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Archive for March, 2011

Heaven Is A Destination For Those Who Love The Lord

08 Mar

We don’t read a lot about the specifics of Heaven in the Bible.  For a long time I wished there was more.  I believe many people have leached onto the world we live in today because they picture Heaven as being boring.  With the picture many people have painted in the past I can see why.

There is one thing we can count on.

1 Corinthians 2:9 – 9 However, as it is written:
   “What no eye has seen,
   what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
   the things God has prepared for those who love him—

Paul is letting us know that Heaven is going to be so great that we can’t even fathom it.  I take Paul at his word.  I have no doubt he is right.  As stated in an earlier post, the Lord gave me a special gift just to remember my emotions after being shown something in a dream that He shared with me.  I wasn’t allowed to remember what I saw, just how I felt about what I saw.

Heaven is the destination.  It is a reward for those who love the Lord and have accepted the Lord’s sacrifice to wash them clean. 

I do believe the reason, and this is just my opinion, we aren’t told more about Heaven is because we are to first love God.  We aren’t supposed to love Heaven and forget God.

Imagine that there is a guy throwing a party and lots of people attend.  They can’t stand him, but he sure throws a great party and has a nice place. 

You see we aren’t supposed to fall in love what with God gives us, were supposed to fall in love with God and Jesus themselves.  The reward is for those who love Him.

Look how many pleasure driven people we have on earth.  Not hard to imagine this generation falling in love with the reward not God.

I remember not all that long ago that I hope Heaven was like………this and that.

Now I know that God knows me better than I know myself.  He is going have Heaven exactly the way it’s supposed to be.  He made my likes and dislikes.  He made my emotions.  I don’t have to dwell on the prize, I need to dwell and serve the one who will be thrilled to share it with those who love Him.

Serve Him and honor Him on this earth while you still can.  No putting the cart before the horse.  Focus on loving the King, not the inheritance.

 
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Posted in Inspiration, Motivation

 

The Son – Great Christian Story

07 Mar

The Son
Author Unknown

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had Everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Viet Nam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.”

The young man held out his package.

“I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.”

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the portrait.

“Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.”

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected. The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son.

The auctioneer pounded his gavel. “We will start the bidding with this portrait of the son. Who will bid for this painting?” There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted. “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.” But the auctioneer persisted. “Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?” Another voice shouted angrily. “We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!” But still the auctioneer continued. “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?”

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the man and his son. “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. “We have $10, who will bid $20?” “Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.” “$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?”

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the painting of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!” A man sitting on the second row shouted. “Now let’s get on with the collection!”

The auctioneer laid down his gavel.

“I’m sorry, the auction is over. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!”

God gave his son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, “The son, the son, who’ll take the son?”

 
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Posted in Inspiration

 

Quote – Chuck Missler

05 Mar

It is sixty-six books written by forty authors, written between 1446 B.C. & 90 A.D. But, now we discover that it is an integrated message system from outside our time and space domain.
Chuck Missler

How do we know that?

We know that because of bible prophecy.  Only God knows the future from the past.

Isaiah 46:9-10 – 9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;
   I am God, and there is no other;
   I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
   from ancient times, what is still to come.

Only God knows the future.  Everyone else who tries to predict the future has a brutal record.  God is the only one who knows it and shares it with the prophets who were men that loved Him.  It’s only just one of many reasons why we can trust the bible, but it is a reason that separates itself from any other literature out there.  All the other books or people that try to predict the future without God are easily refuted and found to be false.  God is fully accurate.

 
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Posted in Quotes, Reflections

 

It Does Matter What We Teach

04 Mar

I have listened to people with an “All roads lead to the same place” theory.

These people have replaced good intentions or sincerity in the place of absolutes.  We will be held accountable for truth when we stand in front of Jesus.

Titus 2:1 – 1 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.

We might have to hear the voice of the politically correct police on a regular basis right now, but they will be nowhere to be find come accounting time.  They will be too busy answering for a doctrine they spewed that was not of God, but from the spirit of antichrist. 

God’s Word is love letter to all of us. 

I have seen a talk show host that was talking to someone that had died and came back.  The guest claimed that she saw Jesus.  The host quickly told her, well for you it was Jesus, but for someone else it may have been Muhammad, Buddha, etc.  The person looked at her like, I don’t know anything about that, I saw Jesus. 

Now what would make someone have to intervene and make a comment like the one she made?  I know why, she is a very influential person and is trying to push the spirit of antichrist which is bringing everything in this big happy world together.  Never mind truth, we just need to all respectfully come together.

Jews and Muslims have nothing in common.  Atheists and Hindus have nothing in common.  Christians should believe Jesus when He says I am the only way of salvation, which means it should have nothing in common with any of them.

