The Unspeakable Price

To all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

Parents, who are seeking to adopt a child, spend days, sometimes weeks, immersed in different languages and strange cultures. They fight the red tape and pay the large fees, all with the hope of taking a child home with them.

Hasn’t God done the same for us? He entered our culture, battles the resistance, and paid the unspeakable price which adoption required. Legally we are his. He owns us. We have every legal privilege accorded to his child. We are just waiting for him to return. We are, as Paul said, “waiting for God to finish making us his own children.” Romans 8:23.



No Worries in Heaven

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, sadness, crying or pain. Revelation 21:4

What have you done today to avoid death? Likely a lot. You’ve popped pills, pumped pecks, passed on the pie, and pursued the polyunsaturates. Why? Why the effort? Because you are worried about staying alive. That won’t be a worry in heaven.

In fact, you won’t be worrying at all. Some of you moms worry about your kids getting hurt. You won’t worry in heaven. In heaven we’ll feel no pain. Some of you fellows worry about getting old. You won’t in heaven. We’ll all be ceaselessly strong.

We are not made of steel, we are made of dust. And this life is not crowned with life, it is crowned with death.

The next life, however, is different. Jesus urged the Christians in Smyrna to “be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10.

خداوند خانه شماست

خداوند روح است و هر که بخواهد او را بپرستد، باید او را در روح و راستی پرستش کند. یوحنا 4:24

هرگز فکر نکنید که شما از خدا مجزا هستید ، او در انتهای نردبان عظیم حیات منتظر شما و دیگران میباشد. به هر فکری که میگوید خداوند در آسمان است پایان دهید زیرا او در ماست و با خود ما بر روی نردبان حیات پله پله تا انتها ما را همراهی میکند. زیرا خدا روح است ، او همواره در کنار شماست: خداوند خودش زیر بنای حیات ماست. خداوند خودش دیوار حائل و بنیاد و صخره و تکیه گاه ماست.

God Makes Us Right Again

Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again. Psalm 51:10

We are thirsty.Not thirsty for fame, possessions, passion, or romance. We’ve drunk from those pools.  They are salt water in the desert. They don’t quench – they kill “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. . . .”

Righteousness. That’s it. That’s what we are thirsty for. We’re thirsty for a clean conscience. We crave a clean slate. We yearn for a fresh start. We pray for a hand that will enter the dark cavern of our world and do for us the one thing we can’t do for ourselves – make us right again.

Knowing God’s Will

Those who see the Son and believe in him have eternal life….This is what my Father wants. John 6:40

 

We learn God’s will by spending time in his presence. The key to knowing God’s heart is having a relationship with him. A personal relationship. God will speak to you differently than he will speak to others. Just because God spoke to Moses through a burning bush, that doesn’t mean we should all sit next to a bush waiting for God to speak. God used a fish to convict Jonah. Does that mean we should have worship services at Sea World? No. God reveals his heart personally to each person.

For that reason, your walk with God is essential. His heart is not seen in an occasional chat or weekly visit. We learn his will as we take up residence in his house every single day….

Walk with him long enough and you come to know his heart.

A Father’s Pride

God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives. 2 Peter 3:9

To those who embrace Christ as Savior, he promised a new birth

 

Does that mean the old nature will never rear its ugly head? Does that mean you will instantly be able to resist any temptation

 

To answer that question, compare your new birth in Christ to a newborn baby. Can a newborn walk? Can he feed himself? Can he sings or read or speak? No, not yet. But someday he will

It takes times time to grow. But is the parent in the delivery room ashamed of the baby? Is the mom embarrassed that the in fact can’t spell…that the baby can’t walk…that the newborn can’t give a speech

 

Of course not. The parents aren’t ashamed; they are proud. They know that growth will come with time. So does God

Closer than You Think

Jesus Spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:27

When the disciples saw Jesus in the middle of their stormy night, they called him a ghost. A phantom….To them, the glow was anything but God

When we see gentle light on the horizon, we often have the same reaction. We dismiss occasional kindness as apparition, accidents, or anomalies. Anything but God

And because we look for the bonfire, we miss the candle. Because we listen for the shout, we miss the whisper

But it is in burnished candles that God comes, and through whispered promises he speaks: “When you doubt, look around; I am close than you think