Month: May 2015

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Yes You May, Enter Heaven

God Has A Putpose for The Storms
And His servants shall serve Him. Revelation 22:3

In some ways, the new earth will resemble this one, but it will be bigger, brighter, happier, and sinless. There will be a lot to do. Before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they enjoyed a perfect environment but they weren’t inactive. God told them to tend the Garden (Genesis 2:15). After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus didn’t retire to inactivity. He continued His work through His church (See Acts 1:1). We’ll not be bored in heaven. According to Revelation 22:3, His servants will serve Him on the new earth and throughout the Celestial City.

According to Revelation 22, there will be gardens in New Jerusalem. There will evidently be levels of organization requiring leadership and management (Matthew 25:23). There will be no police officers, prison guards, or medical personnel. No evangelists, for none but the redeemed will dwell there. But perhaps there will be artists, poets, builders, cooks, and groundskeepers.

Yes, you may enter heaven and serve the Lord there. You may look forward to it every day as you serve Jesus on earth as your Savior and Lord.

The glimpses of heaven we are given in the Bible indicate there will not be one second of boredom, frustration, or irritation.… We’ll enjoy our service to the full because we will have new bodies that won’t ever get tired. Tony Evans, in his book The Best Is Yet to Come

Recommended Reading: Revelation 22:1-5

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Draw Near to God

James 4:6-10

“Draw near to god and He will draw near to you.” That is an amazing promise! As we open ourselves up to the Lord, He opens up to us. If we come to Him in submission, repentance, and brokenness, He rushes in with forgiveness, love, and faithfulness. There is no room for self-sufficiency or self-protection in this interaction. Only in the humility of helplessness will we discover the sufficiency of His presence.

At first glance, it may seem that we were the ones who began the relationship, but in reality, God took the initiative; we merely responded to His overture (John 6:44). Many times He uses situations and difficulties to get our attention and stimulate our thirst for Him. What appears to be a painful or desperate situation is often His invitation to draw near.

Even our greatest failures and sins can lead us to Christ, as we seek forgiveness from the Father. With an attitude of humble repentance, we can enter into a more intimate relationship with God. However, if you and I continue living in rebellion and are unwilling to confess and repent, He will not reveal more of Himself to us. Sin always blocks our ability to know the Lord.

Have you allowed adversity or failure to pull you away from God rather than toward Him? To put distance between you and Jesus, Satan will misuse the very situations that the Lord can utilize to draw you to Himself. Don’t let the enemy win the battle. Instead, “resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

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The Eternal Cosmos

“He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.” (Psalm 148:6)

In this central psalm of the last five psalms comprising the “Hallelujah” epilogue to the book of Psalms, the entire physical creation is exhorted to praise the Lord, as all the universe is restored to its primeval perfection. All the people of the earth, all the angels, even all the animals, will praise the Lord.

Furthermore, in some way which can only be understood by faith, the entire inorganic creation—sun, moon, stars, mountains, winds, everything—will be able to praise Him. Even the primeval waters above the heavens (Genesis 1:7-9) will have been restored, and they will praise the Lord (Psalm 148:4-5).

And all of this will continue forever and ever! The new heavens and new Earth—that is, the renewed heavens and Earth, with the curse removed (Revelation 22:3)—the sun and moon and stars, with the eternal throne of the Lord Jesus established on the earth in the New Jerusalem, in the midst of all the redeemed men and women of all the ages—all of these will forever be a praise to God.

God is not capricious, and He does not fail. He will not “uncreate” what He has created. “Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). The earth must yet be purged by fire (2 Peter 3:10), but it will be renewed in righteousness (v. 13) and without any evidences of the former regime of decay and death.

And then it will last forever. “And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever” (Psalm 78:69). “[God] laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever” (Psalm 104:5). “And they that turn many to righteousness [shall shine] as the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3). HMM

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Off-Color Humor

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers…. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. —Ephesians 4:29, 5:4

One of the most shocking things in the church is the dirty-mouthed Christian who always walks on the borderline. There is no place for borderline stories that embarrass some people, and there is nothing about sex or the human body that is funny if your mind is clean.

There was once a gathering of officers, and George Washington was present in the room. One of the young officers began to think about a dirty story that he wanted to tell, and he got a smirk on his face. He looked around and said, “I’m thinking of a story. I guess there are no ladies present.” Washington straightened up and said, “No, young man, but there are gentlemen.” The young officer shut his mouth and kept the dirty story inside his dirty head and heart.

Anything you could not tell with Jesus present, do not tell. Anything you could not laugh at were Jesus present, do not laugh at.

What an important reminder, Lord! Keep my thoughts pure. Amen.

