Forever

Hello again everyone!

I give all praises and honour to my Lord and Saviour for being so merciful towards me and affording me the ability to express my thoughts and feelings in written form.  I have been away for some time and now that I have lifted my figurative pen again to allow the metaphorical ink to drag across the proverbial page, I can do nothing but say Thank You Jesus.  But before I get into my main thought, let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I thank You for your mercy and your grace.  Cleanse my mind and my heart so that whatever is written here will be pure and done to Your glory.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

As I took time to think about how long eternity could be, my mind began to ponder the word “Forever”.  While growing up, I was always taught that forever did not have a limit and therefore, it meant that it would continue on into eternity.  When people say that they will love someone forever, one cannot help but feel warm inside because to one’s understanding, they have just professed love for an eternity.  The fact that eternity doesn’t have a limit and continues infinitely is not up for discussion.  But the word “forever” has been placed in that same group of words that mean “never ending” when really, it is not merited.  As a result, many people think that people will “forever” be toiling in the pits of “hell” (that gave me the chills just typing it).  Hell has become a literal place simply because of the misunderstanding of the meaning of “forever”.

Forever cannot stand on its own.  Let’s take the word “whenever”.  When you ask someone when you are going to see them again and they respond “whenever”, does this give you a glimpse of the infinite opportunities you will have to see them or does it make you feel that they have control over when you will see them again?  For, wouldn’t the full response usually be “whenever I can find time” or “whenever I get the chance”?  Forever is a word just like whenever. The only difference is that a human being cannot finish a thought that begins with “forever”. Only God can finish that thought.  This is why forever seems as if it can go on infinitely by itself.  This is why people feel as though “burning in hellfire forever” means that hell is an eternal place.  This is the wrong way to think.

Forever is, in a sense, God’s “whenever”.  He uses the word in many texts.  Let’s take Exodus 15:18 for example.

“The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”

Anyone would read that and think to themselves” that must mean He claims He will rule for eternity.”  There is nothing criminal about that wave of thinking since we have all been led to think forever means “for eternity”.  But a more accurate definition of this statement would be that the LORD claims that He will rule for as long as He wishes to rule.  Just as control of the word “whenever” is in the hands of the person who says it, control of word “forever” is in the hands of God.   Only He can tell us when “forever” will end.

Now getting back to the topic of “hell”, one can approach it using the same thinking.  Let’s take Revelation 20:10 for example.  It talks about the devil being thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone and being tormented forever and ever.  This does not mean that Satan will live in hell for all eternity, nor does it mean that all those who will reject Christ will live in hell for all eternity.  If this were true, then the gift of everlasting life for all those who believe in Christ which was promised to us in John 3:16 would be null and void. It simply means that the devil and all of his angels and all those who reject Christ will be cast into the fire that burns forever, which is for as long as God sees fit.  In other words, it will burn only until every trace of sin has been destroyed.

Forever has a time period that only the Lord can measure.  All I can say is that I pray that we can all be with Him forever.  Because I know that based on the love our Father has for us, this “forever” will be a very long time.

Till next thought everyone! God bless.

An Undeserving Infant

Hello again everyone. I will take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Sabbath and to thank the Lord for His continued blessings. Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I thank You for being You. Cleanse us of all unrighteousness and purify my thoughts as I write. In Jesus’ name I pray…Amen.
   
For one to claim that one has never done anything wrong would perhaps be true from certain human perspectives. However from God’s perspective, that would be a lie. Think of all the times we have lied or envied someone or harboured inapropriate thoughts. These things are not hidden from God’s eyes.  Now given all of that, we continue to live and breathe air that the Lord has graciously lent to us. Again, given this fact, it is evident that whatever God puts in place, humans are not able to alter or change no matter what we do. 

Have you ever felt that you had eliminated a blessing because of a wreckless or unthoughtful action?  Well I am not here to give any reasons for this but Allow me to suggest this:  Perhaps as a result of our evil deeds, we have missed out on certain opportunities. However, if we trust in God and His promises, we know that no matter what we do, we can Always go to Jesus to apologize and ask for His help.  Consider the fact that action against God is worthy of death. We would all have perished a long, long, long time ago if we had not been blessed during our sinful actions. Remember that Christ died for us while we were sinners (Romans 5:8). If it was in Christ’s character to die for us even though we were doers of evil, wouldn’t it be in God’s character to desire to bless us no matter what we do, and even more if we have faith in Him? Experiences have shown me that the Lord is blessing us twofold in spite of every one of our sins.

