Walking With Jesus

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11 KJV)

With sin comes suffering. When mankind chose to go our own way, we lost the protective covering oneness with God provides. Which raises a valid question: “Then why doesn’t our oneness in Jesus, given to us when we’re born again spiritually, keep us safe from harm, disease, discomfort, and heartache?” And my simple answer is – “It does!”

And I can hear your response: “Whoa, but wait? If I’m free of all of those things you mentioned, why did my ______ die of ________? Or why do I still suffer from ________(you can fill in the blanks)?” Part of the problem arises from our misunderstanding of and impatience with the promises of God.

Isaiah wrote in reference to our Savior in chapter 53, verse 3-6: “He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. WE turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and WE did not care. Yet it was OUR weaknesses He carried; it was 0UR sorrows that weighed Him down. And WE thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced for OUR rebellion, crushed for OUR sins. He was beaten so WE could be whole. He was whipped so WE could be healed. All of US, like sheep, have strayed away. WE have left God’s paths to follow OUR OWN. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of US ALL.”

In some warped, Satan-inspired way we believe we shouldn’t ever suffer. It’s not that we can’t understand the suffering for sin in the world, we just don’t think God should allow us to suffer. We’re stupid, selfish kids wanting only what’s best for us, blinded to the fact that’s exactly what God has offered us in Jesus.

Jesus illustrated in and through the sacrifice of His own life on the cross, that no one escapes death and the suffering that accompanies it. Children, some who die at birth or even before, may not suffer themselves, but the anguish, pain, and heartache brought about by their passing leaves an eternal scar on the hearts of those who loved them.

Perhaps the suffering of innocents – whether children or those born with the inability to care for themselves – tug at our hearts the hardest. We can understand that our sin deserves punishment, and even though Jesus paid the penalty for our sin on the cross, the consequences of our personal disobedience will render each of us heartache, pain, and suffering. But, those who are young, abandoned, forgotten, wounded in body, mind, and heart, cause us to struggle to make sense of their suffering.

Does God not care? Is He not aware? Why doesn’t He do something? May I confess that on some levels my mind can’t stretch far enough to understand some things – these kinds of questions included. But what I can’t comprehend intellectually I turn over to my heart to trust that where the limits of our understanding end, God’s clarity of heart and mind takes over.

If this life was all there was, it would be a source of never-ending depression and despair. But because we have hope for a bright future in heaven where everything will be restored to its original grandeur and glory, our eye of faith can enable us to rejoice with patient gladness that one day every wrong will be made right and every heart that places their trust in Jesus will be eternally healed.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Why Did God Suffer?

“What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position ‘a little lower than the angels’; and because He suffered death for us, He is now ‘crowned with glory and honor.’ Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that He should make Jesus, through His suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.” (Hebrews 2:9-10 NLT)

Not surprisingly, suffering is the major reason many refuse to come to the Savior. A friend who recently lost someone dear to him wrote in response to a note I sent him: “I’m hurt…I don’t want to be here. I don’t ever want to forget what I’m feeling. I feel absolutely livid, I feel cheated and betrayed by someone bigger than me that never heard my prayers and pain.”

It’s ironic on many levels that Jesus was the only sinless, perfect human being to ever live, yet suffered more than anyone has ever suffered or ever will suffer. But why? Why would a loving God allow His only Son to suffer, not only excruciating physical pain, but mental and emotional anguish the likes of which we have no capacity to understand?

Perhaps the Lord gave Paul insight into this question as revealed in his words in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When we are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.“

The most common question asked in regard to suffering isn’t “Why did God suffer?’ rather it’s: “Why did God allow (cause) me to suffer?” We sometimes couch our anger at God in the generic version: “Why does God allow suffering?” The irony to me is that it’s a legitimate question, it’s just too often asked in a condescending way.

It’s almost as if we ask the question in a way that seems to imply that God couldn’t understand it. It seems that our concern rises from a misunderstanding of who God is. We wrongly assume that because God is perfect, all knowing, all loving, all caring, all powerful, ever present and possesses the many other attributes He has, that He’s somehow immune to suffering or heartache. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those rich attributes actually maximize His sensitivity to our needs and concerns. He feels deeply what we feel.

There’s a part of me that believes the very reason God formulated His plan for our salvation and oneness with Him through the horrendous death of His precious Son, was to capture our heart with the tremendous, sacrificial offering He was willing to make on our behalf. Jesus didn’t need to die for anything He had done wrong – He knew no wrong, no sin of any kind – not in mind, heart, soul, or body. He was completely innocent, yet voluntarily laid down His life, not only in death, but in His sinless life to suffer the same ways that we suffer. But why?

