Eternity is a Long Time

  One of the more shocking stories in the New Testament is about the deaths of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira as told in Acts 5:1-11 . The couple lied to the Apostles, and God, about the money they were giving. They claimed to be giving all proceeds from the sale of their property but they kept some back for themselves. For this act both of them were struck dead after being confronted with their misdeed. They did not even give any defense of their action that is recorded. Now contrast this with what happens to a man called Simon who was a person performing amazing abilities in Samaria as depicted in Acts 8:4-25 . Many Bible translations say that Simon was a sorcerer but the Greek word here seems to indicate more someone who is impressing his audience with greater knowledge and technology rather than someone dealing in the occult. Be that as it may, Simon believed in Jesus but had not received the Holy Spirit. When Peter and John arrived (v14) and started laying hands on people, Simon s

  Every believer should desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The above statement is fraught with doctrinal issues as many people look at the Holy Spirit in different ways. Let us tread into these turbulent waters focusing on scripture and allowing scripture to interpret scripture. Too often I hear about how people were moved to do some rather unusual things "by the spirit". While I will try never to put God in a box by restricting Him as to what I think He can do, it is important to understand that God will only do what it is in His nature to do. For example, can God tempt us to sin? After all, He is all powerful. No! It is stated categorically that God does not tempt anyone ( James 1:13-15 ). It is not in His nature to do so.  What is the nature of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity? I believe the best summation comes from 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. Paul explains the manife

  Ever wonder why those who denounce and denigrate God seem to prosper? You're not alone. Malachi in the 4th century BC wrote of the same frustration. Listen to how God answers this concern: "Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." (Malachi 3:16-18 NIV) The "day when I act" is when Jesus comes again to collect His people, bring them to the mansions He has prepared in Heaven (John 14:1-7) and those left behind are killed and left for the birds (Rev 19:11-21). God is perfect love yet God is also the perfect jud

  In the first chapter of John there is this exchange between the Apostle Andrew, one other disciple and Jesus: And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”   He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” (John 1:38-39 NASB) What an odd response to Jesus's question - or at least it is to our Western ears. Should not this first recorded question to Jesus have been a bit deeper? Perhaps something along the lines of, "Are you the Messiah we have been searching for?" or "When will Israel be redeemed and throw off Roman control?"   No, instead it is a question about where Jesus lives.  As Ravi Zacharias points out in his book "Jesus Among Other Gods", we have to remember the culture of Israel is Eastern not Western. Eastern culture puts far more emphasis on the group you are associated with than the individual.  We, in the West, look at the indi

  Can a person truly change from who they once were to a different individual? This is not a change in work habits, weight loss or being more punctual. This is a deep and profound change of heart. A drunkard, a liar, a philanderer, a cheat, an addict, a reprobate, a murderer, a child molester — can their hearts change to the point that they are no longer even tempted with those evils anymore? True change is not controlling the desires that are bad, it is no longer having those desires; as if the desires were never there at all. The cynic and the skeptic dismiss this thought immediately. For them it is easier to deny that anything could change than to face up to the fact they may have big problems that need fixing. The doubter might say that some people might be able to change but certainly not them. There are countless stories of people who underwent this radical change over the centuries. In the 4th century Augustine was a complete reprobate but changed to be a leader in the church an

Our God is awesome in the truest sense of the word. So many people try to put limits on God in order to attempt to better understand Him. Instead, they wind up diminishing His greatness. By trying to explain Him in terms we all can understand and relate to, we miss out on how wonderful He really is and the plan He has for all of us. In order to attempt to show the wonder of God, try this. You are outside on a clear day. In your mind’s eye take a step back from yourself and imagine you see things from beyond your limited vantage point. If you can envision yourself seeing all around you at once you are off to a good start. Now look at the objects that are being blocked by other objects and describe them perfectly. At the same time, know what is happening beneath your feet. “See” every worm and grub, and know the soils’ exact chemical composition — every square inch. Are you still with me? Now, describe exactly what your closest friend is doing, what and who are near your friend and how m

I love my God.  I didn't for my first 40 years. Oh, I loved Him a little bit - every now and then. During those few times when I did, I would bring Him out of the box where I kept Him on the shelf, enjoy His love for a time and then put Him back on the shelf. After all, I was in charge and could take care of myself. What a foolish person I was. On July 22, 2002, God made it abundantly clear to me that I needed Him and gave me the opportunity to follow Him. I did and my life has never been the same since . What I didn't appreciate at the time was the fact that God loved me so much - FIRST! He loved me before I loved Him.  Indeed, He loved me before I was even born. He has loved me since eternity past. And He loves you the same way!! Please, have a conversation with God. Talk to Him. Listen to Him. Let Him envelope you and take all those burdens away.  You'll be so glad you did!

