Eternity

I believe God is eternal but I have a hard time grasping or picturing this concept with my finite mind. I have been reading a book on philosophy and read an extremely good explanation of this concept. Unfortunately the initial concept, while revealing, has opened up even more questions in the end!

Imagine your life is a movie. From the time the piracy warnings, copyright infringement notices, and studio logo appears all the way to the last roll of the credits and what record label the soundtrack can be found on: that is your life. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every year; every beat of your heart and every breath you take; every failure and every success; every relationship, every job, every friend and every enemy. All of this is contained in one giant biopic movie produced, directed, and edited by.........God.

We are earthly beings contained in time and space. If we were to sit down and watch this movie in our realm of existence we would watch this movie one frame at a time. Our viewing of this movie would be linear in nature. We can’t view minute number 89 until we have watched the previous 88 minutes. It makes sense right? Now imagine God viewing this movie. God exists outside of the constraints of space and time so when He watches our movie He sees every frame at the same time. From God’s eternal perspective every moment in time occurs at once.

Now here is a mind bender for you....

If God already knows if I am going to get up and go to church or not tomorrow, where does that leave my choice? Where does my free will and freedom of choice fit in all of this? If God knew that I was going to fail in certain areas of my walk with Him today than what would have happened if I made a different choice along the way? Could I have made a different choice? Where do our prayers and petitions fit in?

Is God orchestrating what we think and feel in our hearts and minds so that we make the right decisions and pray the right things in order to match up with the final cut of the movie? Does He even have to? As producer and director hasn’t He already made all of these decisions already? Hasn’t He worked all this out in pre-production, while filming, and again in postproduction and editing?

Herein lies my question(s):
Do my choices determine God’s knowledge of what I will do?
Does God’s knowledge of what I will do determine my choices?

OR......
Because God is eternal are my choices and His knowledge simultaneous??

OR.......
Maybe the future isn’t set. I believe the final outcome written in the Word of God is the truth. But maybe how we get there isn’t set but “always in motion” depending on the choices we make. (I don’t like this theory. It puts too much power on us and takes some away from God.)

Think about it. Get back to me with your thoughts.

Have a great day. God bless.

The Hall of Faith

Hebrews 11:1
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see

Hebrews chapter 11 is sometimes called the “Hall of Faith”. In verse 6 we are told that it is impossible to please God without faith.

In the remainder of chapter 11 we are given great examples of faith from men and women from the OT.
• Abel had faith that his offering was better than Cain’s
• Enoch had so much faith that God took him up to heaven without dying
• Noah certainly had faith....he built a boat in the middle of the desert for crying out loud!
• Abraham had faith to follow God consistently without seeing the results.
• Sarah had faith that she would conceive a child even in her old age.
• Isaac had faith in the promised blessings for his sons.
• Jacob had faith, Joseph had faith and Moses had faith.

We are told in verse 13 that some of these people died without seeing the benefits of their faith. They still believed however in what God had promised them. Can you or I say the same thing about our faith? I can truthfully say that I have seen God’s faithful promises come to fruition in my life and it bolsters my faith in Him. But what if I never heard a word or saw the providence of God in my life? How much more difficult would it be to have faith?

God has worked mightily through the faith of His children all throughout time. We see later in chapter 11 that even the author of Hebrews has to cut his argument short because it would take too long to tell us about each and every instance of faith that was shown. Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel as well as the prophets are mentioned. It says in verse 33 that by faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. By faith the mouths of lions were shut and flames of fire where quenched. By faith their weaknesses were turned into strengths.

BUT......others were tortured and died for their faith. Brothers and sisters throughout the world today are suffering and dying for their faith. Some go through less trying circumstances and are only mocked and made fun of but still others are excommunicated from their communities and shunned by their family for their faith in Jesus Christ.

A pastor once preached a message on this Hall of Faith and told the congregation that if we call upon the name of Jesus as the only One who saves than we too are in this Hall of Faith. Our level of faith might change depending on our circumstances but as long as we have it than we too are considered Hall worthy. Jesus said it takes the faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains right?

How is your faith doing? Are you suffering for your faith? Do you know anyone that is? Who is in your “Hall of Faith”? What does their walk look like that enables them to be enshrined in this great Hall? Do you suppose you might be in somebody else’s Hall of Faith without knowing it?

My faith waxes and wanes according to whatever is going on in my life but I never lose it. I have always had my faith in Jesus Christ to hold on to even in the most difficult of circumstances. I think this is part of human nature and God expects that. God doesn’t shoo away our doubts or questions. He welcomes them. He loves us and loves lavishing His love on us. Go to Him in faith right now with whatever you are going through. He will answer you.

Remember verse 34 when it says, “Their weakness was turned to strength”. Go to God with your weakness and watch what He can do with it.

