Walking With Jesus

To Know God

“I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:10-11 NLT)

Just as there is a closeness, an intimacy God designed for a man and a woman to experience in marriage, so there is an intimacy that God desires to have with us that supersedes the beauty and closeness of any human relationship. In Genesis 4:1 the Bible says that “Adam knew Eve…and she conceived.” The word Paul used in the verse above is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word used in Genesis.

It can also mean “to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of, perceive” (Strong’s). God’s design is for one man and one woman to pursue one another, almost like in a race, with the growing desire to know him or her completely, to have full knowledge of them. But, more specifically to discover with that one person what God desires to be experienced over a lifetime together, to share exclusive “rights” to one another the gift of sex.

Our culture, including many within the church, has chosen to violate the plan of God and pursue sex without any real desire to learn about the person with whom that sacred gift is shared. We act as though the prize is the act, not the person with whom the act is shared, thus, the high divorce rate, resulting from a greater desire for physical pleasure than the emotional satisfaction of being committed to one person for life. Building a marriage on sex is like trying to build a relationship with Jesus on emotion. It might be fun for a while, but it won’t last.

Because of the shallowness of our understanding of the purpose, not simply the pleasure of sex, we miss the point of Paul’s words in verse 11 above. We settle for the shallowness of emotionalism in “celebrating” our Lord in worship, and don’t hear what I’m not saying. Often, I experience emotion in worship, but it’s not the pleasure of the feelings I’m pursuing, it’s the Lord who sanctifies those feelings.

William Barclay wrote: “To know Christ is not to be skilled in any theoretical or theological knowledge; it is to know him with such intimacy that in the end we are as united with him as we are with those whom we love on earth and that, as we share their experiences, so we also share his.”

In this season of my life, the Lord has opened my heart and life to a new dimension of love and affection, not only for my Savior, but from Him. While working on a project unrelated to “spiritual” things, I was struggling trying to remember how to do what a few months ago was second nature. I literally spent hours trying to figure it out, then asked the Lord, as a child asks his father, “Father, would you help me with this?”

It was as if His hands were guiding mine, enabling me to do the right thing, gaining the right result in minutes, rather than hours. When I realized what He was doing tears began to roll down my cheeks and the sense of His presence was more real than any human experience. It’s something I’ve longed to experience, but have been too bent on doing things myself, so, I’ve missed it.

To know Christ is to hear His voice and to recognize His presence, but here’s the deal, He’s ALWAYS with us, the issue isn’t Jesus, it’s me, it’s us. I don’t hear because I’m not listening; I don’t experience His presence more often because I’m not in tune with His Spirit’s leadership; I haven’t come to the end of myself. I/we won’t come to know the Lord Jesus in the sense of which Paul speaks until we come to the end of ourselves and learn to rely totally on Him.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

How Much Do You Love God?

“Jesus replied, ‘The most important commandment is this: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”’” (Mark 12:29 NLT)

How do you measure love? If I asked you how much you loved your dog/cat/animal, how would you describe your love for it/them? How about ice cream? Your house? Car? Job? Career? The list of things we love can be very long, but what about the people you love? Your parents? Spouse? Children? Grandchildren? Friends at work? School? In your neighborhood? Again, the list can be very long?

How could you prove your love for any of those things or people? “Well, I feed my pets and take care of their needs.” “My spouse and family know I love them because I take care of their needs also – a place to live, food, internet service, new phones, etc.” There are essentially two primary ways we give expression to our love for virtually anything: time and money. We spend time with or doing what we love, and we spend money on/for what we love.

How about your love for God? Do you love Him? If you’re reading these words, you very likely profess a love relationship with God, or you love the person who coerced you into reading them.😊 How about this – how does God prove His love for you? He sent Jesus to illustrate how a person who loves God should live and act. He allowed His only, perfect Son to die in our place to pay the penalty for our sin.

After Jesus returned to heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to fill, empower, and enable us to live a life worthy of being called “Christian” and He continues to provide everything we need to be everything He desires us to be. Tim Challies wrote: “Your love for God is limited by your knowledge of him. You can only love God as deeply as you know God.”

Knowledge of God implies time with God – reading His Word, discovering the meaning of the words we read, speaking with God about His attributes and how those attributes influence our understanding of His love for us, that gives us insight into how to love Him in return. It’s important for us to know that we will never “out love” God.

