The thoughts in this post apply only to those who truly belong to Jesus Christ, fulfilling all of His requirements to be with Him for eternity. After all, it's His requirements that set the standard, right? If you're not sure about your standing with God, do yourself a favor and read my post titled "Prayer of Christian Renewal". It's in the blog archive (the upper right side of your screen) for March, 2013. Read it and pray it for yourself.
Now, back to the topic at hand.
This life can be over-taken with pain, physical and emotional and spiritual pain. There are times of great sadness, struggle, hardship, anxiety, separation, and loss. There are times when our bodies suffer. There are times when we feel spiritual pain, sharing in the breaking of God's heart over the brokenness of His creation. Can anything make us say it was worth it?
There are also good times and great times, joyous times and at-peace times. It's true, there is beauty and happiness in this world, but we must recognize that however beautiful some things might be, none of this creation is the way He originally built it. It's not nearly as beautiful and not nearly as happy as He meant for it to be.
Sin and fallen-ness have done far more than just damage the human beings on this planet. "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:19-21)
It's so easy and natural for us to set our hearts on that which is temporary. It's so tempting to think that God intends for Christianity to be a smooth ride to a jolly-good time in this life and an even better one in heaven. I've heard lots of preaching that has that as the underlying premise. In my mind, that's false preaching, misleading preaching, and preaching that will be condemned.
Here's the reality. The Apostle Paul counted everything in his life, even the good stuff, as rubbish. He did not fall in love with the temporary stuff, not even with the best of it. He counted it ALL as rubbish. "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8) Paul was sold-out for that which has eternal significance; he refused to be distracted by the temporary.
Jesus said it even stronger: "So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:33, Amplified Bible).
It's often preached today that as long as you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for your sins, and you accept Him as Lord and Saviour, it's okay to get around to surrendering the stuff in your life to Him at some later date, if and when you ever you feel like it. To make it worse, I think that most folks feel like they're doing God a favor when they really do surrender some new area of their lives to God.
Not that I haven't ever done that, but sorry, that's scary. It's not what I see in the Bible. I don't think you can truly believe in Him and receive the benefits of salvation in His name until you choose to fully surrender. Now, surrendering is something we have to walk out because we're not particularly good at it, but it starts with an act of your will. Then you must trust Him to make that surrender continually more effective in your life. Walking it out can be tough at times, but by an act of your will, choose that path.
Where does all of this leave the Christian? I look back at the posts I've written so far in this blog and see a common theme running through most of them. That theme is that we are to surrender everything for Him and to Him, trusting Him without reservation. I've been thinking about that theme today. I ask God for a lot of things to happen. But what is it that I really want THE MOST from God?
It boils down to this: In the moments after leaving this world behind, I really, really, really want to look into His eyes and see a look that says He was able to accomplish in me, through me, and around me all the things that He wanted to. I want to see a look of satisfaction on His face. Nothing else really matters. Nothing. That look will make it all worth it. All.Of.It.Worth.It. In the long-run that will be eternity, I want to see that He is satisfied with me and that His dreams are being fulfilled. Anything and everything else is secondary. THAT should be the Christian's bottom line.
Now, back to the topic at hand.
This life can be over-taken with pain, physical and emotional and spiritual pain. There are times of great sadness, struggle, hardship, anxiety, separation, and loss. There are times when our bodies suffer. There are times when we feel spiritual pain, sharing in the breaking of God's heart over the brokenness of His creation. Can anything make us say it was worth it?
There are also good times and great times, joyous times and at-peace times. It's true, there is beauty and happiness in this world, but we must recognize that however beautiful some things might be, none of this creation is the way He originally built it. It's not nearly as beautiful and not nearly as happy as He meant for it to be.
Sin and fallen-ness have done far more than just damage the human beings on this planet. "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:19-21)
It's so easy and natural for us to set our hearts on that which is temporary. It's so tempting to think that God intends for Christianity to be a smooth ride to a jolly-good time in this life and an even better one in heaven. I've heard lots of preaching that has that as the underlying premise. In my mind, that's false preaching, misleading preaching, and preaching that will be condemned.
Here's the reality. The Apostle Paul counted everything in his life, even the good stuff, as rubbish. He did not fall in love with the temporary stuff, not even with the best of it. He counted it ALL as rubbish. "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:7-8) Paul was sold-out for that which has eternal significance; he refused to be distracted by the temporary.
Jesus said it even stronger: "So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:33, Amplified Bible).
It's often preached today that as long as you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for your sins, and you accept Him as Lord and Saviour, it's okay to get around to surrendering the stuff in your life to Him at some later date, if and when you ever you feel like it. To make it worse, I think that most folks feel like they're doing God a favor when they really do surrender some new area of their lives to God.
Not that I haven't ever done that, but sorry, that's scary. It's not what I see in the Bible. I don't think you can truly believe in Him and receive the benefits of salvation in His name until you choose to fully surrender. Now, surrendering is something we have to walk out because we're not particularly good at it, but it starts with an act of your will. Then you must trust Him to make that surrender continually more effective in your life. Walking it out can be tough at times, but by an act of your will, choose that path.
Where does all of this leave the Christian? I look back at the posts I've written so far in this blog and see a common theme running through most of them. That theme is that we are to surrender everything for Him and to Him, trusting Him without reservation. I've been thinking about that theme today. I ask God for a lot of things to happen. But what is it that I really want THE MOST from God?
It boils down to this: In the moments after leaving this world behind, I really, really, really want to look into His eyes and see a look that says He was able to accomplish in me, through me, and around me all the things that He wanted to. I want to see a look of satisfaction on His face. Nothing else really matters. Nothing. That look will make it all worth it. All.Of.It.Worth.It. In the long-run that will be eternity, I want to see that He is satisfied with me and that His dreams are being fulfilled. Anything and everything else is secondary. THAT should be the Christian's bottom line.
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