Have faith.

God bless.

ATTENTION: Jesus is coming back next Tuesday!!

DISCLAIMER: Just in case you cannot read the sarcasm in the title of today's post........I AM BEING SARCASTIC!!I am not a prophet and I am not saying when Jesus is coming back. I know Jesus tells us we can't predict this awesome event. Enough said.....let's move on.

In my last post I asked the question, "If you knew that Jesus was coming back today or tomorrow, how would your decisions and actions change?".

I also wrote, "We can only guess as to when Jesus is actually coming back but WHAT IF he was coming back today? WHAT IF you knew the exact date and time of His return? Jesus specifically tells us that we can’t predict the day or hour of His return in Matthew 24:36 and again in Acts 1:7. Only God knows and in His good time it will all come to pass."

I have been giving a lot of thought to this topic recently. I actually had to write a narrative essay on a topic of my choice for school and this is the topic I chose. As I told my narrative some of my thoughts began to change and become clearer. Initially I said that yes, my decisions and actions would change if I knew Jesus was coming back next Tuesday. The more I thought about it though and the more I argued my case, the more Jesus spoke to me.

I always wondered why Jesus doesn't just tell us when He is coming back. I always wondered why He speaks in a "still, small voice" instead of a loud clap of thunder. Why is He so vague sometimes? Why doesn't He just make Himself known in a way that is undeniable? It sure would make things a lot easier on me.

If I knew Jesus was coming back next Tuesday I might be more careful in how I spoke but would my actions change for the better? Would I bother with being faithful "in the little things" like paying my mortgage or cleaning up my back yard if I knew after next Tuesday it wouldn't matter? Would I show love or kindness to a stranger knowing that next Tuesday I would probably never see that person again? Would I mourn, would I be hungry or thirsty, would I be humble, would I show mercy, would I allow myself to persecuted?

Would I be the child of God that He wants me to be or would I be some pious, self-righteous know it all just looking for the validation that is to be mine next Tuesday? Would I worship Jesus or would I worship Tuesday the 13th of October?

There is a reason why Jesus is the way He is. Ours is not always to understand it but to accept it on faith and be obedient. Remember; trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

Have a great day and God bless you.

Change in Seasons

Luke 12:40
“You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

I was reading a devotional this morning and was convicted to write about it. We will get back to the issue on finances later.

*Have you ever thought about the idea that we could be living in the last days? What kind of impact does this kind of thinking have on your daily routine?

*If you knew that Jesus was coming back today or tomorrow, how would your decisions and actions change?

We can only guess as to when Jesus is actually coming back but WHAT IF he was coming back today? WHAT IF you knew the exact date and time of His return? Jesus specifically tells us that we can’t predict the day or hour of His return in Matthew 24:36 and again in Acts 1:7. Only God knows and in His good time it will all come to pass.

Even though we don’t know the exact date and time of Jesus’ return, He does give us some things to watch for. All throughout the NT the various authors were given things to write about the last days and the Lord’s return through divine intervention. In II Peter 3 we are reminded about all the things that will happen before that great and wonderful day occurs. We may get impatient but Peter tells us in verses 8 and 9 that God’s timing is different than ours and He has a plan. Peter tells us that before the Lord’s return we should focus on meditating on God’s Word (vv. 1-2). He warns us that we will be mocked by scoffers that reject both creation and Jesus’ second coming (vv. 3-7). He also tells us plainly that even though there are numerous warnings found in Scripture concerning the end of days, it will come as a surprise (v. 10).

In II Timothy 3:1-5, Paul tells us that during the last days wickedness will be more common than good. Sin will run rampant and we will see it evident in behaviors like:
• love of self
• worship of money
• disobedience to parents
• ingratitude
• unforgiveness
• abusive attitude
• lack of self-control
• inclination for ones own pleasure rather than God

I write this not to in any way try to predict that we are in the last days. I write this because I am convicted of the things I see all around me and in my own life and walk with Christ. Praise God that He has been chipping away at these areas in my own life. He has thrown me into His refining fire and although it has been painful at times I am grateful that He loves me so much that He will not allow me to stay stuck in my junk. I have a long way to go with some of these topics (unforgiveness, lack of self-control) but God is faithful and I believe that He will finish the work He has begun in my life and my walk.

How about you? Do you see these things around you? Do you see these traits in the workplace or in your home? How about in your church? We have a lot of work to do my brother and sisters. Jesus commands us to:
• love God and others (Mark 12:28-31)
• share the Good News (Matthew 28:19-20)
• live by the Spirit’s power (Galatians 5:22-23)
• keep watch (Matthew 24:36-51)
• Be ready (Matthew 25:1-13)

I pray that we are all ready and prepared in the last days for the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!

God bless and have a great day.