The Holy One calls to me this morning. Matters of the heart are weighing heavy on my mind and the Holy Spirit knows the burdens. He speaks from out of the early morning darkness and brings His light.
"I came to change the death sentence to a life sentence".
There is nothing subtle about my indwelling Counselor He never minces words with me but cuts through all the chaff and goes to the heart of every matter.
This season on my journey with Jesus have brought the extreme pendulum swing of emotions from the deep sorrow of saying our earthly "good-byes" to a precious son and brother, uncle and friend 'til we meet again, to the delightful news of a precious new life being added to our family. I have had sweet visits and conversations that are way too short with my beloveds who live far away, and I know that each day will bring battles for all of us who still live on this planet in chaos.
This morning, the Holy One has painted a picture of the eternal. It is a hard reality that we all have an expiration date on the calendar when we will exit our flesh bodies and our spirit and soul will be catapulted into another realm.
While life on earth will continue to be lived sandwiched between the boundaries of birth and death until the King of Kings returns in glory, we live out our temporal lives in a temple made of dust. This temple will return to the elements from which it is formed. In the eternal scheme of things God's purpose for our individual lives is being worked from birth to death here on earth.
Nine years ago, I had the privilege of walking with my husband of 31 years to the finish line of his temporal life. It was not my first exposure to the death of a beloved, but it was the closest one in my earthly existence. Then in 2018, I walked my sweet momma through that same valley of the shadow of death. And in 2019, my world was again turned upside down by the sudden death of one of my sons taken home way too soon.
For me it has been a walk in God's grace, sometimes just minute to minute. I came to understand that God's grace is truly seen in the rear-view mirror. Our difficult days require putting just one foot in front of the other when life becomes like trying to walk through a swap with flip flops on your feet. Somehow we make it through but only by the Grace of God.
I am thankful to have been given an eternal perspective of life, otherwise these times and experiences might have done me in. Each was a huge mountain that would have been too hard for me to climb without a hope for life beyond the veil.
My husband lost his life here in a brutal battle with cancer, my momma was just tired at 95 years of age and quietly passed on and my son was suddenly whisked away due to a broken and diseased heart. But I know that the real enemy of all humanity is death itself no matter how it comes or what situation spells the end of our physical existence here on earth.
In each situation that ends in temporal death, the fact that must be considered is that in life we all have an expiration date set by the Hand of our Creator God. Our temporal lives have a purpose, and that purpose is fulfilled when we exit our physical body and not one second before. God's Word tells us to number our days and that means that we should make each one count for something.
So, what is our life purpose? Could it be the same for every person ever born? I believe so!
The greatest philosopher who was ever lived wrote these words:
"The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright --Words of Truth. The words of the wise are like goads and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails given by the One Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of many books here is no end and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commands. For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgement-including every secret thing whether good or evil" King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
The greater purpose God, our Creator, has given every human ever born is to seek for and find Him. Then we must make a personal decision to live under His Lordship both here and on into Eternity. He has been calling every man, woman and child into a love relationship with Himself since the beginning of time as we know it.
What we find to do on the journey with our hands, does not change what we are to do with our heart. The evidence of His Sovereign and Divine Being is everywhere in creation. No one is without a reason to seek Him or with an excuse to deny Him.
As it has been said, all of us are born with a God shaped hole in our heart and our over-arching purpose in this life is to find that missing piece to our human existence and join Him in a forever love relationship.
Since the days when King Solomon wrote these words, we have entered a new paradigm. Over countless generations, God was setting the stage for the day we look back to in history as the day the Savior Son of God, called by the name Jesus, came into the world.
The purpose for life did not change on that day but our ability to "see" the God we are supposed to be seeking was given. Jesus' life, death and resurrection ushered in a new and privileged era for humanity we call the church age and Grace. God wrapped Himself in flesh for flesh eyes to behold Him and to testify to the world of His character and love.
After His resurrection, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the world, and it is He who calls us to a personal relationship with the One who died our death and opened up the way of eternity. Once we have been given the opportunity to accept Jesus as Savior, the choice is ours. Whether we do or not determines where we will spend eternity: at home in paradise with our Creator or in the place of "gnashing of teeth" separated from His love.
Each one of us having been born into a fallen world, is on a trajectory that leads to the pit of hell. "Hell" is a place of permanent and eternal separation (relational death) from our Creator God unless we choose a different course. God has provided a way for each one of us by way of a free will decision to change the course and trajectory of our life.
"I came to change the death sentence to a life sentence".
There is nothing subtle about my indwelling Counselor He never minces words with me but cuts through all the chaff and goes to the heart of every matter.
This season on my journey with Jesus have brought the extreme pendulum swing of emotions from the deep sorrow of saying our earthly "good-byes" to a precious son and brother, uncle and friend 'til we meet again, to the delightful news of a precious new life being added to our family. I have had sweet visits and conversations that are way too short with my beloveds who live far away, and I know that each day will bring battles for all of us who still live on this planet in chaos.
This morning, the Holy One has painted a picture of the eternal. It is a hard reality that we all have an expiration date on the calendar when we will exit our flesh bodies and our spirit and soul will be catapulted into another realm.
