Eternity

A man named Dane Ortlund has said that, "We are so used to a fallen world that sickness, disease, and pain seem natural. In fact, they are the interruption." Think on that for a moment. Really think on it. How true do we see that to be? Yes, we know that all these things entered into this world through sin. All of creation has suffered because of it. We realize that, but I think it is true that we have become very used to their presence. So used to them that we forget, too easily, that this was never meant to be. None of this was ever meant to be our lot. Scripture says that He placed eternity in our hearts. This is the longing within us for the existence we were created for, but our preoccupation with the things of this world has deadened that longing. Everything in this fallen and passing world seems more real, more permanent, than the wonders of eternity. Be honest. How much of your thinking focuses on the life to come as compared to the half-life we live in this realm? Someone said, and they said it about we who profess to be Christ's followers, that we know eternity is our destination, but we're not anxious to go there. That we almost have to be taken against our will. I'm at an age now where my thoughts are directed more and more towards His eternal Kingdom and the life I was created for. I think about the wonders that Jesus said our eyes and ears would not believe what we see and hear there. It is indescribable. Paul was taken up to heaven and could not even begin to tell what he saw. Isn't it tragic the amount of energy and time we spend focusing on a realm that we'll only be a part of for a breath, while the eternal home we say we're heading to is almost an afterthought? There's so much more to say, but I'll close with this question. Could it be that our hearts and minds are so far removed from His Kingdom reality that should we be taken into it and His Presence today, we'd be totally unprepared for it. We say that heaven is our home, but would it really feel like "home?" Would it feel much more like a foreign country? Today, many people like to talk about their investments. Our annuities, stocks, 401 K's. We can recite all the numbers for them. Where is our investment in eternity? We have eternal souls. One day, we'll all stand before Him. What we've given our life and heart to will be seen. What will we see, what will all see, when that day comes? Blessings, Pastor O

Stormriders

It's been said that sometimes all life seems to be is a series of storms and shipwrecks. They were referring to Paul's experience on his journey to Rome, where his ship encountered a fierce, days-long storm, and eventual shipwreck. Life can seem like that for all of us at one time or another. It's what we hear and what we believe in the storm that will make all the difference in how we get through...or even if we get through. Susie Larson writes that our storms reveal the lies we believe and the truth we need. It's our part to decide who and what we'll believe. In a sense, following Christ will make "Stormriders" out of all of us. Will we ride them in faith and trust, or in captivity to the lies we believe? In the midst of the fierce and destructive winds and waves that Paul's ship was facing, an angel of the Lord appeared to Paul and told him that though the ship would eventually be lost, Paul, and all aboard would be saved if they didn't try to abandon the ship. Larson writes, "We must bend an ear toward heaven, rather than listen to what hell has to say." Our dilemma as believers is that heaven speaks softly and less often than hell. Hell screams, threatens, and its voice is constant. Who do we bend our ears to as both speak to us in the storm? The enemy will be relentless. He will be loud, and his lies will attack us at our most vulnerable place. In our fears. We must decide that we will listen for and to the whispers of heaven over the shouts of hell. The wonderful mystery is that if we make the heart choice to do so, it will be His whispers that speak loudest to our hearts and minds. As the ship began to sink, the crew and soldiers on board made ready to leave the ship. That always seems the best choice to our flesh. Paul, in the power of his faith in Christ and His promise, convinced them to stay aboard. As a result, every one of the more than 200 souls on board were saved. Storms are everywhere these days. The need for experienced Stormriders is desperate. May you and I be found among them. May we be the ones who hear His promises and tell all those around us, as Paul did, that we believe that "it will happen just as He told us." The sailors and soldiers on board were depending on their ship to keep them alive. Paul depended upon His God. Storms are inevitable. We will either ride them or be drowned by them. It will all depend upon who we listen to. Will it be the liar, or the Voice of Truth? Blessings, Pastor O

