The Kingdom of God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again. But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?”
1 Corinthians 4:18-21 NLT

We citizens of the Kingdom of God, pilgrims on a journey to Glory, are living a different life from those around us, unbelievers who are still firmly and solely citizens of the kingdom of the world. We pilgrims have transitioned from a worldly life to one that is pleasing to God and aligned with His values and requirements. And the two kingdoms are so different, often with the expression of opposites. So someone great in the kingdom of the world’s eyes, such as a successful businessman, an autocrat or a political leader, is least in God’s Kingdom, where a servant assumes the greatest slot. But the biggest difference is that God’s Kingdom is spiritual. The first verse in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). (Note that “Kingdom of Heaven” is synonymous with “Kingdom of God” – Matthew was written for a Jewish audience and the name of God was so sacred that Jews would not refer to it directly.) But before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to define what the Kingdom of God is. One definition is, “the kingdom of God is [the] spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. Those who defy God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him are not part of the kingdom of God; in contrast, those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ and gladly surrender to God’s rule in their hearts are part of the kingdom of God” (quoted from gotquestions.org). At His pre-crucifixion trial, Jesus was asked by the Roman governor, Pilate, if He was the King of the Jews. In response, “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place’” (John 18:36). Jesus truly was (and still is, by the way) the King, and we echo what Thomas said when he met the risen Jesus, “’My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed,” (John 20:28). 

So, how do men and women today become citizens of God’s Kingdom? Jesus gave Nicodemus the answer in John 3:3, 5-6, “Jesus replied, ‘‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” …  Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life“”. Men and women are naturally born into the kingdom of the world, a world riddled and polluted by evil, wickedness and sin. Although the Bible does not claim that the devil is the king of this world, Jesus did say that he was the ruler. John 12:31, “The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out”. And that is why this world is such an unpleasant place to live in. The only people who are comfortable living in this world are those who are sinful and conforming to the world’s evil ways. But God’s people experience a second birth, through the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus was greatly puzzled by this and couldn’t get his mind around the concept, the reality, of a different type of birth. Jesus said that worldly people could not understand how being reborn in the Spirit was possible (John 3:8 – “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit”), but He went on to describe what the door into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, looked like – “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14-15). Right at the start of His public ministry, Jesus explained to Nicodemus that there was a day coming when He would be lifted up on a cross, crucified by the Roman authorities at the behest of the Jews, and taking on Himself the punishment that we sinners deserved. The Kingdom of God is an eternal Kingdom and one where its citizens will live for all eternity. 

To the Corinthian believers, Paul wrote, “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power“, but we will unpick that in the next blog. In the meantime, we have to understand the reality that living in God’s Kingdom in the spirit, while living in the world’s kingdom in the natural, will introduce tensions and conflicts for which God’s power is essential to be able to overcome. We pilgrims have a dual nationality. Paul was conflicted by a life in two kingdoms, and he wrote, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me” (Philippians 1:21-23). I have met Christians who are terrified of the thought of dying. All sorts of fears surface, such as leaving loved ones in a state of pain, sorrow and grief, but also the fear of the unknown, with questions around what the dying process for them will be like. Along with such thoughts come the doubts and sometimes a lack of faith bubbles to the surface. But Paul was so convinced about where he would end up after his physical death that he would have been more than happy if Jesus had whisked him away from this planet like Enoch (Genesis 5:23-24, “Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him“). 

We pilgrims have been born again by the Holy Spirit and now live for God in His Kingdom. It’s a wonderful life and one where we enjoy the presence of God in our lives day by day. And one day, we will experience an infinitely better life with Jesus forever.

Dear Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for Your plan that involved sending Jesus, Your Son, to die for our sins. We now live in Your Kingdom as Your valued children, and we look forward to the day when our life on this planet will be replaced by a life spent for all eternity with You. Amen.