While life on earth will continue to be lived sandwiched between the boundaries of birth and death until the King of Kings returns in glory, we live out our temporal lives in a temple made of dust. This temple will return to the elements from which it is formed. In the eternal scheme of things God's purpose for our individual lives is being worked from birth to death here on earth.
Nine years ago, I had the privilege of walking with my husband of 31 years to the finish line of his temporal life. It was not my first exposure to the death of a beloved, but it was the closest one in my earthly existence. Then in 2018, I walked my sweet momma through that same valley of the shadow of death. And in 2019, my world was again turned upside down by the sudden death of one of my sons taken home way too soon.
For me it has been a walk in God's grace, sometimes just minute to minute. I came to understand that God's grace is truly seen in the rear-view mirror. Our difficult days require putting just one foot in front of the other when life becomes like trying to walk through a swap with flip flops on your feet. Somehow we make it through but only by the Grace of God.
I am thankful to have been given an eternal perspective of life, otherwise these times and experiences might have done me in. Each was a huge mountain that would have been too hard for me to climb without a hope for life beyond the veil.
My husband lost his life here in a brutal battle with cancer, my momma was just tired at 95 years of age and quietly passed on and my son was suddenly whisked away due to a broken and diseased heart. But I know that the real enemy of all humanity is death itself no matter how it comes or what situation spells the end of our physical existence here on earth.
In each situation that ends in temporal death, the fact that must be considered is that in life we all have an expiration date set by the Hand of our Creator God. Our temporal lives have a purpose, and that purpose is fulfilled when we exit our physical body and not one second before. God's Word tells us to number our days and that means that we should make each one count for something.
So, what is our life purpose? Could it be the same for every person ever born? I believe so!
The greatest philosopher who was ever lived wrote these words:
"The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright --Words of Truth. The words of the wise are like goads and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails given by the One Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of many books here is no end and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commands. For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgement-including every secret thing whether good or evil" King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
The greater purpose God, our Creator, has given every human ever born is to seek for and find Him. Then we must make a personal decision to live under His Lordship both here and on into Eternity. He has been calling every man, woman and child into a love relationship with Himself since the beginning of time as we know it.
What we find to do on the journey with our hands, does not change what we are to do with our heart. The evidence of His Sovereign and Divine Being is everywhere in creation. No one is without a reason to seek Him or with an excuse to deny Him.
As it has been said, all of us are born with a God shaped hole in our heart and our over-arching purpose in this life is to find that missing piece to our human existence and join Him in a forever love relationship.
Since the days when King Solomon wrote these words, we have entered a new paradigm. Over countless generations, God was setting the stage for the day we look back to in history as the day the Savior Son of God, called by the name Jesus, came into the world.
The purpose for life did not change on that day but our ability to "see" the God we are supposed to be seeking was given. Jesus' life, death and resurrection ushered in a new and privileged era for humanity we call the church age and Grace. God wrapped Himself in flesh for flesh eyes to behold Him and to testify to the world of His character and love.
After His resurrection, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the world, and it is He who calls us to a personal relationship with the One who died our death and opened up the way of eternity. Once we have been given the opportunity to accept Jesus as Savior, the choice is ours. Whether we do or not determines where we will spend eternity: at home in paradise with our Creator or in the place of "gnashing of teeth" separated from His love.
Each one of us having been born into a fallen world, is on a trajectory that leads to the pit of hell. "Hell" is a place of permanent and eternal separation (relational death) from our Creator God unless we choose a different course. God has provided a way for each one of us by way of a free will decision to change the course and trajectory of our life.
Jesus conquered the great enemy of humanity called death (relational separation from our Creator God) and was resurrected in glory. He came to change the death sentence to a life sentence. Now we can experience the same eternal life that God Himself exists within.
Our great purpose then, is to reach out and grasp the gift of eternal life that God the Creator and Father of humanity is offering through Jesus Christ His Son. Once our eternal destination with Him is set, and we declare Jesus is our personal Savior and Lord, our purpose then becomes telling as many as will listen to us, what He has done to insure our eternal life with Him in Heaven. Temporal death will merely send us into His welcoming arms.
Once saved here on earth, until our pre-set expiration date, we have a new occupation as a servant of the Most High God, but our job may be anything good and God-directed that we find to put our hands to accomplish. The Lord will lead us into interesting opportunities to share our faith and His love.
Eternity is written in our hearts. The Keeper of eternity wants to spend it with us.
If you do not know Jesus the Christ, is 2021 your year to find Him?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Our great purpose then, is to reach out and grasp the gift of eternal life that God the Creator and Father of humanity is offering through Jesus Christ His Son. Once our eternal destination with Him is set, and we declare Jesus is our personal Savior and Lord, our purpose then becomes telling as many as will listen to us, what He has done to insure our eternal life with Him in Heaven. Temporal death will merely send us into His welcoming arms.
Once saved here on earth, until our pre-set expiration date, we have a new occupation as a servant of the Most High God, but our job may be anything good and God-directed that we find to put our hands to accomplish. The Lord will lead us into interesting opportunities to share our faith and His love.
Eternity is written in our hearts. The Keeper of eternity wants to spend it with us.
If you do not know Jesus the Christ, is 2021 your year to find Him?
The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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