I would love to hear your comments on this one so feel free to comment.

Till next thought everyone.

This is my Worship.

Happy Sabbath to all the believers out there.  I just felt impressed to express my worship in written form because God is a personal God and would love nothing more than to see His children worship Him with whatever they possess. So here it goes…

Lord, this is my worship

My thoughts of You are manifested in my mind By You,

In Whom’s mind I was manifested.

I manifest thoughts of glory and mercy,

which cause tears to manifest to the eye

Even more so when You remind me that I am the apple of yours.

This is my Worship.

I could sing praises or command my hands or feet to praise You,

but that would not be my Worship. So I allow…pardon me Lord…You allow words to manifest on this page and fill each word with my sorrows that You have already triumphed over and turned them into Your and my victory speech. 

This is my Worship.

From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, to the falling of the rain until my troubles do the same, You are my Father and You rock my psyche to sleep amidst the storm and whisper in my ear “All Is Well”.

This Is my Worship…

Not yours because you don’t wear my size 12 shoes and walk in them…but I will gladly lend them to you and invite you to walk with my Dad in them too. He walks with me and He talks with me along the boulevards of my life and puts His right hand up to shield me from the weather.

This is my worship.

I could talk from now till eternity and He would still listen to me attentively…as if He hasn’t heard my rantings even before I opened my eyes for the first time. My gratitude knows no bounds and neither does His for the special place He has in my heart. Perhaps this is out-of-order to you or even aesthetically unpleasing but must I remind you…

THIS IS MY WORSHIP.

Funny thing when you think you own something only to find out later on that you never really owned it in the first place. So let me just humble myself in front of the Great I am and say…

LORD…THIS IS YOUR WORSHIP.

May the words of this page and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Oh Lord my strength and my Redeemer…Amen.

Infantile Analogies for my Father

Hello again everyone.  I am feeling so blessed today that I feel like proclaiming it to the whole world!! But as you know, I will never begin a post without first asking for God’s anointing. Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I thank You for the precious gift of life.  Thank You for clothing me in my right mind to be able to express my gratitude to You. Let everything that is written be acceptable in Your sight. In Jesus name I pray…Amen.

After a rough week and a half, I feel as though I need to let everyone know that there is no problem too big or complicated for God. Whenever it seemed as though there was no resolution, God always made something out of nothing.  He is the only one that I know who can physically hold nothing in the palm of His hand and mold it into whatever He pleases. So with all that being said, I wanted to give you ten analogies in regards to who God is to me.

1.  He is  the long distance call that doesn’t cost me a cent.

2.  He is the only electrical power source that continues to work in the midst of a blackout.

3.  He is the friend I ask to help me move that shows up with no moving van and says that everything I have is as light as a feather.

4.  He is the parent that I run to when I’ve been wounded who tells me that everything will be ok.

5.  He is the Author of a book that He has already read.

6.  He is the cup of cold water after a long race that tastes so sweet regardless of the fact that there was no sugar added.

7.  He is the Coach that lets me call the plays even though He knows which plays will work best. This leads me to…

8. He is the only Coach that knows the outcome of EVERY SINGLE GAME PLAYED, IN PROGRESS, AND YET TO BE PLAYED.

9.  He is Psalm 46:1-11.

10.  He is the ray of sunshine that breaks through the clouds to shine on us collectively and individually to tell us “Hey, it’s still sunny up here”

Philippians 1:21.  Thank You Jesus.

Till next thought everyone.

Christians on Jeopardy

Hello again everyone.  I hope that all of you have been blessed and are blessed.  I must say that I have seen a lot of things since last post that made me, excuse the cliché, scratch my head.  But before we get into that, let’s us ask for God’s anointing on this post. Let us pray:

Heavenly Father I thank You for Your mercy and Your grace. Thank you for sparing our life’s though we are undeserving.  Allow this blog to flow with Your purity and Your Love. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

  I don’t have to ask anyone to find out if God is personal. I don’t have to wonder whether or not God seeks to have a relationship with me and every other human on the planet because I know He does.  As well, there is no question that the Word which we have been given to read and soak up is important to every Christian. That being said, I just felt the need to speak on this concept of Christians behaving as if Christian life is nothing but a game of “Religious Jeopardy”.