His love for us is eternal, having no beginning and no end. He IS love, so even in the act of creating us in our mother’s womb, He was demonstrating His great love for us. Even those who are murdered by abortion or are stillborn or for whatever reason die before they’re born, each one is tenderly and lovingly given eternal life and will one day meet their parents in heaven, if their parents know and love Jesus.

Another avenue of our love for God is our trust and our anticipation of His workings in and through our lives. Corky Calhoun wrote: “Christians generally lack any sense of anticipation of what God could do if we were unleashed in faith, and unashamed of Jesus.” Conversation with God, commonly referred to as prayer, ideally leads to greater trust, thus, greater anticipation of how He’s going to work powerfully in, through, and on our behalf.

James reminds us in 4:2b-3 “…Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.”

Our love for God is reflected, not only in what we ask God to give us, but in what we ask Him to take away (i.e. – our sickness, disease, problems, etc.).

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Who Deserves to Be Forgiven?

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37 NLT)

In 1984 Karla Faye Tucker was convicted of a gruesome murder that resulted in her receiving the death sentence by lethal injection. She remained on “death row” awaiting execution, filing many appeals that prolonged her execution, for 14 years. In that time, she gave her heart and life to Jesus and was dramatically changed. There were those who sought to save her life, but to no avail.

Recently, when I read that story, it occurred to me that there were many who believed her conversion was a ploy and didn’t believe she deserved forgiveness. What about you? What if the man she murdered was your husband, brother, father or son?

See, here’s the deal: NO ONE DESERVES TO BE FORGIVEN! Regardless of what they have or haven’t done, forgiveness is by grace – a free, unmerited, undeserved gift! You may recall the story of the rich man in Luke 18 who came to Jesus asking how to inherit eternal life. Obviously, he felt he deserved to be forgiven and to find an eternal home in heaven, but the problem was, something else other than Jesus owned his heart – his money!

We too often look at the externals that are obvious to everyone and make judgments as to whether they “deserve” to be invited into our life, or even to church. They have to look right, act right, and smell right or else they don’t meet our exacting standards. The problem is none of us do! What if Jesus demanded everyone who gets forgiven to be like Him?

Truth be told, that’s exactly what God DOES demand! So, how in the world does ANYONE EVER GET INTO HEAVEN? By grace, my friend, by God’s limitless grace! That’s the miracle of the new birth that Jesus died to offer each of us who is willing to yield our life and allegiance to Him by faith in His completed work on the Cross.

When we seek the Lord’s forgiveness, we must recognize that there’s nothing in or about us that deserves it. That’s the miracle of new birth! It means that what Jesus did on the Cross pays the penalty for OUR sin. Only the perfect “Lamb” of God could offer a suitable sacrifice for the sin of mankind. So, He voluntarily chose to do what only He could do for each one of us, who could do nothing to earn or deserve His forgiveness.

He died so we could live; He suffered in unimaginable ways so we wouldn’t have to, then He offered anyone who would be willing to humble themselves, recognize their need, and seek His forgiveness, a brand-new life that would meet the Father’s standard of perfection. But how?

When the Holy Spirit comes to live in the life of each person who puts their trust in the Lord Jesus, God will view each of us as though He were looking at His perfect Son. That’s how He can look at Karla Faye Tucker who committed such a heinous sin and extend to her His hand of invitation into His perfect presence. But here’s the real miracle – He’s willing to do the same thing for you!

Regardless of who you are or what you’ve done, come to Him with sincerity and a willingness to allow Him to change you into what He’s always envisioned you could become, and He’ll forgive and cleanse you and make you into the person of God you never dared dream was possible. It’s a miraculous act of grace and it’s available to you today.

If you’re not sure what to say or how to ask for His forgiveness and receive the new life that’s nothing short of a miracle, click on this link and let Ron Hutchcraft help you understand what you need to do.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Who’s Your Person?

“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.” (Galatians 6:2-3 NLT)

Are you a Rocky fan? Can you hear the theme song? We likely first think of Rocky the boxer, but to me the real story for us is his love relationship with Adrian. Remember how he pursued Adrian, who at first wanted nothing to do with him. But over time their growing love made them feel they could do anything as long as they had each other.

If you’re not familiar with the story, Rocky is a very small-time boxer, but the reigning champion’s promoter talked the champ, Apollo Creed, into extending to him an invitation to fight the champ as a kind of promotional ploy. No one, not even Rocky, at least at first, believed he had a chance to survive more than a few rounds, but the fight went the distance, and the response was so strong they scheduled a rematch.