A Dusty End

Posted on by korgrocker

“Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust. Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.”
Psalm 22:29-31 NLT

Why did David write, “all whose lives will end as dust” rather than “those who will die”? Both phrases mean the same thing, both referring to a human being’s mortality, but of course we know that. About Adam we read in Genesis 3:19, “By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return“. Adam was originally made from dust, as we read in Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person“. But were human beings originally intended to be immortal, because it was only after the Fall that Adam was informed about his ultimate demise and destination. In Genesis 1:27 we read, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. We know that God is immortal, so if human beings were made “in His image”, would that have included immortality? God intended a very different world to what we have today, with the first inhabitants living a very long time, even after sin had entered Planet Earth. 

Most people are unable to contemplate the end to their earthly lives. When we were young, such a subject was never given much thought because the prevailing attitude was that we would live forever. People generally know that they have to face death one day but it is something they can’t control and therefore don’t think about it. A friend of mine once said, “I don’t fear death, but I just don’t want to be involved”. But death can and does happen to all ages and the wise amongst us make suitable preparations. I don’t mean getting affairs in order, planning a funeral service or starting a funeral plan with the local undertakers. I mean ensuring that the bits of us that are immortal, our souls and spirits, go to live in the right place. That is something we do have control over, through the grace of God.

People of all ages and regardless of sex all have bodies that one day “will end as dust”. Increasing years will introduce aches and pains and even serious health challenges reducing qualities of life, and Western countries in particular are facing into the problem of having a large and health-demanding elderly population. A human being is made up of many chemicals and a large amount of water (about 60% of an average adult’s body apparently) but it will all one day break down into its constituent parts, parts that David defined as “dust”. A depressing thought for most people, but for us pilgrims it will be just the beginning of an adventure we can only marvel at and look forward to. 

Paul wrote quite a bit about the process of dying but he followed it with the facts about resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:42b Paul wrote, “ … Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.” He continues in verse 44, “They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies“. In our current human lives, we have a glimpse of what it means to live in the Kingdom of God, but we will never experience the fulness of such a life until we have a body that is appropriate for God’s Kingdom. And then comes the crescendo of the final experience, “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies” (1 Corinthians 15:53). 

But we must read 1 Corinthians 15:47-49, “Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man”. We must meditate on this and chew over the wonder of it all. One day we will have a body like Jesus’ resurrected body. Read that sentence again, and again. Jesus was about 33 when He was so brutally put to death. Do we ever want to be 33 again? In a body that will never die. In a body which will never experience death, or pain, or sickness? Is that a resounding “YES” that I can hear?

I suppose we must think for a moment on the fate of all those who don’t believe in Jesus. They too will be resurrected but will find themselves standing before a Great White Throne. Revelation 20:12, 15, “I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. … And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire“. Has anyone thought why people have to be “thrown” into their final destination? Purely because they don’t want to go there. Hell will not be a place that anyone will walk into by choice. Jesus said, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42).‭‭ 

But we won’t dwell on the fate of the wicked, because we do our best to tell them about what is ahead. Not to frighten them into the Kingdom, as preachers of old used to do, preaching sermons in which they dangled their audience over the flames of hell. William Booth was reported to have said, “Most Christians would like to send their recruits to Bible college for five years. I would like to send them to hell for five minutes. That would do more than anything else to prepare them for a lifetime of compassionate ministry. I am not waiting for a move of God, I am a move of God!” But we tell our friends and families and anyone we meet about our testimonies of God’s grace. How God has done so much for us, saving us from the finality of a horrible existence beyond the grave, that will ultimately be full of their dust.

Father God. We thank You for Your grace and favour, so liberally poured out on mankind, grace manifested by Your free gift of salvation. Please help us to tell all who we meet about You . In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Peter’s Death Foretold

Posted on by korgrocker

“A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep. “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.””
John 21:17-19 NLT

John records in these verses that Jesus foretold the kind of death Peter would experience at the end of his life. No chance of a peaceful slipping away in his sleep. Peter’s death was to be something he didn’t want to experience. For the rest of his life Peter had the spectre of a violent and painful death hanging over him, but he never flinched from his mission. But he always had the option of keeping his head down and keeping out of harm’s way, avoiding upsetting anyone. Jesus had warned His disciples about what was to come in Matthew 24:9, “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers”. In John 17:9-10 we read, “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory“. But the disciples, apart from Judas, never stopped following Jesus and they were all present in that Upper Room the day that the Holy Spirit came.

