Michael writes this week
that when Jesus is our Lord, our lives are a "declaration" and not a
question. As Oswald Chambers said, "All God requires is extreme obedience with no complaining or
questioning on my part and no explanation on His." We may not
understand God’s plan, but we trust His heart of love. When we're walking with
the Lord, our lives are a "Declaration" for others to know the love
of God; for we are his declaration, his
epistles, his love letters, written not with ink or in tablets of stone, but in
the tables of our hearts. We are the only sermons that some people will
ever witness.
The Apostle Paul said,
"For me to live is Christ and to die
is gain. Whether I live or die, my purpose is to display the gospel of my
Lord." This is also the purpose of the church, “the called-out of
God”. The purpose of our "brotherhood of Christians" is to manifest
the Word of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom we
shine as lights.
Joy is not the absence of
pain, rather joy is the presence of God. Shine the love of her Heavenly
Father. What we think about life after death will define our life in this
world and also in eternity. Most people think that everyone is destined
for heaven because this life is over at death. However, eternal life is on
God's terms according to His Word, not ours. Truth be known, the Lord Jesus
said that there is a wide road to destruction in hell, which most people are
walking today.
In this life, we can't see
clearly what God is doing through our suffering and pain. For now we
"see through a glass darkly, but
then (in heaven) face to face we shall know even also as we are known by God." While
the Apostle Paul was chained to a Roman guard in prison, Paul said "my circumstances are working out for the
greater progress of the gospel. For me to live is Christ and to die is
gain."
CS Lewis said, "If you read history, the Christians
who did most for the present world are those who prepared men and women for the
next world." William Booth, the head of the Salvation Army,
recalls that he taught a Christian discipleship course for three years. He
said, "It would have been better to
have shown them five minutes in hell." Some believe that hell is a
place of eternal life in torment for those who do not accept the Salvation from
sin through the Savior. Others believe that hell is the place of eternal
death. Repent means to change direction: from heading to eternity in hell
to an eternity in fellowship with our loving Heavenly Father in the Kingdom of
God.
Let's continue Michael's message on dependence upon God in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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