Treasure

The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. Exodus 20:21 In my prayer journal I have a statement, the source of which I can't remember, but I do remember what it said. It read, "If you must go into the deep darkness, do not miss the treasure to be found there." We rarely, if ever, equate darkness with treasure. The fact is, we seek to stay as far away from any darkness as we can. Notice that it was Moses who entered into it. The people themselves stood apart from it all. At a distance. That is usually the position we want to take. Keeping darkness and the pain and unknown that goes with it is a very human response. Yet He does allow it into our life, and He calls us to come to Him in it. I don't know the depth of the darkness that you've experienced, but I know the depth of mine. Divorce, the loss of family, for a time of my ministry, as well as the very great darkness I've encountered through my years of serving Him. More in my own pain I sought out the "stories" of so many who have also entered into it, into situations far darker than anything I have encountered. In all of those times I discovered, as did these others, that there is great treasure to be mined there. Treasure that would never have been found in the light. Treasure that we discover to be none other than God Himself. I have found again and again that in my times of pain and loss, I can either run from it or run to Him. Running to Him in desperation. Yes, relief from the pain is sought, but what I find is that what I really gain in the desperate seeking is.....Christ the Lord. I lay hold of the treasure of a deeper knowledge of Him. Of a greater intimacy with Him. Of a deeper abiding in Him. These are the pearls, the jewels, the treasures that we find in the thick darkness. My flesh always seeks to keep its distance from the thick darkness, but the result of that will always be a deadening of my heart and spirit toward Him. He will seem more and more distant from me. I will feel so far away. We miss all that He has for us in the darkness. If He has allowed the darkness in your life, don't miss what He has for you in it. He offers the treasure of Himself there. He calls to your heart. He calls you from the distance you've allowed to develop in your heart, and back to the rich intimacy you may have allowed to fade. Let us dare to enter into whatever darkness He may have allowed, and mine the treasure He has for us. Blessings, Pastor O

Know

Be still and know that I am God Psalm 46:10 As I write this, I am aware of so many lives that are walking through deep pain, suffering, and need. In addition, we are living in the midst of social and political turmoil and upheaval. People are living in fear. Families are being ruptured and torn apart by divorce, by the rejection of children of their parents, or parents of their children. People are disaffected spiritually and live without hope. What we once thought of as solid rock has been exposed as sinking sand. Yet there is hope. Living hope, if we dare to believe it. I know many, many people who love the words of Psalm 46:10, yet too often, we only know it's truth as a theory, not a reality. Why? Because we find it so hard to be still, and because we live life all too often in a frenzy, we don't really know Him. Not as a reality, as an experience, as our Father. Scripture says that all things hold together in Christ, but if our knowledge of Him, of His power, sovereignty, and goodness is very limited, we struggle to believe it is so. We only see what seems to be falling apart, not the One who holds all that really matters together. This is why it is so crucial to develop the discipline of being still in and before Him. We cannot do this by sheer willpower alone. Our flesh is too weak. But if we call upon His grace, He will give us the strength to do so, and in that place of stillness, we will begin to see and know....that He is God. Where I'm walking today has required me to live out the truth of these words. Perhaps where you're living is doing the same. He knows how hard it is for our humanity to be still before Him. Call upon His name for the grace you need to do so. Life may appear to be chaos right now, but into the center of the storm He will come, and with Him will come His peace, presence, and power. He will not be a theory, but your reality. My reality. Let us be still. Let us know.....that He is God. Blessings, Pastor O

No One

As I write this, I am a man now 76 years old. I have a long and many faceted road of life experience already traveled. I have known incredible joy and devastating loss and grief. Somehow, I had the thought that this made me ready and able to deal with, in Him, whatever had yet to come my way. I was wrong. This past week I had to put my beloved cat of nearly 18 years down. I knew that each day was bringing that time nearer. I thought I would be ready. I wasn't. The emotional upheaval that I've experienced has shocked me. I didn't think it was possible. I am a man of deep emotion and feeling. I need to express my feelings, especially those feelings of pain and grief. I have been doing so with so many friends and family. I am blessed beyond words for their care and comfort. I am not worthy of all the love that has been shown to me. Yet in this, I discovered something more. I have often said that Jesus Christ needs to be the One we go to first in any and all need. I was only doing that in part. I was seeking comfort and healing in the words and assurances of people before I was seeking it in Him. I have confessed and repented of that. This weekend I have begun to seek Him out anew through the 91st Psalm, where I am seeking to live right now, as well as through so many scripturally based prayer for grief that I have found online. They are yielding a work of healing that is reaching far below just my emotions but into my very spirit. He is meeting me in my sorrow, and I can feel His presence and ministry upon my heart and mind. The pain remains, but He has come alive in the midst of it, and it is His touch of life and wholeness that I am feeling. I have learned once again that there is no one who ministers healing and life like Jesus Christ and His Word. Friends and counselors have a role to fill, but only the Lord has the power to transform ashes into beauty and mourning into joy. Something mystical and wonderful takes place when we pray in the power of His Word and the power of His promise. Our perspective changes and our spirit and heart is energized with His life. Yes, the pain and grief remain, but their power over us is broken. I know there will still be days when I feel deep;y the pain and sadness of my loss, but because of His presence, it will not cripple me emotionally or spiritually, so long as trust in Him, His Word, and His promises. I can't explain it, but I know it's true. May you, when your road leads you through the valley of the shadow of death, find that is true as well. No one understands, or loves, like Jesus. Blessings, Pastor O