If someone presented to us the Gospel and we were warned that this would lead to physical harm and even death, would we have accepted Jesus and believed in Him? Today, many evangelists present a Gospel of a loving God, saying that by believing in Him we will receive eternal life. John 3:16 is their text, but correct as it is, they fail to present the other facets of God’s character. His sinlessness, purity, holiness, justice, righteousness and so on. God is complete and highlighting just one of His attributes is a dangerous path to follow, both for themselves and the people who respond to it. It is only be receiving the whole counsel of God that we will be able to be truly saved. How do we do that? By reading the Bible, God’s Word, by prayer, and by going to church to fellowship with God’s people. It will take us a lifetime to even just scratch the surface of finding out who God is, but he is patient and kind and will help us every step of our journeys. 

Dear Father God. We too, like Peter have wobbly moments. Thank You for Your patience and loving kindness, and for the Holy Spirit who helps us day by day. Please forgive us for our sins, for the things we should have done but haven’t, and the things we have done but shouldn’t. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Graveyard Dead

Posted on by korgrocker

“So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.” Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.” When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.”
John 11:14-17 NLT

A pithy, out-of-the-corner-of-his-mouth, comment from Thomas to the other disciples perhaps made them chuckle, but it illustrated the underlying fear that they felt about returning to Judea. Not a sensible decision was their thought because Jesus had, not so long ago, left there under the threat of being stoned to death for what the Pharisees considered was His blasphemous teachings. The Pharisees couldn’t dispute the miracles but they violently objected to Jesus’ claim that He did them in God’s name. But Jesus was on a mission and nothing was going to stop Him returning to see His friends. While Jesus and His disciples had been away, Lazarus had become more and more ill, and had finally died. His distraught sisters made the arrangements for his burial and it was in a tomb, probably hewed out of rock, and sealed by a stone placed over the front, that Lazarus’ body was incarcerated. In those days a body was washed and wrapped in a long length of cloth complete with spices before it was buried, and Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days before Jesus turned up. 

After death bodies start to decompose, a process in which the cells, starved of oxygen, start to break up and dissolve, and the naturally-occurring bacteria in the body go on a feeding frenzy. In cold climates the process takes a while, but in a warm place like Israel, decomposition accelerates. So after four days, Lazarus’ body was well beyond any form of recovery, even through the most advanced medical techniques available today, let alone two thousand years ago. So to everyone present in Bethany, there was no doubts about Lazarus being dead. Graveyard dead. Modern claims that perhaps Lazarus wasn’t really dead but had just fainted or was comatose, denies the intelligence of the people in Bethany. They knew that dead means dead. 

It is a fact of life that everyone one day will die. It was Benjamin Franklin who apparently uttered the phrase “In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes”, a rather sardonic observation that continues to apply today. But no matter how hard people try, and how much they spend on surgical or medical remedies, everyone will die one day. We all will have to face it. To many people the thought of death is to be avoided for as long as possible. Perhaps they suddenly face the reality at a loved one’s funeral or on a hospital visit. So before it is too late, it is advisable to do things like make a will, or take out life insurance, protecting our loved ones and leaving a legacy in line with our wishes. Some people even organise their funerals, picking songs or hymns, and so on, but in the end there is an end to a person’s natural life.

It is sad that people generally give no thought to what happens after death. According to the Bible, after death our bodies die but our spirits live on. On the cross next to Jesus’ a thief was told by our Saviour that he would soon be with Him in Paradise. Obviously his body wouldn’t go there because, after the custom of that time, it would have been disposed of on the rubbish heap in the Valley of Hinnom, a place where executed criminals were thrown after death. So our spirits live on and end up either in a place of comfort – Heaven – or in a place of discomfort – Hades. Jesus told the story of the Rich Man and another man called Lazarus, who was a poor beggar who sat at the Rich Man’s gate. After they both died, the poor man, Lazarus, was comforted “in the bosom of Abraham” but the Rich Man ended up in a place of torment. We can read the story in Luke 16. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord”. He had no doubts where he was going to end up after he had died.

