This Earthly Part of Eternal Life

I often wonder about the meaning of life

Especially this earthly part of eternal life

It seems like a bumpy detour on the road

Filled with potholes, debris, and many obstacles

So often I wonder about the meaning of

These short years in the flesh here on earth.

Being human in this body of flesh and bones is difficult

My movements are constricted and restricted

I can walk but I can not fly or soar in the heavens

I am out of my element, a sojourner in a strange land

I am away from my home where I feel safe and secure

What I used to know clearly is now a shadow of memory.

If I am here there must be a reason, a purpose to my being

My Creator is not frivolous in His thoughts or actions

He sent others on this journey and in that I find comfort

I am a stranger in a strange land but I am not alone

At one point in time He even descended and walked this earth

For a short time He restricted Himself to these flesh and bones.

He wandered as I wander; He suffered as I suffer

He yearned for home as I yearn for home; He wept as I wept

He walked as I walk but with one important difference

He knew why He was here; He knew the meaning of this life

This earthly part of eternal life.  He knew and He told me to trust

In time all will be revealed; in time I will know; in time…in His time.

Eternity

In the beginning I am what I am

In the end I am what I have become.

I came into this world with nothing

I will leave this world with nothing

Of this world

But what of the next?

In the beginning I came from somewhere

In the end I will return there.

So what was all this in between for

And what shall I leave behind

Of this world

And take to the next?

Will I recognize or remember me

Will what I know even matter

Will what I have dreamed of come true

Will what I have hoped for come to pass

Will I still know

What I have always known?

In the beginning I was what I am

In the beginning I knew what know

In the beginning and in the end

In this world and in the next

All is the same

No difference.

SPIRITUAL ORIENTATION

Matthew 28:19, 20

For months the news has been centered on people and their sexual orientation.  I am more concerned with a person’s life orientation.  Can I look in the mirror and say I am living a life that is pleasing to God?  Can I look in the mirror and say my life is Spiritually oriented towards God and all that He created me to be and do?  For me that is to be the focus of my time and energy.  It seems to me that this should be the focus of the Church of God in this day and time, when the salt and light that Jesus called his disciples to be is sorely needed.

Causes come and causes go.  Some are good causes and need some attention drawn to them.  But in the attention there must always be the true focus.

God loves everyone and desires to be in an interactive and intimate relationship with everyone.  Once that is the chosen life orientation all the other things will work themselves out.  That needs to be the focus of the message of the Church of God.  That needs to be the focus of my time and energy as a disciple of Jesus.  When the Church of God stays on focus the world will change.

TRANSFORMED INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The cry that is heard from many activists today is “Change the World”.  It is not a new cry.  Down through the ages those who are opposed to oppression, war, and poverty have worked hard at bringing about change.  I honor and respect their work and have often marched with many of them.

As I grew older I began to notice that the vision was almost always about external change of the conditions that caused the unfair and unjust situation in the world.  It was the hope of change that filled God’s people over two thousand years ago as they awaited their Messiah and looked to Jesus as that fulfillment.  In Truth he was, but few received or believed in him; many were disappointed and eventually rejected him.

Jesus did not overthrow the oppressive regime of the Roman Empire; he did not eradicate poverty; he did not end wars and bring peace and stability to the land.  Jesus did not change the world, as declared by God as good.  Jesus did not change the world, that God so loved as to send him to it.  Jesus did not change the world because the world was not the problem.  Jesus healed and transformed people, one touch at a time.  Jesus transferred the rule of the world back to its original Sovereign; he brought forth the Kingdom of God that began in the beginning with God dwelling with His people and being their God.

Those who enter into God’s Kingdom will know no oppression; those who enter into God’s Kingdom will know no war; those who enter into God’s Kingdom will know no poverty.  They will be changed forever.

The Messiah has come and those who follow his leadership, who are inspired and impacted by his vision of the Kingdom of God in the present and still to come will discipline themselves in His Way, will be equipped with His power and Truth, and will live the Life they were created by God to live.

The Messiah has come and will come again to fully rule and reign.

Maranatha Lord Jesus

Maranatha

BEING EMPTIED TO BE FILLED

God’s method of preparing people for ministry begins by putting them in the wilderness, an experience of emptiness.   In the wilderness everything of self is stripped away and there God meets His called people, provided for them, cares for them, reveals Himself to them, and promises that He will lead them with His Presence forever. 

As a disciple of Jesus I must empty myself and be filled with Him, His Way, His Truth, and His Life.  It is then that I can enter into the Kingdom of God and be given my part in His message and my part in His mission.  It is then that I am equipped for the task of assisting others to be disciples of Jesus and help manifest the Kingdom of God here on earth.

It is interesting that the Military seems to understand God’s method of discipleship better than the Church.  However, while their method is good their execution is misused.  Their concept of power and control is mistaken.

Unfortunately the reaction to the poor execution and misuse of a good method is not to reexamine and go back to the original and make the corrections; the method is simply abandoned as being bad, destructive, and irrelevant.  All restraints are removed, all discipline is discarded, and all sense of eldership is eradicated.  Freedom is given rather than earned; freedom is given with no sense of responsibility; and so, we have today a world in crisis and chaos, on the way to destroying itself and ourselves with it.

Authority, control, and power are necessary elements of life on earth.  But it must be God’s authority, God’s control, and God’s power.  That’s how it was in the beginning.  That’s how it will be in the end.

PREPARE FOR THE POWER AND PRESENCE

Jesus did not come down to earth to condemn the world or change the world.  He came to serve and to save the world.  His Presence and power transformed situations and people.  He transformed water into wine, bread and wine into his body and blood, broken people into whole people, and situations of fear into faith.  His Presence and his power continue to do these things, through us as we serve.

Transformation precedes change.  I would see my part in this as the one setting the table, creating a hospitable place, preparing the way for God to be present and manifest His transforming power, and then being there for the person or situation that has changed, to encourage and support as the change manifests itself.

John the Baptist understood his role.  He came to prepare the way for the One who would manifest the transformational power on the one to be changed.  He then knew that he must decrease in his position to the One who does the transforming, not gain in power and reputation by putting another notch on his belt for converting another sinner.

Loving God, loving ourselves, loving one another, and loving our enemies is a way of setting the table, creating a hospitable place, and preparing the way for God to be present and manifest His transforming power.  Let my life, my message, and my mission be that simple service.

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...SO MUST I

These days I am very aware of the true unity that people of faith will have to have in the days to come.  Our petty divisions with one another will have to cease.  We need to get on task and that requires building bridges not walls. 

“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.”

This verse is used to show Jesus’ work in our lives.  But reading it today I was struck with the first part of the verse; God so loved the world.

The world was as much of a mess then as it is now.  People were as much of a mess then as they are now.  At one point in history God looked at that mess and decided to destroy it all, except Noah, his family, and the animals.  The world didn’t change much.  But this time God so loved the world He decided to save it.

For me there is a lot in this world not to love; a lot in this world I would like to see destroyed; poverty, was, killing babies, corporate greed, oppression, just to name a few.  But God had and still has a different way besides destroying everything.  He sent His Son to save the world by transforming the way people thought, believed, and lived.  We are called to follow in his footsteps; in the world but not of it we are to reflect God’s love to people; we are called to instruct not condemn.  Jesus helped people by teaching them to see differently, think differently, and live differently. I want to do that in my writing, my ministry, my life.  I want to produce conversation not conflict.