So, we could rest assured that whatever the source of our pain and suffering, we have an Advocate, a Friend, a Father, a Savior that perfectly understands and not only sympathizes with us, but empathizes with us in a way that no one can unless they’ve experienced the same pain, heartache, and suffering.

The irony to me is that people who are suffering blame God rather than embrace Him. Tim Keller said it well when he wrote: “God suffered to end evil without ending us.” To turn from God in our pain is to turn from our only source of help and from the only One who truly knows how we feel.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Is Your Legacy?

“’…For I know the plans I have for you,‘ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

When you think of your legacy to those you’ll one day leave behind, how do you envision that “gift?” An inheritance that may be used for someone’s education? A share of a company that you’ve slaved to create and expand? A vacation home on the beach or in the woods? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “legacy” as: “Inheritance, bequest; something that has come from an ancestor or predecessor or the past.”

Whatever you see when you think about your legacy, please understand it involves far more than dollars and cents. Juliet Funt wrote: “Legacy is a story about you that is yet to be written, but for which you hold the pen.”

When you die and those you leave behind read the story of your life, what will they see? What will be the “theme song” of your life? Will it be Frank Sinatra’s “I Did It My Way?” Or might it be Glen Campbell’s song: “Turn Around, Look At Me?” Whatever the theme of your life, know this, it is being written every day you’re alive.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:25-26: “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”

Who or what you love will be your greatest legacy. If you think about it, Jesus left no one any money from His 33-year life on earth, but He left an amazing legacy of love for His Father, for those who were and are His faithful followers, and for those for whom He died, who would one day believe, confess, and place their trust for eternal life in Him.

What will your legacy reveal? When the pages of your life are put on display, who or what will be the predominant subject of your affection? Will it be Jesus or someone or something else? What do you want it to be? And if you’re struggling to answer, let me give you a few suggestions as to where you might want to look.

Check out your calendar and your checkbook. Where do you spend your time? On what do you spend your money? You can declare from the rooftops how much you love Jesus, but if it doesn’t cost you anything, in terms of time and money, you’re blowing smoke.

Jesus said, “I love you,” then He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross to prove it. The proof is in the proverbial “pudding.” It’s not what we want to happen with our lives, it’s largely what we’re making happen through disciplined effort. If we want Jesus to reign preeminent in and through our lives, we must put forth the effort to keep Him first in how we think, speak, and live.

Yes, of course, Jesus will live in and through us and we’re certainly not “working” to earn our salvation, but to believe we can follow Jesus and it not cost us anything, is to ignore the legacy of His life or the message of His instruction to those who would pick up their cross and follow Him.

Your legacy is in your hands. What you want people to receive from the sum total of your life is what you’re doing with your life today, tomorrow, and the next day, until you close your eyes for the last time. After all, remember, the pen is in your hand!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

God’s Plans

“So I arrived in Jerusalem. Three days later, I slipped out during the night, taking only a few others with me. I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:11-12a NLT)

Nehemiah was the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes and had apparently done a great job, because when Nehemiah shared with the king why he was sad, the king pledged his support of the project the Lord had laid on Nehemiah’s heart. The details of his plan to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem was fairly straightforward but would cost lots of money the returning Jews didn’t have.

It’s not unusual for God’s plans to be expensive, but He always makes a way if we’re sensitive to His leading. There are a few key ingredients to God’s plans that give us guidance to determine if – A. Is it truly God’s plan? And B. Has He given us a strategy to follow when we’re sure it’s God’s plan. Has God given you a plan? Are you sure it’s God’s plan? Has He given you a God-ordained strategy?

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The Lord has given me a mission to reach my neighbors. There are about 120 homes in my little neighborhood and I’m believing the Lord for the salvation of every person in every house. A pretty tall order, right? Not for God! So, the first question I have to answer is – Is it truly God’s plan? The two Scriptures that come immediately to mind are Matthew 28:18: “Jesus came and told His disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…’” And Matthew 22:39: “A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

His commission isn’t a suggestion, it’s a directive to reach the people in our spheres of influence, not in our strength and ingenuity, but in His authority. It’s going to look differently for each of us, as God has gifted us in different ways, so our strategies will vary, but our mission is the same. So, yes, I’m convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Lord has commissioned me to reach my neighbors.