So when we die our bodies are discarded and our spirits end up in a holding place. Lazarus was “graveyard dead” and we can assume that his spirit was in one of them and probably the place of comfort. The issue for human beings is about where their spirits (souls) go when they die. We pilgrims have a message of hope for a future with Jesus. We mustn’t keep such good news just to ourselves.

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for Your promise of eternal life with You. Please help us to share it with those around us, people with ears receptive to the truth. In Your precious name. Amen.

Honour the Lord (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honour him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honour the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honour the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honour the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.”
Romans 14:6-9 NLT

Paul continued to write about how we honour God. This time He was pointing out that we honour God in the way we live. And he added the rider, “if” to the “we live”. But often do we consider that our lives should be honouring to God? In all that we do? In our leisure, in our schools and workplaces, while we are awake and while we sleep. 24/7. A big ask surely? 

The first challenge is that Paul wrote that “we don’t live for ourselves”. That is so counter-cultural a statement! It drives a huge wedge between the way the world says we should live, and the way of a God-follower. A sinful person’s thinking is dominated by “what’s in it for me” or “I‘ll do it my way”. A redeemed person’s thinking is unselfish and focused on what and how God wants him or her to behave. Jesus said that we pilgrims should, “ … love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Our love of God transcends all thoughts of sinful selfishness.

Paul went on to write “if we die …”. This is an uncomfortable place for most people. We don’t talk about death, particularly our own. As someone once said, “I don’t have a fear of death – I just don’t want to be involved”. But the fact that one day we will leave this life is one of the few certainties that we have to consider. And Paul said the manner of our passing is “to honour the Lord”. A good friend of mine had to face into several health issues during his life, and his final battle was with cancer. But his last few weeks and days were truly honouring to God. Even in the pain he was experiencing, he was gracious and considerate to those around him. He didn’t give up his church duties until the very end, and could always be found reading his Bible, or listening to worship music. A look into his eyes revealed a glimpse of eternity. And on his last day, from a hospice bed, he was able to talk with his children and pray with them. His death was truly honouring to the Lord and one that shone like a beacon to those around him.

Paul wrote that in life and death we honour God, something we should consider daily in our humanity, in our journeys to glory. But it’s not too hard an ask. With such a loving Heavenly Father how else can we live except in a way that honours Him. After all, He has done so much for us in this life, and His love and care won’t finish the other side of the grave. In Philippians 1:20-24, Paul wrote, “For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honour to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live”. Even in the privations of a Roman jail, Paul could only think about others. 

One day someone will engrave a message on our tombstones, literal or metaphorical. Will “He (or she) honoured the Lord” be there? I pray that this will be the case for pilgrims everywhere, and one day it will be followed by a “Well done …”. 

Dear Heavenly Father. With Paul we set our eyes on the life to come, encouraged and refreshed in these weary days. We thank You for the companionship of Your Spirit, helping us step by step. Amen.

Death No More

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation‬ ‭20:14-15‬ ‭NLT

The lake of fire is filling up. We already have the devil, the beast and the false prophet sent there. Now we find out that death and the grave have been thrown in there as well. How do we picture death? A man wearing a monk’s habit with a hood covering his head, and carrying an old fashioned scythe? You know, the “Grim Reaper” that accompanies jokes about men catching a cold? But however we imagine the concept, or state, we call “death”, it is far more serious and significant than that. And the fact that “death” was to be no more restores God’s original order back to His creation.

When mankind was created, his sinless state meant that he would have the opportunity to live forever. In Genesis 2:9b we read, ” …. In the middle of the garden he [God] placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” And in Genesis 3:22 we read, “Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”” The sin Adam and Eve committed resulted in them being cut off from the fruit of the tree that would provide eternal life. The result of that sin was mankind’s eventual physical death. So death was spawned in Eden through what has become to be known as the fall of man. And now death was being eliminated and consigned to the fiery lake. 

Now that death was, well, dead, there was no more use for the grave. Obvious really. No dead bodies, so no need for graves. So the entity John saw, the grave,  ended up in the fiery lake as well. So in our minds we have perhaps conjured up our own images of the Grim Reaper and a gravestone flying through the air and disappearing below the surface of the lake full of burning sulphur. 

