Are We Ready For Eternity?***

        

The Holy One calls to me this morning. The Holy Spirit was sent by our Lord to lead us into all Truth.  I came to the realization only recently that I have not, over the course of my life with the Lord, asked Him to do what He was sent to do.  I have not specifically prayed that the Holy One lead me into all truth. 
 

I hear myself pose the question, “Do I have to ask Him?”  When we consider that free will is part of our design, I believe there must be a “willingness” on my part to co-labor and co-operate with my indwelling counselor.  I believe that in our relationship, there is still a measure of freedom to ignore, defy, or deny His ruling authority.  That is what makes up the process of sanctification (being set apart and made Holy) and it requires our co-operation and the surrender of our will.

I now have a standing prayer that the Holy Spirit lead me into all truth.  It is different than asking for specific wisdom in given situations that the Lord has said if we ask for it, we have it.  To be led into all truth has been like a major overhaul of the mind.  The thoughts of God are so much higher than ours and yet He is willing to share what He knows we can and are willing to handle.

To be led into all truth, we must be willing to go there.  Many actually fear truth.  Truth may hurt.  Truth may be hard to swallow.  Truth may crack our precious self-image or contradict our long-held beliefs. But once we get past all that resistance, truth does set us free.

Today the message of the Holy Spirit comes to me loud and clear: “The truth must be spoken regardless of who chooses to believe it”.

The truth and issue of Eternity is pressed on my heart and has been swirling in my mind.  The Lord directed me to pray that His people will have a greater sense of eternity in this age than ever before.  I responded with my usual “curious George” OK but WHY?  Why is it more urgent in these days? 

His answer comforts my mind and confirms his promise.  “For all the generations since the beginning of earth time, man has lived between the boundaries of birth and temporal death.  Only 2 escaped the death experience: Enoch and Elijah.  But this generation of my people will not all face temporal death nor have time to process what death and facing their own mortality does provide.  In the blink of an eye, they will translate as they are: people of eternity; children of the Eternal Father and they need to be ready.” (Enoch: Gen 5:21-22   Elijah: 2 Kings 2:11)

The Kingdom of Heaven is the Eternal Kingdom of our Sovereign Creator God.

Whether you believe in the Kingdom of Heaven or not you are part of its vast expanse.

Whether you believe in the Creator God or not you are part of His creation.

Whether you believe in His word (the Bible) or not, it applies to everyone ever born.

And whether you believe that God sent His one and only Son, Jesus to reconcile the relationship between the Creator and His created or not, the provision for our reconciliation has been given for all mankind to accept or reject.

In every issue, what we choose to believe does not alter what is:  Truth IS Truth.

Even if a lie is believed by most, a lie will always be a lie.  Even if truth is denied by some, truth will always be truth.

In these days we will be presented with lies by the one Jesus said is the “father of lies”: Satan the adversary of Truth. This is why Jesus sent His Holy Spirit of Truth to indwell His people.  Jesus does not want us to be deceived.  We, God’s people, have no excuse for being deceived because Truth dwells in us and He is here to lead us into all truth.

Lies destroy trust…We have an enemy who hates the Creator and knows the Kingdom of Heaven.   The way for the enemy to assault the Creator is to destroy His crowning achievement: Humans made in the very image of God Himself.   

How better to hurt the heart of the Creator than to destroy the object of His affection.  To sever the relationship, Satan attacks us with lies about our Creator.  Satan is the “Prince of the power of the air” and operates from the spirit realm.  He plants lies in our ears that misrepresent God and are designed to cause suspicion of God’s good intentions toward us.

If a person is of the “intellectual” type the enemy will bring fine sounding arguments to debate even the existence of God.  Emotionally vulnerable types will be challenged with lies about God’s love and their worth.  Many who fear rejection will reject Him first to defend against the potential pain.  Power people will hear how surrender to God will interrupt their control over life and circumstances that they can manipulate.  Satan is an ancient and supernatural enemy but a created being none the less and will never be equal in power to the Creator.