So, secondly, has He given me a strategy? Yes, He’s unfolding a strategy that is bearing fruit and will continue to reveal itself as I step into its process. One word of caution here: God’s plan and strategy for me is for ME, not necessarily for you. If you can use some ideas or plans that the Lord has given me and you’re confident He’s leading you to use some or all of what He’s showing me, that’s fine. But don’t let the enemy bog you down with guilt, because you can’t do what He’s enabling me to do. You can follow God’s plan for you to reach those in your spheres of influence. It may look different, but will be no less effective.

E.M. Bounds said: “All God’s plans have the mark of the cross on them, and all His plans have death to self in them.” Regardless of how He leads you at least two things will be true of the mission and strategy He gives you: they will be sacrificial and unselfish. They will require sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading and determination to allow your desires to be put to “death” in an effort to exalt and honor Jesus in and through, not only what He leads you to do, but how He fills and empowers you to do them.

If you’ve ever heard me preach, you know I’m not a great preacher. I sought to be thoroughly prepared and true to Scripture, but I’m not a powerful orator. He has, however, given me a sensitivity to His voice that enables me to be a decent writer. So, my strategy has been to write notes to my neighbors. But He’s also given me a heart to pray, so, as opportunity affords, I pray with and for my neighbors.

One thing the Lord is laying on my heart as I read His Word is to take Him at His word and allow His Spirit to flow in and through me in powerful and practical ways. I’m believing God for healing as well as salvation for my neighbors. With few exceptions physical healing accompanied spiritual deliverance in Jesus’ ministry. You and I have been given His authority to carry out His ministry – should we not believe He will give us insight, wisdom, understanding, and power to carry out exactly what He instructs us to do?

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Pleasures Never Lie

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” (Philippians 2:13 NLT)

Pleasure can be the playground of the devil or the canvas upon which God’s presence is painted more clearly on our heart. Physical pleasure is fleeting yet can become intoxicating for those who seek to perpetuate it. On the other hand, living to please and honor God is exhilarating in a way that lingers and satisfies the soul. On some levels it’s the difference between happiness and joy.

We are subject to the same temptations that Jesus experienced in the wilderness. John summarizes them in 1 John 2:16: “…a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” We can lie to ourselves all day that none of these things appeal to us, but the Word of God doesn’t lie and neither do our pleasures.

John Piper said: “The soul is measured by its flights, some low and others high, the heart is known by its delights, and pleasures never lie.” What delights your heart?

When my kids were small the pastor with whom we served would loan us his car and camper so we could vacation on our very limited budget. We would camp by the beach in South Carolina and after a full day of playing in the sun, nothing compared to sitting by the fire, making smores and relaxing together. God blesses us with pleasurable experiences, not so we can “live” there, but so we can refresh and rekindle our energy and enthusiasm for more effectively serving Him.

If our mission is to allow the Lord to live His life out through us, our goal should be to seek the Lord’s pleasure, not our own. Does that mean we shouldn’t enjoy times with family and friends?

Of course not. To me quality time with family and friends is God-ordained time. It’s not a question of enjoying God or enjoying something else. To me it’s enjoying the Lord’s presence regardless of what I’m doing. The point as I see it is, does what brings us pleasure enhance our relationship with the Lord or detract from it.

Being with family, whether literal relatives or believing friends, is a way to experience the pleasure of God’s presence in and through the quality time we spend together. Jesus found pleasure with His friends, in ministry to others, as well as when He was alone with His Father.

My conclusion is that it’s not so much WHAT we do as WHY we do it. If we do our ministry-related work begrudgingly, wishing every second we were somewhere else, doing something else, it’s valueless in terms of rendering glory to the Lord. But if I find in my work, whether my literal employment or for the Lord, pleasure as I seek to serve in a manner that allows the Lord to reveal Himself in and through me, it creates an ideal environment for a pleasurable outcome.

So the question becomes: does that which brings us the most pleasure enhance our love and effectiveness for the Lord, or does it push us away from Him? Are you finding pleasure in loving God or does your pleasure blind you to His love?

Perhaps John Piper said it best: “Do you feel loved by God because you believe he makes much of you, or because you believe he frees you and empowers you to enjoy making much of him?” Remember, pleasures never lie!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Does Satisfaction in God Mean?

“If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being Mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39 NLT)

Love is a multi-dimensional decision. While love certainly has emotional implications, at its heart, love is an informed decision we make and by which we live.

At a Billy Graham seminar I attended many years ago, Dr. Graham shared about a girl he was dating when he first got saved. She was not a believer and the Lord made it clear to Billy that he needed to stop the relationship. He said: “I knew it was only puppy love, but she was a really cute puppy.”