As I stated before, I would never underestimate the importance of having a strong comprehension of the bible and a touch for where and when everything took place.  How can we know what God said if we don’t study His word right?  But a lot of Christians allow their knowledge of the bible to be their claim to Christianity and begin to feel that since they know the bible more than others, it makes them more Christian than others.  Going by this stream of reasoning, it would be safe to say that you can study your way into heaven right? 

Now I don’t know where every single passage of the bible is located.  I am not the best source out there when it comes to knowing all of the descendants of Adam and Eve in order. But that does not make me any less of a Christian than someone who does.  Anyone can pick up a book and read it and know exactly which word comes after the last one. What matters is what is done with what has just been read. 

It’s sad to see that a lot of Christians choose to take what they find in the word to seek glory from their fellow man rather than to give God glory.  The way to recognize these particular people is by the way they spout bible texts at one another in order to discredit their fellow man rather than to lift them up.  It will appear as if they are on an episode of Jeopardy seeking for a mediator to tell them that they are correct and to add a tangible value to their “level of faith”.  The fact is that they are no closer to Heaven than anyone else. 

There are no levels of Christianity. Once one accepts the fact that Jesus loves them and that He came to die for our sins, that person is a Christian. Period.  Having knowledge of the bible simply means that one knows OF Jesus and OF his Father.  The relationship is gained through talking with Him and praying to Him and giving Him glory. That gives a person the right to say that they know Him and that He knows them.  How can God say that He knows someone if they have never once put what they studied and known so well into action? He only knows of that person.  Knowledge is useless without action.

It’s not enough to know of Christ because one cannot be saved simply by reading His word and comprehending it.  It is by knowing that you cannot rack up “points” towards a free pass into heaven like racking points up on a trivia game show.  It is by talking with the Author to get deeper insight on what you just read.  It is by putting aside our own egos to pick up humility.  It is by sharing the knowledge with others so that they may get a taste of The Living Water to see that it is indeed good.  It is by Knowing Christ and knowing that He died for us INSPITE OF ourselves because He loves all of us. 

Closing Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for being so personal.  Thank you for loving us even though we don’t deserve your love. Help us to accept Your love and to share it with everyone we come in contact with.  Cleanse us of all unrighteousness. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Till next thought everyone!

I Am What You Say I Am

 

    Hello again everyone.  As an infant, there are times when I tend to be lulled to sleep by the distractions of the world and of life in general.  Thank God that I am still living and breathing. As well, I thank Him for allowing me to return to the ministry of writing that He has given me.  Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I thank You for sparing my life and for being here every second to greet me and bless me. I ask You to allow whatever is written to be acceptable in Your sight. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

    Now, I always said to myself that I wouldn’t bore my readers with my own personal life, but on second thought, testimony is a huge aspect of the Christian life. With that being said, please bear with me.  I have been struggling with some issues during my absence from this blog.  It was as if I was going through the motions of life and allowing the winds of my different trials to carry me in every which direction.  Days would come and I would say to myself that God is in control and that I am His child.  However, there would be that other voice telling me that I am only human and that I am small and weak and insignificant.  I am sure that as we are all humans, we have all heard that voice.  Can I suggest to you that from our perspective, this voice is right?  Now before you consider this an ”I give up on life” type of blog, allow me to elaborate.

    As a human, we are very limited in our perspective because we cannot stand outside of ourselves to see ourselves.  This is why often we rely on what other people think of us and what people we hold dear say about us.  The problem there is that in thinking we have gained a better perspective from another human being, we have only gained a different perspective, and a limited one at that.  This is not to say that we cannot receive good advice from our fellow man, but this is to say that their view of us is not the most important one.  Our view of ourselves is not the most important one either.