What am I supposed to do with my life? What job should I be doing? Am I doing the right thing for my family, friends and me? These are all questions we have or have had throughout our lives. Sometimes we feel we have the answers, but most times those answers are elusive. We tend to try to do things first our way. Why not? We know ourselves better than anyone else does and we should be able to figure everything out. As most of us have found, that does not work so well over the long haul. As we become wiser, we look to others to give us hints or detailed advice. This can come from conversations with family, friends and associates or from lectures, books and videos. Some of that advice is excellent and some of it is terrible. The problem is, how do you know what is exactly right for you? Who can you talk to who knows you so well their advice is never wrong for you and is perfect for the future? How about God? He not only wrote a book; He also wants you to converse with Him. On top

Why did Jesus compare us to plain old salt ("You are the salt of the earth" Matthew 5:13)? Well, not that long ago in history people used to be paid in salt because it was so valuable. It purifies, preserves, adds flavor and people crave it. The same thing is true of the Christian who brings the word of God to others. But Christians are not to gather in one spot and stay only with each other. We are to go out and let our light shine and our salt mingle among everyone. But Jesus also said that if you lose your saltiness you are no longer useful. The rest of His quote from Matthew 5:13 is "But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men." We all can be less salty at times and some of us can run out of salt - so what are we supposed to do? As the Ugandan preacher I heard in Iraq said - you go back to the Word and get re-salted. We must always renew our reliance on Je

  The war Satan has waged on God is over but the final battles have yet to be fought. We must continue to stand and wear all the Armor of God. Only following the Captain of the Lord's Armies, Jesus, will we be on the right path through the trials and tribulations of the Last Days.

One thing people forget is God does not look at us the way we look at each other. He looks at everyone's heart. Your heart, my heart, everyone's heart is red regardless of the color of our skin.  Is your heart soft with love for our Savior or hard?  That's the eternal question everyone has to answer.

I was thinking today that we need more of God in our world. Then I stopped and realized how wrong I was to say this. Not that we don't need God - we most definitely do. But we can't have "more of God" since He is the great I Am. He is ever-present - omnipresent. There can't be "more" of Him. What there can be is more appreciation of Him and more love for Him. The more we love Him and reflect His love for us the more we will feel His presence in our world. Without this appreciation and reflection - our world becomes a very cold and dark place. That's why John writes in Revelation 21:23 regarding the New Jerusalem: "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." I am so looking forward to seeing this.

  When we forget that God is the beginning and the end - or the Alpha and Omega as Jesus says of Himself in Revelation - we miss out on so much. Embracing God does not mean we lose ourselves. Au contraire - it means we find ourselves in a way that is impossible any other way. We were created by Him. We find our deepest meaning in Him. To miss this truth is to miss life. To miss this truth is to miss eternity with Him. The result of missing this truth is a horrible end.

Oh, for a peak into eternity. To see the heavenly hosts who are around us yet not visible. My late mother-in-law told my wife about the angels just before she died. She said they were very nice angels and she wasn't afraid of them at all. My wife regrets not asking more questions about what they looked like and what they were doing. She just wanted to make sure her Mom was comforted - which she was. Angels are around us all the time - both good ones and evil. The more we lean on Jesus, the more the evil angels (devils or demons) are forced to stay away. However, if we indulge in sin, they are right there encouraging us.

God's timing is always perfect for us. Unfortunately, so many of us are too anxious and too self-centered to realize that He sees the entire picture and knows every possible outcome from every possible action.  We, on the other hand, just have our narrow, imperfect view of things filtered through our illogical, irrational, emotional brains. We simply don't want to trust His timing. When you truly absorb the above truths, you appreciate God's longsuffering nature with us.  When we get to eternity and we are able to look back at our lives we will see that when we let God handle it, great things happened that we were never aware of. However, when we tried to "help" God by doing things by ourselves on our timetable we actually made things worse.  For Biblical references of this you just have to look at Abraham and Sarah. They thought it was a great idea to have Abraham have relations with Sarah's handmaiden, Hagar, in order to "help" God get them an heir

 When life's road hits some rough spots, when the going gets a bit tough, we are tempted to try and transact business with God. We try and bargain with the Creator to get what we want. We might say things like: "God, if you'll get me out of this situation, I'll read my Bible every day!" or "God, if you'll open this door of opportunity for me, I'll never cuss again." Really? Do we really think we can get God to do things for us this superficially?  Yes, we do think this way. I know I do - at least for a few seconds before I figuratively slap myself in the head and get my act together. This doesn't mean there haven't been many who fervently prayed for something and included a commitment on their part to act better in relation to God. The difference is the depth of our relationship with him. God wants us to seek Him with our whole heart, not trying to make bargains we know we won't keep. However, if we do seek Him with all of our heart t

When a separated husband and wife get back together; when a father and son start speaking to each other after years of silence; when old pals who fought over a long forgotten issue renew their bonds of friendship it is a beautiful thing indeed. It is reconciliation — and it is exactly what Jesus wants with each of you. You have ignored Him, fought Him and insulted Him by doing what is wrong and not doing what is right in your life — and there are no amount of good deeds that you can do to make up for the sins you have committed. Yet Jesus loves you so much that He took all those bad and terrible things that you have done and paid the ultimate price for them. By dying on that cross for you He took your punishment — for the wages of sin is death; eternal death. By whole-hearted faith in the Son of God you can partake in His sacrifice for you and in His triumph of defeating death with His resurrection. You can be reconciled to God and, ultimately, be with Jesus forever. Without that faith