September,
2002
"Jesus,
Now or Never, Forever"
I am still in the process of contemplating “eternity”
and all the implications thereof, (Imagine that, I haven’t
figured it all out yet!) and so I just reread the April Love Letter
and Love Lesson in which I talked about eternal life. The whole
issue of the finality of this life and the choices we make affecting
our “forever” is just mind-boggling to me. Do you
feel that way, too? (You can access the April issues by going
to the archive section.)
Thinking along these lines also fills me with a sense of urgency
to share the love of God through Jesus Christ. The day will come
in all of our lives that we will be through making choices and
will have to spend eternity with the consequences of them. That
is a somewhat scary thought. I want to be able to hear my Father
say, “Well done, now enter into the peace, joy and rest
that has been prepared for you.” And I do not want to be
responsible for anyone else hearing those awful words from God,
“Depart from Me, I never knew you, you evil doers.”
(Matthew 25:22-24, Matthew 7:23)
So I ask myself, “Where is my focus? How do I spend (waste)
my time? Am I storing up for myself treasures I heaven, or is
everything I do going to burn up in the fire of testing?”
Not too long ago, I was thinking through some of these issues
as I sat in an auto glass repair shop waiting for my windshield
to be replaced. It, of course, took longer than planned. So I
went to lunch with a friend, but that wasn’t long enough
to complete the work. I even had brought some articles to read
“just in case” the timing was off. But after I finished
those, I sat there trying to be patient (I think if you have to
try you aren’t doing a very good job of it!) So, I talked
on my cell phone, catching up on all the calls I had to make –
until my battery went dead. Hmmmmm….still waiting.
Then I began to get a bit convicted about my grumbling time and
realized that it was certainly “wasted time” and decided
to spend the time for better use…so I started to write this
Love Lesson. The idea of “forever” kept coming to
me – it was as if I was waiting forever for my car. And
then when it was finally finished, the guy behind the counter
handed me my paper work and said it was warranted “forever.”
I thought – hmmmmm…okay, God is trying to speak to
me here about this whole concept of eternity.
Obviously my car is not going to last forever…and neither
am I, not in this body, anyway – praise the Lord!!! But
the me that is really me – my soul, mind, emotions and spirit
are going to be around forever. Yours, too!
As we come upon the anniversary of remembrance of the terrorist
attacks on our nation, and of the lives that were lost and given
on September 11, 2001, I believe the Lord is going to be speaking
loudly and clearly to all who have ears to hear – He will
be saying -- Look at the brevity of life -- The tenuous nature
of your existence -- The unknown factor that each of you walk
in moment by moment -- will it be your last?
Only the Lord knows…
Since I wrote the April Love Lesson, I have lost both my father-in-law
and my uncle. They have passed into eternity. I believe that each
was ready to go and be with the Lord, because each had made their
peace with God before they passed onto the next life. That is
the key – before they died they had to make the decision.
It says in Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed to man once to
die and then the judgment…” So you see, there is no
second chance, no reincarnation, no transcending to higher and
higher planes of spirituality….there is Jesus, now or never,
forever.
This study of time and eternity has been quite fascinating to
me. Eternity is not having forever amounts of time – it
is living outside of time. God is outside of time so for Him,
everything happens simultaneously. For you and me, who live in
time, everything is a sequence of events. Only God knows the end
from the beginning. To help you with this concept, try to picture
a toy train going around a track. You and I are on the train.
God is overlooking it and so He can see where the train has been
and where it is going.
Isaiah 46:10 proves God’s eternity. You see He says that
He makes known the end from the beginning. That is what prophecy
is, the word of God making known something that is to come and
which is unknown at the time. God’s message to us is authenticated
by letting us know the end from the beginning. It predicts the
future. He writes history in advance. Chuck Missler of Koinonia
House (www.khouse.org) has some very interesting things to say
about the subject. I highly recommend his web site to you. He
is a gifted Biblical scholar and student of end times prophecy.
Well, all of this is just so many facts and bits of useless information
unless it causes you to stop and think about your own future in
eternity. Yes, we live in time right now, but our eternity is
just around the corner. Where will you spend eternity? With the
Lord God, Our Father and His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ? Or
in the Lake of Fire with all of the fallen angels and with Satan
and all of those who refused to believe and receive the glorious
work of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross, took your sins,
was buried, and rose again on the third day?
Won’t you respond to the message of the love of God right
now? Pray this prayer:
“God, I want to know You. I want to live forever with You.
I need Your eternal life. I have nothing to give you but my sins.
I confess that I am a sinner and I know that I cannot come into
the presence of a Holy God the way I am. But I also believe that
Jesus Christ paid the penalty for my sins, so that if I receive
Him as My Lord and Savior, I will receive eternal life. I know
that His blood that He shed on the Cross washed away all of my
sins. And that I am now cleansed and pure and I can come into
Your presence. I choose to do this now. I choose life. I choose
You, Lord. I choose Your way. I ask You to help me to know You
and love You and serve You. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and
give me the power to live for You. I turn from my sins and from
doing things my way and I give You my life and my everything.
Amen”
May you be blessed with the peace of God as you pray this prayer
– and welcome to the family!!!
Why not share this with someone you love and help them to know
our wonderful living God and Father.
L.O.V.E.,
Patty
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