    Another thing that I noticed was that as I clung to my own perspective, I would make myself smaller than I really am. For example, when opportunities came I would second guess myself and tell myself that I am not able to meet requirements for that opportunity.  Again, as a limited infant, I have a limited perspective.  

    But God is good. That same week in the Sabbath School Quarterly, it focused on the book of Numbers and the story of Caleb. He was a background character in the Old Testament who was travelling with the Israelites, whom God had promised land that was then inhabited by giants.  Caleb and a few men had explored the land and found it to be good land.  It was “flowing with milk and honey” (num. 13:27) to be precise. However the other men, relying on their own perspective, said that they were grasshoppers in the sight of the giants and in their own sight. It was only Caleb that believed they were able to take the land. Why? Because he did not rely on his own limited view, He saw that God had promised them the land; therefore in God’s eyes he was much more than a grasshopper and even more than he could ever fathom.

    I say all of that to say this: God is the only one that can stand outside of time and see all of us for what we really are.  In our own eyes, yes we are weak and insignificant, but in the eyes of God, we are His children.  We are created in His image.  We are his most treasured possession. We are wonderfully and fearfully made.  We are more than Conquerors.  We are victorious through His Son Jesus. And primarily and most importantly, we are who God says we are.  A father tells his blind son to jump and the son replies “No Father, I cannot I see you”.  The father says “don’t worry Son I will catch you for I can see you.” This is the essence of who we truly are.

Closing prayer: Most Gracious and Heavenly Father, I thank you for being my refuge and strength.  I ask that You constantly remind us that we are great in your sight. Help us to stay faithful and know that You have already worked out all of our trials even before they come. Help us to depend solely on You.  Cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I Pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Till next thought everyone!

A mighty Fortress

Hello again everyone…I know it has been a while since I have last posted but Praise God that this infant is alive and still able to express his many many thoughts. I hope that all of you have been in good health and spirits. Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, I thank You for being everything that we could not be for ourselves. Continue to bless this blog and bless every one of us in everything that we do. Be with us always I ask in Jesus’ name…Amen.

I find it so amazing how God always seems to put you in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to receive the exact blessing that you need.  I say this to sing praises to my Father for placing me at prayer meeting, which is where I am composing this entry as we…uh…read. The topic was God’s word in Psalm 46:1-11. It goes as follows:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, th earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; The God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks bows and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. Be still, and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD Almighty is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

 Now,  My pastor made sure to point out that in the bible, there is nowhere that says there would not be trouble when we have God in our lives.  God assures us time and time again that He will be with us when troubles come.  I got to thinking and what I found is that troubles are a blessing within themselves because without troubles, there would not be a need for blessings, which are a show of God’s love.  No showing of God’s love means that there would not be love on earth.  I don’t know about you, but this infant is a child that definitely needs love.

Take note that in the first line it talks about the Lord being our ever-present help in trouble.  Ever present.  This means that the Lord is always in the present no matter what date or time in history it is. He stands outside of time and is presently watching the future in the past….if that makes any sense.  Simply put, He has already seen our troubles even before they come so He already knows how to deal with them.

We also spoke about the line where it speaks of the God of Jacob being our fortress. Now for those who don’t know the story of Jacob, he had a brother whom he betrayed and had left home to try to run away from his dirty deeds only to have to return to face his brother who was so angry, he had vowed to kill him.  There is nothing that spells trouble more than impending death. This is significant because agreeing that Jacob’s situation is probably one of the toughest spots to be in, God can still be our shield, our impenetrable wall, and our fortress in this situation. God purposely said that.

Perhaps the most crucial part of this text is the part which tells us to be still and to know that He is God. A lot of times we are faced with situations that we feel we can solve all on our own and we end up making it worse with our limited intelligence. Ever so often, God will allow things to happen that will stop us in our tracks and keep us from doing something that could have serious repercussions. This is sort of like God telling us to “simmer down and let me handle this.” So basically, our best bet is to relax when troubles come…because our Sovereign God, whom has never lost a battle, has things well under control.

Closing Prayer : Heavenly Father, thank You for constantly keeping watch over us. We thank You for being our fortress and our help when we are in trouble. Continue to be our inspiration, our example and our most gracious and merciful parent. In Jesus name I pray…Amen.

Till next thought everyone. God Bless.