So, as Rocky trained for the second, now championship fight, he and Adrian’s relationship grew ever stronger. She let him know that she believed in him and urged him to train hard and do his best. Do you remember, at the end of the hardest and bloodiest fight of his career he stood in the middle of the ring and yelled out: “Yo, Adrian, I did it!”

At the peak of his most difficult battle the person with whom he most wanted to share his victory was Adrian, she was his person. No one mattered more, no one else’s opinion of him mattered but hers. I think of that scene as I fight the battle of my life with Alzheimer’s, with my precious wife who has pledged her strength to walk with me every step. She’s MY person whom I love and with whom I will face whatever the future holds.

Who’s YOUR person? Who is it that you trust with your life, with whom you’ll face the future with confidence that you’ll not face it alone. If you’re married, I pray you feel that way about your spouse, but if not, please know that Jesus is your Person. He has proven His love as He laid down His sinless life on the Cross for you.

If you’re not yet walking with Jesus, look into His eyes and thank Him for doing for you what you could never in eternity ever have done for yourself. Realize that the forgiveness He offers you is a gift of grace that you don’t deserve, but He loved you enough to hang on a cross to make it available to you. Realize as you stretch out your arms and raise your hands to heaven and say, not only with your mouth, but with your heart – “For me! Thank You Lord for dying on that Cross for me!”

Because of what Jesus has done for us we have the privilege to be part of His living Body on earth. It’s called His Church and it’s comprised of multiplied millions of broken people all over the world who have found their Person in Him. You can find peace, hope, forgiveness, and new life – a life you never imagined you could have, not because of anything you have done or can do, but by putting your trust in the One who said: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

In my mind’s eye I see my wife and I, arms around one another, tears of joy streaming down our faces, being whole in Jesus in heaven, saying together: “He did it! He kept His word and walked with us every step. Praise God! Jesus did it!”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Why Not Me?

“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning; Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” (Romans 12:3 NLT)

The closer I get to Jesus the more honest an evaluation I can give of myself. We, even as believers in Jesus, are so prone to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Admittedly, there are things that happen in the lives of people we love, and we wonder why the Lord chose them to allow this cancer, or accident, or ______________.

There are a couple of things I’m learning in this season of my life that will likely come as no surprise to you. First, no one is exempt from bad things happening in their life. Often, I believe people come to the Lord because they think He will shield them from tragedy and heartache. That’s a lie from the devil. No one suffered more than the Lord Jesus, the only perfect man who has lived or ever will live.

If God was going to prevent evil and hardship from happening to anyone it would surely have been His only sinless Son. Jesus didn’t model a life devoid of pain, heartache or evil attacks, He modeled a life that overcame those things through faith in the living God of the Bible.

When my diagnosis of Alzheimer’s was confirmed, of course it was disturbing and frightening, but it was also encouraging, not because I want to lose my mind and memory, but because I know God loves me and will work this for my good and His glory. Please don’t feel bad or sorry for me, rejoice with me that the Lord counts me worthy to carry this burden to His honor.

Think of the people with whom I’ll now have an audience who are suffering. If we can’t rejoice in hardship and suffering, where can we rejoice? EVERYONE rejoices when things are going well – when the doctor’s report is good, when the promotion comes through, when our children are smart and healthy, when the accident was a near miss, not a collision, and on and on it goes.

But not many, even believers, will rejoice in their suffering and pain. I think of Paul’s words in Philippians 2:17-18: “But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.”

So, secondly, not only will bad things happen to us, but we have the privilege of rejoicing when they do. Why is that important? First, because not many people do. We have an opportunity to exalt Jesus in our faithful endurance of the pain, heartache, suffering, and victories we’ll experience through tragedy and loss from the “platform” our infirmity will give us.

If my health is great and I’m trying to comfort someone who is suffering, our intentions may be right and good, but who’s going to have more credence, a well person or another person who shares their infirmity but is rejoicing in Jesus’ goodness and kindness in allowing them to bear this sickness or tragedy to His honor and fame. Having Alzheimer’s hasn’t pushed me away from the Lord, it’s drawn me closer in ever increasing measure. Please pray l’ll have open doors of opportunity that will allow me to share His goodness with anyone who will listen.