Jesus is truth, but the principle they are trying to shove down our throats right now of all faiths lead to the same God doesn’t even jive with itself.

1 Timothy 4:1 –  1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  KJV

Truth.  The Truth matters.  What we believe and what we teach matters.

 
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Philippians 4:4

03 Mar

Philippians 4:4 – 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

This was one of the songs in church that I remember as kid.

What’s the keyword that many Christians forget in this verse?  A-L-W-A-Y-S! 

If we don’t rejoice in the Lord always, it’s because we’re thinking of too many other things except God.  Is something going good in your life?  Rejoice to the Lord!  Is something going bad in your life?  Rejoice and ask the Lord to deliver and protect you from it.

Jesus even tells you to Rejoice even amongst persecution, because it certainly will not go unnoticed with the one who rules the heavens and earth.

Matthew 5:11-12 –   11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Paul reminds us to both Rejoice in hope and in suffering.

Romans 5:1-3 – 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

Rejoice, and again I say Rejoice.  The Lord loves us.  He knows what we need more than we do.  That leaves us one thing we need to do.  Obey!

We need to seek and follow our Lord.  This fallen world is temporary and to love it only takes our eyes off the Father.

 
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Posted in Encouragement, Inspiration

 

The Ultimate Computer Warning Virus Software

02 Mar

The Holy Spirit!

Nonstop our lives should be hooked into God and Jesus.  Think of yourself as a computer.  The network needs to constantly linked the home base and if you’re a Christian that needs to be the Lord.

If you stay connected on that network it has software that warns you when a virus is detected.  The closer I am to God, the quicker that software kicks in (voice of the Holy Spirit).  It’s quick to point out, “Wow, that wasn’t a great witness.  Let’s work on seeing if we can do better there next time.” Or “Should you really be listening or watching this?”  The Christian anti-viral warning software protects us from becoming infected.

Infected in this case is calloused.  Our hearts become calloused the further we get away from God.

Here is Jesus repeating Isaiah.

Matthew 13:15 – 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

Whose words were they before they came from Isaiah?  Yes, the Word of God Himself.

John 1:1-2 – 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

When we protect our hearts with the Word, we are protecting it with the Son Himself.  We need the software from Jesus in our constant daily walks.

What happens when your surfing the web online researching and you get knocked off?  You’re no longer learning new research.  You’re not staying in tuned with the network and what it has to offer.  When we get out of the Word and don’t think about Jesus and God all day long, we stop hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.  It all gets drowned out by worldly viral implanted dissuasion.

Stay in the Word, constantly talk and pray to God on a constant basis.  Keep the Holy Spirit functioning at a high level in your life, so the warning software detects and goes off immediately.

 
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We Have A Job To Do

01 Mar

Our job isn’t to go out into this big world and make the most of our lives in the name of ourselves.

I remember watching the movie Troy (like most Hollywood movies not recommending) and the one of the big things the main characters were trying to accomplish was their immortality in history.  They knew they were going to die, so they wanted to be remembered for generations to come by their feats.  For a king it was to conquer in battles.  For a warrior it was how remembered he was as a fighting man.

How is each and every one of us living today?  What are we living for?  What are our goals in life?

Is it to live life to the fullest?  Be a daredevil or risk taker?  Check off all the things on our bucket list?

Okay.

Then what?

You take your last breath and you’re in eternity.

Then what?

Is God going to look at you and say, wow, you sold a lot thingy-ma-jigs!  Very impressive!  Is he going to look at you and say that toy train collection of yours goes unmatched! 

My opinion based on what I read in the scriptures suggests no.  God enjoys the fact that we enjoy life.  He made us to enjoy, enjoyable things.  So where does the problem come in?  When the enjoyment or the focus takes precedence over our Lord.

David was a king and yet his first love was the Lord.  David didn’t inspire to be king; God sought him out and put him in that position.  Others, who have fought to be king in the past, were not thinking God first, but power and gain. 

Our job is to serve our King.  As Christians our first and foremost duty is to honor the Lord and be helpers of the kingdom.

Matthew 24:45-51 – 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We have a job to do!  It’s the most important job of our lives.  Here’s a little known biblical thing that’s not a secret.  It’s not about you.  The Lord will take care of you, what you need to do is serve the Lord.

So when we’re standing in front of the Lord and it’s time to give an account, it’s totally about what you did or didn’t do in His name.  You can be the nicest, kindest person in the whole world and if you haven’t asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you have failed the most important thing on the whole to do list.

Today, make it today that you make the Lord number one.  Time is getting closer on His return.  Every day that you make Him number one counts.  There is nothing in your life too important to put it in front of your King and Savior.

 
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Posted in Encouragement, Inspiration

 
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