It is a strange concept for us pilgrims that one day we will be resurrected and will live forever. In God’s company as He originally wanted. But some people in society cannot wait until they die. They find life so hard that they just have had enough. Sadly, some accelerate the process and end their own lives unnaturally. And we also have the frequent debate promoting euthanasia for those suffering from incurable or debilitating diseases. In the forefront of the news just now is the sad story of a poor girl in her early teens who committed suicide, her mental health challenges exacerbated by negative social media posts. The debate around the length and quality of our lives seems constant. But Jesus came to give us life, both here in this physical realm, and forever in the age to come. In John 10:10 we read, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My [Jesus] purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Regardless of our circumstances, we can enjoy a wonderful life with Jesus.

So one day there will be no death. All those who have chosen to live God’s way, in a loving relationship with Him, will transition from this life to eternal life in Heaven. In a conversation with Martha, the sister of Lazarus, Jesus said to her, “ … I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” Jesus came to this life, walking the highways and byways of the Palestinian countryside telling people about God’s wonderful Kingdom. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. To Jesus, death was no obstacle. Paul wrote to his followers some comforting words about death. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:53-55, “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”” Paul ends this section with these words, “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That was why Jesus came. And through Him we really do have the victory that will enable us to once again enjoy eating from the Tree of Life.

Dear Heavenly Father. Once again we fall to our knees in worship. You are the living God, the true Life. How wonderful You are. Amen.

Lifespan

Posted on by korgrocker

“Seventy years are given to us! 
     Some even live to eighty. 
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; 
     soon they disappear, and we fly away.”
Psalms‬ ‭90:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Psalm 90 is the first Psalm of Book Four within the Book of Psalms, and this time it is Moses’s pen that records another lyrical expression of God. At apparent odds with today’s verse, Moses didn’t start God’s work until he was 80 years old. But what a life of service! Moses lived until he was 120, but how long will we live? “Three score years and ten” is often quoted in relation to our expectation of lifespan, but we don’t really know. None of us know the day when we will leave life on this earth and cross the Great Divide. The young seem to believe that they will live forever. Certainly many seem to act like it. But those who are older become more measured in their approach to life, particularly when they reach the “twilight zone”. Some terminally ill people want to legislate control over when they leave this life, but the sanctity of life prevails, at least for now. But whatever we feel about those last moments of our lives, worrying won’t be helpful. Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 6:27,  “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” I have read somewhere that over 90% of deaths occur when the person is asleep, which many will find reassuring. Certainly that was the case for both my parents.

So what is the impact on our daily lives of our lack of knowledge of when we will die? How should we respond? Most people don’t want to talk about it. They become fearful and depressed. Others park the question, preferring to live each day as it comes. Still others become frustrated because they know they have to age and leave this life one day and they regret that death is one aspect of their life that they have no control over. Some get paranoid when they observe the signs of ageing staring back at them from the mirror, reaching for magic potions to delay the inevitable. Cosmetic companies advertise the extraordinary powers of their products in halting the ageing process. And one topic of scientific research is sure to get the attention of many readers – how our natural lives can be extended. There are even a few wealthy people who go to extraordinary lengths to preserve themselves after death in the hope that one day in the future there will be technology that can resurrect them from a deeply frozen state.

But there is one sure-fire way of ensuring we can live forever. For eternity. Most people, particularly those who have rejected God, think that life ends when they die. But those who believe in, and follow, God, are convinced that there is a life beyond the grave of far more importance than the life we experience now. In faith, such people, Christians, believe that Jesus is preparing a place for them, so that they can live with Him forever. We can read what He said in John 14. 

I have heard the often-quoted verse, John 3:16, used at funerals to assure the relatives and the friends of their departed loved one that he or she is now in Heaven, along with their mum and dad, and Auntie Mary thrown in for good measure. That may or not be true, but such soliloquies often ignore the following verse, verse 17, where Jesus said, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” There is only one way to join God in Heaven, and that is through Jesus. In John 11, Jesus said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus,  ”… I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die ….” It’s all about the word “Believe”. It implies not just an acknowledgement that Jesus is real. That God exists. Even the devil believes that! It implies aligning our lives during the time we have in this life to how it will be in the next. Dealing with our sins. Following God’s teachings. Building up a relationship with Him. Otherwise we will be unable to enter into God’s presence – how could we if we don’t know Him?