Blessings, Ed 😊

You Are Here: Finding Peace In Uncertain Times

“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 NLT)

*Please read carefully this devotional by Elizabeth Gunter Powell. I pray her timely message will bless, comfort, and inspire you to see Jesus more clearly and to love Him more dearly. Blessings Ed😊

The world is a scary place. Every time you listen to the news, there are more attacks, shootings, darkness, and uncertainty. It is enough to make you want to stay at home and hide. In times like this, getting fixated on the darkness is easy. When we do, we lose sight of our True Foundation. It is like looking at a large map and trying to find your way without those very helpful words, “You Are Here.”

Knowing who God is and who you are in Him is the “You Are Here” for all our circumstances. Regardless of how dark or uncertain it may feel, God is ever-constant, and your identity is secure in Him.

Philippians 4:7 promises that if we bring everything to God, His peace, which passes all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The word guard is a very strong word, much stronger than our English language expresses. In the Greek, it means “to protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.”

God’s peace not only keeps invaders out but also keeps us from running away in fear. So, how do we live in that peace? In The Message translation, the same verse ends with this phrase: “It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

It is time to choose to guard our hearts and minds with the truth of who God is and who we are in Him, allowing who He is to displace all worry and guard us from attack and fear.

He is able. 2 Corinthians 9:8 God is able to make all grace abound to you…

I am standing. Romans 14:4 (I) will stand, for the Lord is able to make (me) stand.

He is above all. Psalm 135:5 The Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods.

I am a citizen of heaven. Philippians 3:20 Our citizenship is in heaven.

He is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, ruler of God’s creation. Revelation 3:14 … the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.

I am steadfast in Him. 1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace … will himself … make you strong, firm and steadfast.

He is the banner to the people. Isaiah 11:10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples.

I am under His banner of love. Song of Solomon 2:4 He brings me to his banqueting table, and his banner over me is love.

God is the creator of the ends of the earth, who cares for His creation. Isaiah 40:28 The Lord is … the Creator of the ends of the earth.

I am cared for with compassion. Isaiah 46:3-4 I have cared for you since you were conceived and have carried you since your birth.

He is God of love and peace. 2 Corinthians 13:11 The God of love and peace will be with you.

I am lavished with love. 1 John 3:1-3 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us…

He is God who hears. Exodus 22:27 When he cries out to me, I will hear…

I am heard. Isaiah 65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

He is the quieter of the storm. Matthew 8:26 Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

I am quieted with his love. Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord … will quiet you with his love…

He is my shelter. Isaiah 25:4 You have been … a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.

I am safe. Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

By Elizabeth Gunter Powell © 2016. Attributes taken from Revealing The Treasures, an A-to-Z list of 455 pairs of Scripture revealing who God is and who you are in Him by Sylvia Gunter © 2005 Click here to learn more and order. Past devotionals are available at www.thefathersbusiness.com.

The Storms of Life

“Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” (Mark 13:8 NLT)

There’s a sense in which what we’re presently experiencing in our personal lives pales in comparison to what’s coming. We whine about a broken toilet when there are millions of people in our world who have no concept of what an indoor toilet is. In America we have privileges many parts of the world can’t fathom, yet we want better, faster, and more convenient.

To own a house is a dream billions of people in the world can’t conceive. The average cost of a house in America today ranges from $350,000 to $500,000, amounts that are inconceivable when your annual income is less than $400. Perhaps that’s why it’s so easy for many in privileged countries to want a Jesus who will serve them, rather than be served.

It’s interesting to me that storms are no respecter of persons. Tornadoes and hurricanes blow houses away regardless of their cost and fires ravage whatever is in their paths without regard to their age or beauty. There’s a sense in which God uses sicknesses and disease to work that way in our lives.

We tend to think we’re “all that” when the truth is we’re being eaten alive from the inside out by our sinful choices and self-centered notions. We live in blatant violation of God’s Word yet expect privilege because we’re such a “good” person. Perhaps it’s ironic that the more willing I am to see my vileness, the potential of my sinful nature, the more clearly I’m able to see the beauty and majesty of Jesus.

It’s tragic when children die, but there’s a part of me that thanks the Lord for His mercy in taking them home before they make a mess of their lives. The untold millions of babies that have been murdered by abortion are cradled in their heavenly Father’s arms and will forever be loved and cherished. Does that excuse their violent murder? Of course not, but it’s indicative of how little we value human life.