It reminds me of a quote I read recently by John Piper when he said: “We don’t honor God by assuming we know what’s best in any given situation.” Loving Jesus demands submission to His authority and His directives in every area of our lives. To say we will love God “if” or “when” is to set boundaries that must not exist in the heart of a believer.

On some levels it shouts dissatisfaction in our relationship with God, implying that God is inadequate or unable to satisfy our hearts desires completely. It declares a divided allegiance that cannot exist in the heart of a Jesus follower. Nothing or no one can take a higher level of commitment and devotion than Jesus. But what does that mean? What does it look like on a practical level?

John Piper wrote: “Loving God is being satisfied in Him more than spouse, more than children, more than health, more than life.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “satisfy” as “to make happy; gratify.” Years ago, I read of a man who was imprisoned for his faith and his only sustenance was sweet potatoes God delivered to him in the mouth of a rat. Would it be fair to say that man was “satisfied” with those potatoes?

In my mind satisfaction can be a slippery slope, but for our purposes in this post, let’s say that satisfaction in God is that which brings the greatest delight to our soul. If you think about it, the people we love bring unique contributions to our lives. I love my wife differently than I love my children, my siblings, my co-workers, or my friends at church.

My satisfaction with my children may translate more into pride for their accomplishments or appreciation for their thoughtfulness, while my satisfaction with my wife touches a deep need for companionship and fulfillment like no other human can. But God’s love for me and my love for Him touches a place in my whole being that reverberates with joy, gladness, and contentment that can be satisfied in no other way.

There are gifts that God gives and rewards He offers us as His children that we can attain or have in no other relationship. To know my sins are forgiven and my soul is clean and pure in His sight; to realize that my life has worth on levels and for reasons that are unexplainable in human terms; that God sees in me more than I or anyone else can see in me, and that He gives me value I could never have apart from Him.

The joy of faithfully serving and seeking His honor and fame gives a dimension of satisfaction that can’t be measured by human standards and can’t be compared with any human relationship.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Value of Doubt

“When they saw Him, they worshiped Him – but some of them doubted!” (Matthew 28:17 NLT)

There are times in our walk with Jesus when what we see with our eyes doesn’t correlate with what we “see” with our mind. I think of the time after Corrie ten Boom had been freed from her Nazi captors. Following the delivery of a powerful message from the Lord, she stood at the front of the room to greet those who were present.

At one point the man whose tortuous and ruthless, treatment resulted in the death of many in the Ravensbrück concentration camp, including Corrie’s sister Betsie, stood before her with outstretched hand. In that split second Corrie doubted she could respond to this man’s desire to shake her hand. He didn’t recognize her, but she surely recognized him, not only his face, but also his responsibility for the horrible memories she had while under his vicious treatment.

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What would you have done in her shoes? Would the grace and mercy of God have given you cause to overcome your doubt and be Jesus to this man who had caused her such harm? Corrie ultimately responded graciously and with kindness, but it causes me to think of the times under much less severe circumstances when I haven’t been so loving.

We often think of doubt as being a crisis of faith which results in unbelief or a denial of something we profess to believe, and it can certainly mean that. But to me the value of doubt is that it gives rise to an opportunity for us to actually strengthen our faith by researching and verifying the validity of that which we are questioning.

Think of Jesus’ response to Thomas after Jesus’ resurrection. When I first read the verse above regarding the first time the disciples saw Jesus alive after His resurrection, I was aghast! “How could they have possibly doubted what had happened?” Then it occurred to me, how would I respond if someone I’d known and loved and knew had died, stood before me alive?

While your eyes may be “seeing,” the mind is struggling to catch up. There’s nothing wrong with that, and Jesus verified the validity of that kind of honest “doubt” when He said to Thomas in John 20:26: “Put your finger here, and look at My hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

Oswald Chambers wrote: “Doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong; it may be a sign that he is thinking.” Jesus doesn’t seek to quiet our legitimate doubts when we’re sincerely struggling to understand something that will ultimately lead us into deeper, more refined and useful faith. No human being, living or dead, except the Lord Jesus Himself, understands the depths of meaning of everything Jesus said, did, and is.

Following Jesus is a journey that, hopefully, is nearly continually informing, enlightening, training, encouraging, strengthening, enabling, teaching, and refining us in our walk with Him. We don’t follow out of “blind” faith, but informed and intelligent faith. Yes, of course, there are things we may not fully see or understand, that, in the process of our following, cause us a measure of doubt or cause us to have questions with which we wrestle.