Unmasked

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!" 2 Samuel 12:7 If you're not familiar with what is happening in this passage of Scripture, God had sent Nathan the prophet to confront David the king over his raping of the wife of Uriah the Hittite, her subsequent pregnancy as a result, and the murder of Uriah when David failed to get him to sleep with his wife and so cover up his sin and fathering of the child. Sent by God Himself, Nathan told David of a poor man greatly wronged by another who was far richer and more powerful than he, David was outraged and when Nathan asked him what should be done to the man who had wronged him, he said that he deserved to die. That's when Nathan declared that David himself was that man. These words pierced his heart. His sin had so hardened him as to make him blind to what he'd done. Nathan's confrontation broke him. Does it break you and me? In his writings, John Eldredge has called himself a "poser" in some areas of his faith walk. Meaning he is posing as something and someone that he's not. Paul Tripp asks the question, "What part of my life in Him is fake?" These are "in your face" questions. Do we dare to ponder them? Where are the areas in our relationship with Him where we're only "posing" as sincere followers of the King? Where are the areas where we're faking it? Where is the hypocrisy in our walk and in our profession of faith? We are so easily offended by those in our lives who, like the Pharisees, pose as righteous followers of God, but whose inner lives are very far from His heart. Thomas a Kempis said that we rarely weigh others on the same scale we use to measure ourselves. We so clearly see the wrong in another while being blind to the wrong within our own heart. Someone said that we are masters at self-deception. Where might we be deceiving ourselves as to what is really in our heart? Where do we need to be unmasked? Last night, in a worship gathering, I saw a crowd of people, myself among them, come forward at the preacher's invitation to receive a fresh outpouring of His grace and Spirit. He was among us powerfully, unmasking, cleansing, healing. Whatever "posers" were among us were posers no more. May it be so in each of us. In all of us. May we truly be the church, the glorious church, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Unmasked....and free. Blessings, Pastor O

Other Places

"Lord, if it's You," Peter replied, "tell me to come to You on the water." "Come" He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:28-29 Can you imagine what it must have felt like, seemed like to Peter when he stepped out of the boat upon Jesus' invitation and walked on the water? Total exhilaration, excitement, and wonder. We love those kinds of invitations from the Lord. Though Peter sank when he took his eyes off of the Lord, I expect he never had a bit of regret over his stepping out. It was where he wanted to be. Being with Jesus in exciting places is where most, if not all of us want to be. But how about those "other places?" Alicia Britt Chole writes, "If we want to walk on water because that's where Jesus is, then we'll be equally willing to walk with Him in dry deserts, times of temptation, and relentless storms." In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as Sam, Frodo, and Gollum travel through Mordor, Sam remarks how much different the journey would be if they were moving through "decent places," to which Gollum replied, "These aren't decent places." In our journey with the King, He will lead us through places that are decidedly "un-decent." Maybe you're in such a place right now. I know many who are. There are so many of His choice people who are walking through the death of a marriage, through the rebellion and rejection of their children. Through the crippling effects of cancer, or the loss of a beloved mate who died too young, or simply too soon. Sorrow can take so many forms, and it will always take us on a path we would not have chosen for ourselves, but which He has allowed and which He bids us take hold of Him, and follow. It's not an invitation to walk on water, but in the end, if we will obey and trust, we will behold an even greater miracle than that. We will experience His overcoming victory in the face of what we thought would surely destroy us, but didn't, because He was there with us, and we, by faith and trust, were there with Him. I have no explanation for why He allows these other places, or what His intent is when He brings them into our lives. What I do know is that He has purpose for us and purpose to be accomplished in us. I know that if we hold to Him in these places, He will bring beauty from ashes and joy from our mourning. Someone said that in the miracle of the walking on water, Peter walked on top of the waves he had thought would drown him. In these other places, we too can walk on top of the circumstances and dangers that threaten to destroy us. We will not sink beneath them. All we need do is keep our eyes upon Him, always walking both with Him and to Him. Blessings, Pastor O