So today, let us stop worrying about how much time we have left for us in this life. Instead, let us ensure our future in the life to come.

Mud and Clay

Posted on by korgrocker

“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.” Psalms‬ ‭40:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Imagine the scene. You have wandered over some fields and come to a bank, down which you accidentally slip. You find yourself stuck in a bog, mud up to your knees and you are starting to sink further. Your cries for help are unheeded because of the remoteness of the place and very quickly the enormity of your predicament floods over you leaving an acute feeling of fear and despair. So you cry out to God for help, waiting with patience for Him to answer, full of assurance that He will do just that. And then, out of nowhere, a rope falls in front of you. You grab it and find a stranger at the other end who manages to pull you out, back up the bank, to a place of firm ground. God hears your cries and prayers for help and sends someone to rescue you.

Imagine the scene. After several days of heavy rain, the local river has burst its banks and your house is being flooded. The ground floor is now under water but you have managed to get onto the roof. You look anxiously around at the water-filled devastation, watching trees, rubbish, even cars, float past. Despair and fear increase. There is no-one to help. But God hears your prayers and sends a rescue helicopter, that quickly lifts you to a place of safety where you can wait for the flood waters to recede.

Imagine the scene. You realise that you are heading for a lost eternity because of your many sins. You are filled with fear and despair. Your situation appears to be hopeless because you realise you can’t save yourself. You cry out to God for help. But God has a plan. He loves you so much that He sends His Son, Jesus, to rescue you. But it’s a costly exercise – to rescue you Jesus has to become a sacrifice for your sins. There is no other way. And through His death on a cross, Jesus takes upon Himself all your sins, leaving you without guilt and shame, in right standing before God and able to say with confidence that your future with God in Heaven is secure. You have found a place of security. Solid ground on which to stand. Paul wrote in his Roman epistle, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Three scenarios. Two of physical danger, one of spiritual danger. But all three a potential “pit of despair”. But after rescue what do you feel? Elation? Relief? Most probably an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to God for His rescue. A song you have never sung before comes from deep within you, as you sing grateful praises to God. A song that tells of God’s amazing works. A song that brings others into a trusting relationship with God too.

Far-fetched scenarios that don’t apply in real life today? God may, or may not, rescue us from all occasions of physical danger. It wouldn’t be danger if He always did. But we can have an assurance that God will always rescue a repentant sinner from spending eternity in that place Jesus called hell. How do I know? The Son of God, Jesus, told me. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” ‭‭John‬ ‭3:16-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

The Land of the Living

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” Psalms‬ ‭27:13-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In spite of all his trials and attacks from people who were out to get him, David, the psalmist, continued to have confidence in the Lord, his God. You see, he had made the connection between life here on planet earth, and his life secured and assured for him with God Himself. And more, David had confidence in his expectation that the Lord’s goodness would extend from the Heavenly realm into his earthly bubble. All he had to do was wait patiently, something that he apparently needed courage to do.

Once again I am in a place of intersection between the the land of the living and the land of the dead. My aunt, the sole remaining member of my mother’s generation, passed over “the great divide” a few days ago. Her spirit has now taken up residence somewhere else, where her options for eternity are limited. Her spirit is dependent now on the Lord’s mercy and decisions she made “in the land of the living”. Her options for experiencing the “Lord’s goodness” in this life have ceased. She had heard the Gospel many times during her long life, but did she know Jesus?

So what lessons can I learn from these final two verses in Psalm 27? For me, I see the necessity of keeping close to God, being in His presence, making right choices, being confident that He loves me and wants to bless me “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:3). My pilgrimage through “the land of the living” involves looking out expectantly for the “Lord’s goodness” to me with patience and courage. Fending off all the enemy’s attacks in the knowledge that I don’t have to listen to his lifeless message from the land of the dead. Father God I am so grateful for Your presence in “the land of the living”, enabling You to be accessible to all.