We often ask, “Why me?” when we’re diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, dementia or other debilitating diseases. But the better question is for those who haven’t yet been diagnosed: “Why NOT me?” I certainly don’t blame God for my dementia, it’s likely the result of my own lack of care for my body over the years I ate and drank whatever I wanted without regard to what I was doing to myself.

God allows “storms” in whatever form they may come, not to punish us, but to wake us up, to strengthen us, to alert us to the fact our bodies are temporal, but our souls are eternal. Please ponder these powerful words of E. A. Kilbourne: “Faith grows during storms. The strongest trees are found not in the thick shelter of the forest but out in the open, where winds from every direction bear down upon them. These are the trees that toolmakers seek for handles for their tools, because of the wood’s great strength.

It is the same in the spiritual world. The path of faith is a steep, rocky, and narrow path, where the winds of hell will try to knock you off your feet. It is one of sorrow and joy, suffering and healing comfort, tears and smiles, trials and victories. Yet ‘in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ (Romans 8:37).”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Spiders on the Wall

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, ‘For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.’) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” (Romans 8:35-37 NLT)

When my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, I had recently gone through a divorce I didn’t want, was struggling financially, and was near rock bottom emotionally. We only lived 4-5 hours apart, but I didn’t have the resources to make the trip more than every few months. My little 100 lb. mom took care of him as long as she could, but ultimately had to find a place for him to stay so he could get the care he needed that she could no longer provide.

One of the first times I visited after he’d been hospitalized, he was in a ward type setting – several men in the same room. He recognized me and seemed like he was reasonably alert to what was going on around him, but at one point he got a concerned look on his face and asked me: “You don’t see them do you?” “What do you mean, Pop? I don’t see what?” “The spiders on the wall?’ “No, Pop, I don’t.”

Photo by Karolina Kaboompics on Pexels.com

For years that conversation has played over and over in my head, causing me to wonder how I might have responded in a more helpful way. There are times I wish I’d have answered him with something like: “No, Pop, I don’t see them, but if you’ll tell me where they are I’ll smash them!” I was so wrapped up in what was going on with me I missed many opportunities to be “present” with my dad.

Now the proverbial “shoe” is on my foot. The likelihood is real that I’ll face some type of “spider” on my wall at some point, but in the meantime, I pray the Lord will increase my sensitivity to those around me who are just as scared as I am about what the future holds. I pray the Lord will give me openness to speak what’s on my heart to the ones I love the most and invite them to speak their heart to me.

I’m writing letters to each of my children and to my precious wife. I’m convinced the Lord “hand-picked” her just for such a time as this. She knows better than I what’s in store for us, but she’s conscientious in her care now, seeing that I eat healthy, exercise my body and mind. As my memory continues to fade, I struggle with remembering things that I deal with every day, but I also continue to start my day in conversation with my Father about the needs of others, not just my own.

My sense is, the more I can focus on others, the more my own needs will fade into proper perspective. I pray my openness and sensitivity to others will magnify Jesus to them while I still have the gumption to honor and exalt Him.

How about you? The primary reason this blog is so important to me is because each day I pray for the one person for whom that day’s post is being written. Of course, God alone knows who it will be, I just seek to faithfully record His words and pray I’m listening closely so that whomever it is will “hear” His voice and be drawn more closely to Him.

One blessing (among many) as I walk this frightening path, is the closer I get to the Lord, the more clearly I hear His beautiful voice. He’s real, my friend, very real. He’s alive and closer than the air we breathe. If you haven’t yet committed your life to Him, please don’t wait another instant. Let His love grip your heart and mind and help you see yourself as He sees you, and to see Him as He desires and deserves to be seen by you.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Truth Without Beauty?

“So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:14 NLT)

Over the last five days my goal has been to share delusions that people believe that either rob them of an understanding of who Jesus is or rob them of a right relationship with Him.

Today as we look at Truth, realizing Jesus is the embodiment of all that is true, we must caution those who believe they can know Jesus without an eye for the beauty His life IS and for the magnificence of what seeing life through the lens of His holiness reveals. There is no “truth” without the beauty and majesty of King Jesus shining through.

I’m reminded of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s words: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, / And every common bush afire with God; / But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, / The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.” Many churches today are filled with “berry-pluckers:” people who have a façade of Christianity without the beauty of the Truth of who Jesus is, what He did, and the resultant lifestyle that gives visibility to others who have yet to meet Him.

