We all have goals and ambitions like promotions, building a career,build family , have grandchildren, having our dream car or dream house, be financially stable, be popular, be with the love of our lives, travel around the world, build the biggest church, be the greatest musician,actors,actresses,athletes,etc,etc.Me ? one of my ambitions is to be a chess master or be a Christian chess master.
Today as I look at my chess study table, my chess sets, books,computers, notes, play station with chess programs,study aids, chess memory aids etc. somehow I asked when will I become a master ? Of course to be one I have to participate in chess tournaments which my present work schedule won't allow me. As I ponder these things, my thoughts brought me to the story of Simeon of Jerusalem as written in Luke 2:25-34. To paraphrase it was revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Maybe you are asking what is the point ? The point is I believe since that revelation Simeon's ambition is to see Christ and nothing else, because when he saw the baby Jesus he said in Luke 2:29-30 Lord,now you are letting Your servant to depart in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen Your salvation.
It seems to me Simeon did not want anything from this world. Maybe in these days this seems unusual, but I believe Simeon chose the right ambition to see Jesus not only in heaven but also in this world.
Perhaps most of us are wondering what is in store for us in 2009 . I am wondering too. Will the economy picked up again ?Will more people come to the Lord ? Will there be global change on how business is being run ? Will there be new discoveries ? or will there be a move against true belief in God ? Will the Rapture occur in 2009 ?
Rather than saddle ourselves with more questions, probably safer to focus on the promises of God. God said I will never leave you or forsake you. Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not pass away says God.
Rather than worrying or thinking about the future, probably safer to keep busy with the work of the Lord. Occupy till I come the Bible says.
I like to ask you too, what do you see ? Does God give you some revelation on what is to come ? From what I learned the Bible revealed much if not all of our future, and that any new revelation will have to line up with the Word of God the Holy Bible.
How much time do we spend with God ? Let us look at it through our daily life. I am an avid chess player and I learned that world champions like Fischer, Kasparov, Kramnik etc. spent most of their time and energy studying or polishing their game. Look at star athletes, they spend a lot of time practicing or planning their actions in their field. I learned that gamblers will bet everything they got even borrow or more. Even drug addicts will give everything they got to get them high.
If the examples above give almost their entire life on things that are temporal, how much time and energy will we spend with the God who created us, provided for us, saved us, etc ?
If we are to spend eternity with God, it seems logical to get to know Him more now by spending more or quality time with Him. Even our Lord Jesus spent whole nights praying and so are the heroes of the faith.
This morning it just occurred to me what the Bible left out. One is Paul's thorn in the flesh. But what the Bible left out most of all is the tremendous pain that our Lord has to endure to save us. We experienced or even experiencing pain in our life, but nothing even comes close what I believe our Lord went through. The stripes ( no mention of pain), the crown of thorn (again no mention of pain), the weight of the cross on the wounded and forced to move body, the nails on the hands and feet, the pain in the dying body. Perhaps what the Bible is telling us is pain to the Lord is not an issue as far as His showing His love for us. How can we reject such love ? How can we doubt Him sometimes ?
In John 21:25 , the Apostle John wrote " And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen
The baby that we remember this season was destined to experience the excruciating pain but take heart because He iscoming back victoriously, triumphantly, to rule and reign forevermore. Hallelujah !!! Praise the Lord !!!
I have been sharing with you for a while now but what about yourself. Are you sure you are going to heaven when you die ?Do you know if you are save by grace or by works ? Is Jesus the only Savior ? Is Jesus God or just a man ? Do you believe in the Holy Bible as the Word of God ? Is there a devil ? Does a Christian still sin? Have you asked yourself these questions ? Do you believe you could lose your salvation ?
If you are not sure you can answer these questions confidently,then I suggest you ask your pastors and ministers.
Dear friends settle them now while we still have time.
As days and weeks and months and years go by, as we live in this earth, as we live with ourselves and others, as we come to embrace our own religious beliefs or none at all, as we grow old, somewhere in time we will have to face our Maker and we will have to give an account on things done in our body and what we did with what were entrusted to us. That is a sobering thought but I believe something we have to prepare for.
How do I plead ? I plead guilty plain and simple. Let me quote Matthew 5:25 " Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
God is not our adversary but He is our Judge. Ah but He is also our Savior. In conclusion I plead the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins and for the regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
Through God's mercy and grace, I can face tomorrow I believe I pass from judgment to light.
In my life here in US since 1980 I don't recall situation like the one we have now. Seems like the world is in for a major restructuring hopefully for the better. My human eye tells me the world's economy is in need of repair or is shrinking. I looked at the news and observe the things around me and I feel I have to brace myself for what is to come. Misplaced morality and atheism etc. seems to be on the rise.
But the human eye is not the only ones we got, God also gave us eyes of faith. Because the Bible tells us to walk by faith, I believe we can face tomorrow.
As my friend usually say " We shall see". I say preferably with the eyes of faith.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation.Neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)
Someday
They shall not hurt or destroy in all God's holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6)
Someday
No more shall shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying 'Know the Lord for they shall know Me from the least of them to the greatest of them,says the Lord. For God will forgive our iniquity, and our sin He will remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)
But before someday we have today, wherein today is the day of salvation. Today is the accepted time. Harden not your heart. (Hebrews 3:7,4;7)
If you have not accepted Jesus into your heart, now is the time.
Our Lord said in Matthew 6:33 " But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." We may ask what is the kingdom of God ? First the kingdom has the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as King. This kingdom is not of this world and has no end. This kingdom suffered violence according to the Bible. This kingdom is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.Jesus said it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Most Bible characters seek this kingdom and according to Hebrews 11 they sacrificed to receive this promise.Well to be honest I need help describing this kingdom, would anybody help me ? But by faith I yearn for this city , whose builder and maker is God.
Usually waiting is hard, we get impatient. But the Lord said through a parable Occupy till I come. Actually there are many things we could do. We could still find what are gifts and talents are and use them . We could help our church , our pastors, our priests, volunteer in a worthwhile organization. We could spread the gospel, minister to somebody, help the needy , through this website I felt I too can be used having been in my shell all these years. We could learn from each other, Bro. Ed from our church Lifestream Worship Center in Norwalk, Ca. reminded us Occupy till Jesus comes, I like the comment of Rev. Adam Larson in my previous blog " Is the Lord's return near ?" perhaps you could refer to it. We could also do what appears to be little things like encourage somebody etc. I believe the Lord will be pleased when He comes back and find us busy doing His work. There are still souls to be saved. Let us pray and look around and with the Holy Spirit helping us , together we can do it.