The issue isn’t that we have doubts or questions, it’s that in the midst of those we continue to follow faithfully, confident that one day, in much the same way as He answered Thomas’ “doubt,” He will stand before us and clear our heart and mind of every question, every doubt.

Ideally, the value of our doubt will result in the deepening of our faith and in greater effectiveness in our service to our Savior.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Why Faith In Jesus Is So Vital

“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT)

Faith is a subject that can drive wedges between people or draw them together in unimaginable ways. Atheists decry faith as for the weak or unintelligent, as though the only way to really know what’s true is to use your mind. Let’s test that theory.

Use nearly any measure – building a relationship, building a house, buying a car, flying in an airplane – the examples are literally endless of ways that every person, regardless of whether they are a person of “faith,” exercises faith in nearly every dimension of their lives. It’s not an issue of faith or no faith, it’s always and only what is the basis or foundation of the faith you have?

Most of us want what’s best for ourselves, as we understand it. And very often we establish our belief system based on our desired lifestyle, not on our convictions, religious or otherwise. If an extravagant lifestyle is my goal, then I need to follow the money. And, if that means I need to cut some corners ethically, morally, or legally, so be it.

Am I suggesting that every person who makes a lot of money fits that description, or that anyone who is not a believer in Jesus will follow that path? Of course not. There are very moral, ethical, and law-abiding people who follow no religious path. So, what am I saying? I’m saying everyone has and follows some system of belief – we are all people of faith. How so?

We are creatures of habit who most often follow the path of least resistance unless or until something significant happens to us. Some event, some loss, some person, some opportunity, some _______, that gives us insight we didn’t have that leads us in a way we hadn’t thought we’d ever go, that shapes us into the person we now are.

For purposes of this post, I’m going to assume that our chosen paths of life will either lead us to an understanding of who Jesus is or away from that understanding. We’ll either embrace faith in the risen Lord or we’ll reject His offer of salvation from sin and a home in heaven when we leave this earth.

And yes, I realize it’s not that cut and dried. Many life-changing decisions are made without any knowledge of who Jesus is, not because they reject His claims, but because no one has ever helped them understand what His claims are. And many, if not most “spiritual” or “religious” decisions are not made based on research and study, but on our “heart” or “gut,” based largely on our indoctrination by those in our spheres of influence growing up.

If our parents or those who had authority over us when we were young loved and served Jesus, were Hindu, Buddhist, Mormon, Jewish or whatever, our initial decisions about “faith” will likely be guided by those whose opinions were most predominant when we were young. And, yes, of course, they could have been positive or negative, leading us toward or away from their convictions, but they nonetheless influenced us.

Jesus is the only sane, intelligent, historically verifiable person who claimed to be God, and the probability of any one person in history fulfilling the 60+ Messianic prophecies that we’re declared hundreds of years before He was born, are astronomical.

Please don’t ignore the evidence that abounds that He is exactly who He claimed to be – God in human flesh, who purposely and willingly sacrificed His life to give us an opportunity to know, love, serve, and spend all eternity with Him. Eternal life taught in the Bible doesn’t begin when we die, it begins the moment we yield our life and allegiance to Jesus by faith.

He’s the only One who opened a window of opportunity to experience life as it was intended to be lived. That’s why it’s so critical that we put our unwavering faith in Him and Him alone.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Before You Press “Send”

“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.” (Ephesians 4:15 NLT)

Have you ever said something, then, often before the words cleared your lips, wished you hadn’t said it? Or you see something on Facebook that so enrages you, you respond in anger and hostility, only later to wish you’d never written what you sent? We’ve all been there, but on the other hand, have you ever had an opportunity to hear something for which you had a perfect response, but kept your mouth shut?

In the verse above Paul is giving us a rich and rewarding alternative – “speak the truth in love.” What might that look like? Let me be clear from the outset – Truth, as it’s used in Scripture, has two important dimensions. First, Jesus is the embodiment of all truth. He IS Truth! In John 14:6 Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And the second use of truth that is pertinent to every believer is the Bible, the Sacred Text.

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A new bank teller, wanting to be prepared for her new position, asked: “With so many sophisticated ways to counterfeit currency, how can I possibly recognize what isn’t real?” To which her trainer said: “Train yourself to know what’s real, then compare everything else to that.” There are a lot of “fakes” and lies the devil is seeking to pass as truth in these last days.