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Spirit Led, We Will Obey the Word of God

And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 1 John 5:6

When the Holy Spirit is in full control of our lives, He will expect our obedience to the written Word of God.

But it is part of our human problem that we would like to be full of the Spirit and yet go on and do as we please!

The Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures will expect obedience to the Scriptures, and if we do not give that obedience, we will quench Him. This Spirit will have obedience—but people do not want to obey the Lord. Everyone of us is as full as he wants to be. Everyone has as much of God as he desires to have. We do not want to meet the conditions.

Let’s use an expensive Cadillac automobile for an illustration. Here is Brother Jones, who would love to drive a Cadillac. But he is not going to buy one, and I will tell you why. He does not want a Cadillac badly enough to be willing to pay the price for it. Certainly he wants it—but he does not want it with that kind of desire—so he is going to continue to drive his old Chevrolet!

Now, it is plain that many people want to be filled with the Spirit, but it is not with that kind of extreme desire that will not be denied. So, we settle for something less!

We do say, “Lord, I would like to be full—it would be wonderful!” but we are not willing to proceed to meet His terms. We do not want to pay the price: the Holy Spirit will expect loving obedience to the Word of God!

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Astonished Reverence

Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
PSALM 66:16

In my own being, I could not exist very long as a Christian without the inner consciousness of the presence and nearness of God! I can only keep right by keeping the fear of God on my soul and delighting in the fascinating rapture of worship.

I am sorry that the powerful sense of godly fear is a missing quality in churches today.

The fear of God is that “astonished reverence” of which the saintly Faber wrote. I would say that it may grade anywhere from its basic element—the terror of the guilty soul before a holy God—to the fascinated rapture of the worshiping saint. There are few unqualified things in our lives, but I believe that the reverential fear of God, mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and adoration, is the most enjoyable state and the most purifying emotion the human soul can know. A true fear of God is a beautiful thing, for it is worship, it is love, it is veneration. It is a high moral happiness because God is!

Lord, our world in general has lost any sense of the fear of God. Even some of our churches hold a small view of Your greatness. I pray for a spiritual revival in our country, Lord.

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Untroubled Relationship

marriage relationship
In that day you will ask in My name…for the Father Himself loves you… —John 16:26-27

“In that day you will ask in My name…,” that is, in My nature. Not “You will use My name as some magic word,” but— “You will be so intimate with Me that you will be one with Me.” “That day” is not a day in the next life, but a day meant for here and now. “…for the Father Himself loves you…”— the Father’s love is evidence that our union with Jesus is complete and absolute. Our Lord does not mean that our lives will be free from external difficulties and uncertainties, but that just as He knew the Father’s heart and mind, we too can be lifted by Him into heavenly places through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal the teachings of God to us.

“…whatever you ask the Father in My name…” (John 16:23). “That day” is a day of peace and an untroubled relationship between God and His saint. Just as Jesus stood unblemished and pure in the presence of His Father, we too by the mighty power and effectiveness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit can be lifted into that relationship— “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).

“…He will give you” (John 16:23). Jesus said that because of His name God will recognize and respond to our prayers. What a great challenge and invitation— to pray in His name! Through the resurrection and ascension power of Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit He has sent, we can be lifted into such a relationship. Once in that wonderful position, having been placed there by Jesus Christ, we can pray to God in Jesus’ name— in His nature. This is a gift granted to us through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, “…whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” The sovereign character of Jesus Christ is tested and proved by His own statements.

by Oswald Chambers

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The Power of God’s Holy Spirit

Romans 8:11-14

Yesterday’s reading offered scriptural proof that the Holy Spirit is a person. Yet there’s a persistent misconception that casts Him as some kind of intangible force. The underlying assumption is that “the power of the Holy Spirit” is something Christians wield for themselves. But in fact, the phrase refers to His work in the believer’s life.

Jesus was clear that serving God is not a one-man or one-woman show. It takes two—a believer and the Holy Spirit—to live the Christian life victoriously (Luke 24:49). The Spirit takes up residence in a person the moment that individual receives Christ’s forgiveness for sins. From then on, His job is to equip the believer so he or she can consistently model Jesus to the world.

When the apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me,” he was talking about the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence (Philippians 4:13). What this means is that within the believer is an indescribably rich power source. The Spirit works through people to get done what is impossible for them to accomplish alone. In fact, the Bible says that He can do “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). And Paul certainly proved that with his prolific ministry.

What is God calling you to do that’s “far more abundantly” beyond all you think you can achieve? Stop making excuses and get to work! Within you lies untapped potential—not your own strength and abilities, but the unlimited might of the Holy Spirit. His power will be unleashed in response to your acting on faith.