Eternity is a Long Time

  One of the guys I mentor who is in prison is trying to reconcile to the memory of his Dad who did not treat him well. When I responded to him, I felt some others needed to read what I wrote so I am sharing the basic parts of my note with you. ----------------------------------------------------- I wanted to respond to your last note where you talked about reconciliation so eloquently. I'm sure you can appreciate why God takes on the persona of a father throughout the Bible as a way to relate to us. Just look at what you said the similarities are between you and God and you and your earthly Dad. Reconciliation is the key. God reconciled to us by Jesus's death on the cross. We reconcile to Him by dying to ourselves and receiving the free gift of salvation by faith. That's not as easy as it sounds, of course, but it's the essential truth. But what about your earthly Dad? Of course, God is perfect and your earthly Dad, like every earthly Dad, is far from perfect. Often, e

  The Book of Zechariah, in the Old Testament, beautifully shows the First and Second Coming of Jesus. In a passage many will remember from the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem it states: “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ” Zechariah 9:9 (NASB) Jesus, the Lamb of God, meekly entering Jerusalem. Jesus, our salvation, comes humbly to do His Father’s will. The next verse is also striking: “ As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. ” Zechariah 9:10 (NASB) It is only through the blood of Jesus that we are cleansed for our sins and have the promise of everlasting life with Him forever. We who believe, are indeed prisoners set free from a waterless pit. Then, just a few verses later, we get to see a