Jesus warned us in Mark 13:22: “For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. Watch out! I have warned you about this ahead of time!”

That’s why it’s so critical to read and study God’s written word, the Bible, every day. Before we can speak the truth, we have to know the Truth, but knowing the truth isn’t enough in and of itself. We can push people away from Jesus if we don’t handle His truth – the truth of who He is, what He came to accomplish, and how we should respond – with love.

In our zeal to please the Lord we can cram truth down someone’s throat. We can know and love Jesus and embrace His truth with our whole being and still come across as a kamikaze pilot, like we’re coming in for the proverbial “kill.”

There was a young man I’d literally worked with for months who had been hurt by people of the church. He’d finally begun to open up to me why he was so resistant to coming to church and being open to the claims of Christ. We were talking on my driveway when a guy I’d met a few times came up and without any introduction or having no clue as to how long I’d been working with this young man, began to hammer him with the “truth.”

The words he used were “correct,” but his attitude and approach were abrasive and the young man repelled his words and literally walked away. As hard as I tried, he would never speak to me again. We only get one opportunity to make a first impression, so, especially when it comes to sharing the Truth of the Gospel, we’ve got to carefully and prayerfully follow the Spirit’s leading.

Just like pressing “send” too quickly can have devastating results, we’ve got to be willing to press the “pause” button and carefully consider, not only what we’re going to say, but how our words will be received. To not care about how someone will receive our words is to risk ruining an opportunity for them to receive the Messenger behind our message.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Where Will You Spend Eternity?

“And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)

While this may be a question that’s already been answered for you, there are likely billions of people, many of whom are in your spheres of influence, who never give this question a thought. Why not? Either because it’s just not on their proverbial “radar,” or because they wrongly believe they’ve earned heaven through adherence to their religious belief or religious behavior, or for some they believe they’re going to heaven because of their religious environment.

Others ponder this question with much fear and uncertainty because they have this nagging question that lingers in their mind – “Is my belief strong enough?” or “Am I good enough?” or “Am I believing the right things?” or _______________ and you can fill in the blank. Still others don’t ask the question at all, believing it’s presumptuous to have certainty that we have a home in heaven.

To me it’s similar to asking me if I’m married. Of course, I’m married! How do I know? Because on December 18^th 1993 I pledged my life and love to my beautiful bride. I entered into a lifelong relationship with the woman of my dreams, pledging to love her in sickness and health, whether we’re rich or poor, forsaking all others and clinging to her until death separated us.

Is it any different with our relationship with Jesus? I know I’m going to heaven, not simply because I pledged my life to Him 60 years ago, but because I reaffirmed my love and devotion to Him this morning and each moment as we walk together through whatever this day may bring. What kind of relationship would we have with our spouse or close friend if we never spoke? If we never spent time together? If we didn’t share life?

How would we grow in our love for one another if we never talked about our dreams and aspirations? How meaningful is any relationship without hardship, times of trial, and a desire to work together to make our walk together the best it could possibly be? How boring if we never had a disagreement or misunderstanding? How dull if we never laughed and cried together?

Yes, of course, these are human emotions, but we miss a huge part of our loving Savior if we miss His highs and lows; His laughter and His anger; His heartache and His suffering. But what does this have to do with whether or not we’re going to heaven? Quite a lot actually.

Unless you don’t have a choice, would you pledge yourself to someone to love a lifetime without knowing them? Without experiencing what kind of person they were? Whether they shared your values, desires, dreams, devotions? How can we NOT know we’re going to heaven when every day we share every waking moment with the lover of our soul? Our aspiration is to follow Him, obey Him, submit to His authority in our lives. Why? Because He IS our life! To be alive is to be available to serve and honor Him with everything we are or ever hope to be.

To be chosen by Him to live His life in and through us is life’s greatest privilege, but to miss Him here, on earth, is to miss life, not only here but throughout eternity. Eternal life begins, not when we literally die a physical death, but when we die to ourselves through our second birth into the family of God. Baptism illustrates our being lowered into our watery grave, then rising to new life in Jesus alone.

He IS our life! Without Jesus there is no life – here or in heaven. Heaven holds no appeal except it’s the home of my Savior and Lord. He’s with me here through the ministry of His Holy Spirit and will be with me in heaven when I will be able to see Him as He sees me.

It’s really pretty simple to know where you’ll spend eternity. Ask yourself: “Who owns my heart?” If it’s Jesus you’re going to heaven. But if it’s anyone or anything else, you’re likely not going to heaven.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