Truth sabotages the Saboteur and sets the captives free to live in a loving and trusted relationship with our amazing Creator God.

Humanity’s understanding of the Truth about our Creator God impacts where we will spend eternity.  Our job as Christians is to share the truth about our God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  And to correct any and all misrepresentations of Him and His love.   It is imperative for His people to know Him so we can share what we know. 

It is also an imperative that we live our lives in such honor of our Lord that He can and will make a distinction between those who serve Him and those who do not since the testimonies are the real deal in most people’s lives. 

Living as if the rapture of the Body of Christ could happen at any moment keeps us focused on eternity and if we are focused there, we might be better servants here. 

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?          

Why Forgiveness?***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  His Presence and His soft voice gently pulls me out of my sleep.  I am thankful for these days when the world is spinning out of control, to be reminded that He is still in control.

I have always hated waking up to an alarm clock.    I find that if and when I need to set one, I stay up half the night anticipating that annoying and shocking announcement that a new day is about to begin and I need to leap into it while still half asleep.  They are well named “alarm” clocks due to the way my body responds with a rapid heartbeat and a knee-jerk reaction.

There are days when the Holy Spirit sounds the alarm and calls for a rapid response but today is not one of those days.  Today He speaks to me about forgiveness (or my lack thereof).  Lately He has been counselling me about my anger or righteous indignation as I prefer to call it, and He has repeatedly told me that Vengeance is His and He will repay His enemies and mine. (Roman 12:19) But that I have a responsibility to wait and in the meantime to live according to His commands of which forgiveness is a top priority. 

In keeping with His directive and my struggle with forgiveness, He brings a gentle request: “come now and let us reason together” Isaiah 1:19.  With the not too subtle reminder that “though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow; though they be like crimson they shall be as wool.  If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land”.

I know that His thoughts are so much higher than mine and His ways who can fathom?  So when He chooses to share them, I need to be all ears and have a pen and paper handy. Forgiveness is a gentle subject because it usually involves deep pain and the need to be made whole. 

The Holy Spirit encourages me on: “I call My people to forgive.  To forgive is to release the offender from the debt owed for the offense.  Forgiveness is a conscious choice to lay down your expectation and demand for repayment.  Are you willing?”

I begin to understand the Truth behind the command.  Unforgiveness is holding a person to the requirement of compensating me for their offense.  The problem with that is in most cases the offense is a violation of our heart or person hood.  And there is nothing the offender can do or pay to compensate for the damage done. 

Looking at those who have offended me or the ones I love, I see the truth in His words.  There is no way the offender can make up to me for the damage done by their “evil” actions.  They cannot give me back the years of emotional heartache, the relationships damaged by covenant breaking, the honor lost to character assassination, through bearing false witness or gossip untruths or the horror and humiliation of private confessions made public.  No amount of money can buy those things back or reset integrity in the mind of others swayed by lies. The debt they owe is one they could never pay me to offset the damage they did.

The Holy Spirit joins my deep meditation and confirms my conclusion, “They cannot ever pay out the debt or restore you but I can if you will let Me.  If you will release them from the debt I will compensate you for what was stolen or destroyed.  Since they cannot re-pay you, let Me”.

The Lord’s peace floods the room and my heart.   My “right” to expect accountability and compensation for damage done must be surrendered as an act of my will.  Such is forgiveness.  But as I do, the Lord makes it clear that He will bless me in ways that cannot be measured. From my Lord, lost years and honor can be restored, lost love can be replaced, as well as lost fortunes. 
  

Today I chose to forgive those who have sought to do harm to me or my family.  Today I choose to release them from debts and obligations to me.  Today I choose to let go of my enemy and take hold of my Lord.

His Divine reason over rules all my carnal objections.  Forgiveness makes perfect sense to me now.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?