve You. I want to follow You!

Amen