Knowing Jesus reveals beauty where none existed before. Ryan Bomberger wrote: “So I think of earth crammed with heaven. Everything that we do as Christians can be an act of worship. And design, for me, and writing, they are acts of worship….” How about greeting your neighbor with a smile and a kind word, rather than waving and saying nothing?

How many of us “common bushes,” afire with God could the Lord use to reveal His glory if we’d only get our minds off ourselves? It’s sad, but for me, and I suspect for some of you, I’m most likely to “pick berries” in my own home and among my own family. What does that mean? It means I see too much “ordinary” in my house and not enough majesty. My tendency is to see the beauty in someone else’s life before I see it in my wife or children’s lives.

Truth always displays beauty to those willing to see it. The truth is, I’ve been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but I have to fight to see the beauty that’s already being revealed on this journey. As a rule, focus reveals what we expect to see. If we’re not looking for beauty, we’ll keep our shoes on while we’re plucking berries, rather than pausing, recognizing these are holy moments, removing our shoes and taking time to worship.

Too often in our culture we suppress the beauty that can surface in casual conversations. My infusions last about an hour, so, I take a book to read rather than watching TV or wasting the time sleeping. The first day the young Nurse Practitioner came in to get my line started and noticed my book. “What are you reading?” led to a series of questions and conversations leading to me buying her a copy of Experiencing God, for which she expressed genuine appreciation and gave me an opportunity to hear her story.

Being infilled with Truth will open our heart and mind to beauty where none seems to exist, but since we’re filled with “Beauty,” why not look for creative ways to share Him? As a child of God you are “beautiful,” not simply physically, but you’re like a mini-museum of fine art from whom people who meet you and have a conversation with you can catch a glimpse of what Truth really looks like.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Heaven Without Hell?

“Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.” But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NLT)

If you play a game that can’t be won or lost, why play? The challenge of being a human being is there is a “prize” to be “won” and a “penalty” to be “paid” if you lose. The irony is, we don’t “win” the prize, the prize has been won on our behalf, and the “penalty” isn’t “earned” by losing the game, it’s the default “prize” for not choosing to play at all.

C. S. Lewis put it this way: “There is no doctrine (the doctrine of Hell) which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of Our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason. If a game is played, it must be possible to lose it.^”

Everyone wants a heaven, but not many want there to be a hell, yet, how can you have one without the other? Most, whether believer or not, “if there was a heaven,” would want to go there. Only those who have no Biblical understanding of what hell is, believe it’s no big deal to go there. “After all,” they reason, “that’s where most people will be, so, I’ll have lots of company.” Sadly, that just isn’t true.

In Luke 16:23 we catch a glimpse of hell in a story Jesus told about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. We can’t assume that this parable paints the full picture of hell, but it certainly helps us to understand that it’s a place of full awareness, complete helplessness, incessant regret, and anguish for our lost loved ones we left behind.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, we’ll pass from physical life to physical death, back to eternal life in our eternal body in hell where we’ll have perfect insight and understanding of the truth of Scripture, full awareness of the opportunity we had, but ignored, and an everlasting, soul-wrenching regret that not only did we miss heaven, but those we love who are walking in our steps will miss heaven as well unless they listen to someone who tries to warn them.

It’s interesting to me that in Jesus’ story there’s no indication there will be any interaction between hell’s residents, thus debunking the oft used caricature of hell in the movies of being a continuation of what we experienced on earth – gathering in an eternal bar and commiserating with our drunken buddies how mistreated we’ve been.

With the epidemic of loneliness in our world today, it’s unimaginable to most people to realize they have no real concept of what eternal loneliness will look like: wishing to die, but realizing you’re already dead; longing for companionship, but realizing there will never be another person to be with, to love, to listen to or be listened to.

Compare that with C. S. Lewis’ description: “To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell is to be banished from humanity. What is cast (or casts itself) into hell is not a man: it is ‘remains.’ To be a complete man means to have the passions obedient to the will and the will offered to God: to have been a man – to be an ex-man or ‘damned ghost’ – would presumably mean to consist of a will utterly centered in its self and passions utterly uncontrolled by the will.”

Heaven and hell are more real than the person looking back at you from the mirror, and the only opportunity we have to make our choice where we’ll spend eternity is while we’re residents of planet earth. Please, I’m begging you, Jesus has made a way for you to be in heaven, please take it. If you don’t know how, please click this link: The Bridge to God.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed