Tag: Eternity

Get Ready for What’s Coming

Life is nothing more than a blip, really. So, it’s actually amazing that we have some time to think about what’s coming next after this blip is over. But we do, by the grace of God.

What’s next is eternity. Heaven. Our salvation is near and our destiny is drawing closer. And that means that this blip of a life is going to end sooner than we realize. Before we know it, we’ll have blown right through the blip.

So one thing Paul wants us to remember is this. We have only so much time here on planet earth to fully live in our new identity as children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. The time is short for us to put aside the deeds of darkness, with its key goals being to “party hardy,” stay high, get wasted, sleep around, divide people, devastate relationships, and self-centeredly wish I had more of this or that than anyone around me.

Paul says that the way we get ready for what’s coming is to get rid of all of that and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. And what he means by that is that we need to have a faith-relationship with Jesus. We need to trust that he is our Savior, and our Lord.

God will provide this for us. Through baptism. Through his word. And through the sacrament of holy communion.

Time is short. If we refuse to put ourselves in position for God to reach us through the word and sacraments, God will not come to us in any other way. We need to quickly put down the deeds of darkness and the desires of our selfish, sinful self. We need to give Jesus space to work on our hearts.

We can’t, in other words, put on one set of clothing until we’ve taken off the old set. In this case, “layering” just isn’t going to cut the mustard. There’s no “both-and” to be had here. This is a definite “either-or”.

So which set of “clothing” do you want to put on? Remember, “what’s next” is coming very, very soon. And it’s very clear that we need to have the right set of “clothing” on right now!

So get ready for what’s coming!

“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:11-14, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Thursday, July 30, is 1 Chronicles 7:1 – 9:1a, Romans 13:1-14 and Psalm 89:38-45.

Jesus, thank you for giving me your perfection as my new clothing. Help me to treasure it and to be ready for what is coming.

Header image based on "Stopwatch" by William Warby, CC By 2.0

No Excuse

It’s not easy to talk about these things. These are decidedly inconvenient and unpleasant truths.

But the apostle Paul did not hold anything back. He really wanted to tackle a question that he must have been asked many times. I know I have been asked this question more than once.

And the question is this: “What about all the people who haven’t had a chance to hear about Jesus? What is God going to do with them? How could God ever consign such people to eternal condemnation in hell?”

Paul’s answer is that God has not hidden from anyone. He’s given us instincts. And he has shown up in creation. Anyone who is willing to study a bit, open their eyes and see — in other words, listen to those instincts — will understand that there has to be someone who designed all this.

Have you ever had a spiritual moment in nature? Have you ever gazed at the stars through a telescope, or observed a living cell through the lens of a microscope? Have you ever watched a lion or a cheetah pursue it’s prey, or an elk nurse its young?

Have you ever felt a close bond to a pet? Or an attraction to a cute puppy or kitten at the pound?

Why is the ocean so beautiful? Why are the mountains so majestic? Why are the waves of grass on the prairies so mesmerizing? What makes the wind blowing through the trees or the drumbeat of raindrops on the roof sound so magical to our human ears?

Do the sights, the sounds, the smells of nature ever make you think of the possibility of heaven? The scent of pine trees does it for me!

If your answer, like mine, is yes, then know that you’re not alone. That’s exactly the way God designed it to be.

And that’s why, as Paul says so bluntly and clearly, we are without excuse if we choose to screw our eyes and ears shut and ignore all our instincts:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Monday, July 13, is 2 Kings 24:8 – 25:30, Romans 1:18-32 and Psalm 84:8-12.

Lord, open my eyes to see you and know you as the only true God, and to trust in Jesus Christ whom you have sent for my salvation.

Header image based on "Yosemite falls and tourists, CA, USA" by Dzhingarova, CC By 2.0

This Is Eternal Life

Jesus is about to be arrested and crucified. He is going to enter a period of the most intense suffering that anyone can imagine. And he knows its coming.

He’s already given his disciples their final instructions and reminders. So what does he do after that?

He prays.

This prayer is perhaps the second most well-known prayer of Jesus, following only The Lord’s Prayer. It’s known world-wide as “The High Priestly Prayer”. It’s a prayer in which Jesus makes intercession for the church of the future.

As Jesus begins this most intense and beautiful prayer of any prayer in the gospel records, he starts with purpose. He reminds God the Father of why he has come — that he might glorify the Father. He also asks the Father to glorify him through what is about to happen, but only so that might complete his task of glorifying the Father.

He points out that the Father granted him the amazing authority to confer eternal life on all those given to him by the Father.

And then Jesus comes with an explanation — in the clearest terms possible — of how eternal life is conferred on us.

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3, NIV).

Notice how Jesus here cements knowing God to knowing him. The two are inextricably linked. If you want to truly know God, to take hold of him and receive his grace, mercy and help, let no one convince you to look anywhere else than Jesus.

Know God, the Father, through his Son, Jesus Christ. Know Jesus as your Lord, sent by the Father to be your Savior from sin.

And eternal life is yours.

This is the gospel in its purest form! This is the central message of the Christian faith.

Believe it!

Our Bible reading for Tuesday, May 26, is 1 Samuel 17:38 – 18:30, John 16:5 – 17:5 and Psalm 68:1-6.

Father, thank you for sending me your Son to be my Savior. Thank you for glorifying him through his suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. In your Spirit’s power, I believe. Please receive me into eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ!

Header image based on "Gospel Graffiti II" by Peat Bakke, CC By 2.0

What Page Are You On?

It’s so easy — and dangerous — to get consumed with the hopes and desires of the present.

Following Jesus’ bread of life speech, and a realization by many in the crowd that Jesus was not merely around to serve their daily needs or meet their earthly goals, many of those who had been Jesus’ disciples began to turn back and stop following him.

They failed to see that to follow Jesus is to get on Jesus’ page. They just were not willing to go there. It’s important to know that Jesus doesn’t want us on his page because he’s on some sort of power trip. He wants us on his page because that’s what’s truly best for us.

The other day I was in an airport, and I saw a family — a Dad and a Mom with two little girls about 3 or 4 years old. The girls had matching rolling bags that they brought with them. The younger of the two little girls kept wanting to stop to get things out of her bag. This happened several times, with her parents patiently trying to explain that they needed to move their way more quickly through the airport.

The little girl was having none of that, and she was persistent about what she wanted for herself (and apparently her entire family as well) — frequent stops so she could dig around in her bag.

At last, her father simply took hold of the bag, and gently relieved her of it. The response of the little girl was not pretty, as I’m sure you can imagine. She pouted quite loudly for a really, really long time.

Sometimes we behave like that little girl. We want God to hold everything up — including his own gracious plans — for us. After all, in our minds, who’s more important than we are?

Jesus had just made it clear that he had come for his own purpose and glory. This involves the eternal salvation of mankind. So wasting a lot of time baking bread for people (or even just miraculously making it!) wasn’t on the agenda. Instead, he was going to be busy helping people see him as the bread of life. His concerns were far more of an eternal nature.

The people — like the little girl — didn’t like being told someone else’s agenda took precedence. So they turned away. It was just too tough to swallow.

Jesus watches them go, and then turns to his inner circle, the twelve, and ask them, “Do you also want to leave?”

Their answer shows that the disciples — by the Spirit’s power — had gotten on Jesus’ (eternal) page with him.

“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God'” (John 6:68-69, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Monday, May 11, is Judges 12:1 – 13:25, John 6:60 – 7:13 and Psalm 59:9-17.

Lord, I repent for the times when I want to be on my own page, rather than on yours. My mind and heart want to dwell on the present, and on my own worldly needs, rather than on eternity, and your eternal desires for me and for the world around me. Please forgive me! Jesus, I want to be on your page with you. Send me the Spirit, who gives life, through your words. You have the words of eternal life, because you are the Holy One of God.

Header image based on "Studied Godspel" by Daniel Paixao Fontes, CC By 2.0

Reliable Directions

Do you want reliable information about where you’re headed? Most of us do.

I remember when Julie and I were getting ready to move to Africa. We loved visiting with people who had been there, and most of all, with people who had lived there. We hung on every word, because we knew that one day soon, we would be needing the very information they were giving us.

What if you wanted to go somewhere where you would remain forever? What if we could reliably say only one person has been there before and come back to tell us about it? What if the alternative to going to this place was a horrible — almost unthinkable — alternative?

Would you want to hear what that one person had to say about…

  • How to get there?
  • How to avoid obstacles that will prevent you from getting there?
  • How to help others get there with you?
  • What it will be like once you arrive?

I’m talking about heaven, of course. And I’m talking about Jesus. He’s the one person we can reliably say has been there and come here to tell us about it. He wants us to know what he knows about it. Most of all, he wants us to have the answers to all four questions above.

Some people struggle with listening to Jesus on this point. But from experience I can tell you, it’s good to listen to the people who’ve gone there before you have. That’s what Jesus was telling Nicodemus. And that’s what Jesus is saying to you, too.

“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man” (John 3:13, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Saturday, May 2, is Joshua 21:20 – 22:34, John 3:1-21 and Psalm 55:1-11.

Lord, help me to listen to your voice. You have the words of eternal life.

Header image based on "The Milky Way panorama" by European Southern Observatory, CC By 2.0

How to Pray When Your Hands Are Tied

How should we pray when our hands are tied (or possibly even nailed… to a cross)?

You might remember Jesus’ prayer as he looked down on the crowd gathered around his cross at Golgotha.

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'” (Luke 23:34, NIV).

Wow! That’s a powerful prayer when your hands are tied and you are looking at the very people who did the tying. Don’t forget, to add insult to injury they had driven nails through those same hands.

In praying for the forgiveness of his crucifiers, Jesus at one and the same time made peace with his circumstances and with the people who created the circumstances.

You may well have people in your life who have tied your hands, and who have added insult to their injury of you. But you too, through a prayer of forgiveness can make peace with your circumstances and with the people who did this to you.

You might also recall the criminal’s prayer. Don’t forget, his hands were tied too.

“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'” (Luke 23:42, NIV).

Sometimes when there’s nothing more we can do in this life, we need to come back to an eternal focus. That’s what the criminal did. In the end, he put first things first, and remembered his deepest spiritual needs. Then he asked Jesus not for rescue from the crucifixion, but rather for deliverance into Jesus’ eternal kingdom.

I’m reminded of something Augustine once said, “Earthly things are indeed beautiful and fair, though lowly and slight compared to the beauties high and blessed.”

It’s a great reminder we get from this criminal as he prays from a cross. When life goes horribly off the rails and we are in pain — and there seems to be nothing we can do about it — it’s good to keep eternity in view.

Our Bible reading for Sunday, April 26, is Joshua 9:16 – 10:43, Luke 23:26-56 and Proverbs 10:21-30.

Lord Jesus, help me to always stay focused on your forgiveness and the hope of eternal life that you have given me. Help me to forgive others, and even to pray for the forgiveness of those who have hurt and angered me. Most importantly, give me an eternal perspective in my prayer life, and remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Header image based on "with me in paradise" by Waiting for the Word, CC By 2.0

Eternity On the Line

Luke was a companion of the apostle Paul. It’s likely that Paul and Luke first encountered one another in the city of Antioch, in Syria. We know from the book of Colossians that Luke was a physician.

Luke’s Greek is grammatically excellent and proper. His descriptive references to ancient cities and towns, and his correctness in ancient terminology mark him as a careful scholar.

As Christians we know that the Holy Spirit divinely inspired the words of the gospel Luke wrote. But the Holy Spirit also chose Luke, the careful scholar, to be the one to do the research work that would allow him to provide us with an accurate and well-ordered account of the life of Jesus, our Savior.

God is so good. As Luke writes in the introduction to his gospel, God wants us to have certainty about the things we have been taught. He does not want to leave us hanging.

That’s because a lot is on the line here. Eternity, to be exact.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to be confident. He wants us to know the Bible is trustworthy. And most of all, he wants us to know that his work of sending his Son, Jesus, to be our Savior is fully reliable. All because he wants our eternity to be secure.

“With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3-4, NIV).

Lord, thank you for showing us that your word is reliable. As the true author of the Bible, you carefully selected the men who would record your words. And they in turn, carefully did the research so that in the process we are left with an account of the life of Jesus that we can trust is completely trustworthy. So much is on the line. Thank you for such love!

Our Bible reading for Friday, March 13, is Leviticus 26:14 – 27:34, Luke 1:1-25 and Proverbs 7:1-5.

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