“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
I do not know if you know what I mean when I say that I have been feeling the heaviness of life for the last few days. I am retired and not on a strict schedule, but I have been feeling the pressure of demands on my life and on my time. Mostly, I have just felt a great need for the Lord. I was searching for a scripture reference that would speak to my need. Psalm 46:1 came to my mind, so I read it, meditated on it, prayed over it, and then felt the need to share my thoughts on the text with you. “God is our refuge…” I remember a gospel song that I heard years ago, and haven’t heard for a long time, that spoke to this. The song was “I Found a Hiding Place.” I don’t remember all of the words to the song, but the thought behind the song spoke to me this morning. When we feel that the world is rushing in on us and that the demands of life are becoming too heavy, we can escape to that hiding place and find the security that we need to go on and to meet the demands that life places on us. It is just good to take refuge in God sometimes and just let Him minister to our sore hearts and minds. When we go to Him for refuge, He reassures us of His presence and of His love for us. It is also in this hiding place that the Lord feeds our faith and lifts our spirits. “God is…our strength.” It is nice to take refuge in the Lord, but we cannot stay there. When we are in the “hiding place” and He is ministering to us, He is preparing us to go on and do His will for our lives, and to meet the demands of our lives whatever those demands may be. It is in these times that He gives us the strength to leave the hiding place. I praise Him that the strength that He gives us is His strength. It is Holy Spirit strength. The promise of the Holy Spirit given by Jesus is not an idle promise. The Holy Spirit is not in our lives to just give us some “holy thrill” and some talking points for our next fellowship meeting. He gave us the Holy Spirit to minister to us on a daily basis and to give us the strength that we need to live and to serve. The text did not say that God just gives us strength. He does give us strength, but the text says that God is our strength. We need to remember that when we have Him in our lives, we have His strength. It doesn’t hurt to ask for His strength, but we should remember that we already have His strength because we have Him. (At this point we pause and say “Thank you Jesus.”) “God is…our very present help in trouble.” The NIV translates this: “God is our ever present help in trouble.” I like both translations. God is our “very” present help. There is no doubt about it. But He is also our “ever” present help in trouble. We can know that there will never be a time when He will not be our “help in trouble.” I think that the whole Bible story from Genesis to Revelation shows us this. I have found in my life that God’s help in my troubles takes different forms. For example, there are times that I go to the hiding place whining and whimpering. That is when He “takes me to the woodshed” and tells me to get over it and get on with it. There are other times that I go to Him in real need and He ministers to my heart and gently shoves me back out into the fray. We need to be sensitive to what God is telling us when we go to Him for refuge. When He gives us His strength in those times of refuge, He gives it to us to serve Him and to do His will for our lives. But we can be assured that when the Lord Jesus has a plan for us, and that He will be with us while He carries it out through us. You can take this verse personally. Let the Lord speak to your heart now through this verse. Let Him be your refuge today. If you are a believer, know that He is your strength, and that He is present in your life for whatever trouble you might encounter. Believe it! Rejoice in it! Do it! Bro. Joe
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“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.”
We need to be careful not to take a text out of its historical context, for it might distort the meaning of the text. The text that I have printed above has a historical context, for it is a call for Israel to turn to the Lord before it is too late. But at the same time, the text has eternal significance because it can be followed successfully by anyone at any time. It is what I have called “The Way to the Lord.” Seek We are called upon to seek the Lord. We seek a lot of things in the course of our lives. Some of the things we seek are unworthy of our time and effort and some can be rewarding. In all things, however, we are to seek the Lord. At the time this text was written, Judah was going over to idol worship and doing about everything that God told them not to do. It is a call for them to stop seeking idols and seek the Lord. We do not worship idols today, per se, but we do have things that we seek instead of the Lord, and this is just as bad as what Israel was doing. We need to ask ourselves just what it is we are seeking in this life. Sometimes we can even seek things that could be worthy goals, but if they lead us away from our commitment to the Lord, they can serve as stumbling blocks in our lives. For example, we can make an idol out of education. Getting an education is an important thing and is a worthy goal for anyone, but it cannot take the place of the Lord and His will in our lives. Perhaps you need to ask yourself what it is that you are seeking in your life today. Does what you are seeking have anything to do with the Lord. He is near you wanting to lead and guide you in all of your life’s endeavors, but sometimes what we seek can lead us away from Him. This is why Isaiah admonished the Jews to “call ye upon Him while He is near.” Forsake If we discover that we are seeking the wrong things, we should forsake that way and turn to the Lord. I think that most people realize when they are getting away from the Lord, and that they know that the way they are taking is the wrong way. I can look back on my life and see where I have done that, and my life did not get straightened out until I forsook the wrong way and went the right way. It is possible that you are going through a difficult time in your life now because you are going in the wrong direction and seeking the wrong things. It is possible that there are some things that you need to forsake in order to get your life in line with the Lord. We are told to forsake two things: “his way” and “his thoughts.” We need to let the Lord have control of our thoughts, because our thoughts are the fathers of our deeds. What we think about will control what we do. Maybe there are some thoughts and ways that you need to forsake. Do it today. Return It is not enough to just forsake the wrong way; we must choose the right way. Isaiah’s admonition here is to “return unto the Lord.” This means to put our thoughts on the Lord so that He can control our ways. We will not seek what is right until we return to what is right, and it is always right to seek God’s guidance through scripture and prayer. It might even mean a return to your church, or to change your attitude about your church. Whatever it means for you, it is important that you seek the Lord, forsake the wrong way and return to the right way. God is more than willing and able to give you His great mercy and to give you His "abundant pardon." It sure beats running from God's mercy and pardon. Think about it! Bro. Joe “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Being still is not an American trait. We are an active people who are in a hurry, even if we don’t have anywhere to go. All one has to do is to get on an interstate highway to know what a hurry we are in. If you want to drive the speed limit, you had better get on a two lane highway because the traffic on interstates will not let you. This is an illustration of life in America. We desperately need the message of Psalm 46:10a: “Be still and know that I am God…” We could say this about the entire world. Everyone needs to know to be still in order to know that God is God. What does it mean to be still? We have to stop, be still, and let God speak to our hearts. We are so busy talking and doing that we do not take time to meditate and reflect on God. To be still means to shut up, as well as to cease activity at some time and consider what the will of God is for our lives. If we are going to be centered in the will of God, we will have to stop and listen to Him. I think of the time that Moses was called to lead Israel out of Egypt. He wasn’t busy doing religious things, or talking. He was alone tending sheep, being still and he saw a bush burning that was not being consumed. This was God’s way of getting Moses’ attention in order to reveal His will for him. When God spoke loudly to my heart and turned my mind and my life around, I was alone in my bunk on the U.S.S. Hornet. I was being still and God got my attention. No, I did not see a burning bush, but He got my attention anyway and spoke to my heart. In retrospect, I think that’s when I learned the meaning of “Be still and know that I am God.” I don’t know how you usually worship God on a given day, or even if you do, but I want to suggest that you get alone somewhere, center your mind on God and let Him speak to you. It would help to have your Bible with you and meditate on some of your favorite verses. We have to be still in order to exalt God to the people around us. This doesn’t mean that we go off to ourselves at work. What it does mean that we will not be able to exalt God to others, or witness to them effectively, if we do not spend some time alone with God. When Jesus’ disciples were arrested in Acts, the Jewish leaders “took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.” These men sat at the feet of Jesus for three years, saw His miracles, heard His parables, soaked up His love and it showed to the world. Could it be that the world today does not take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus because we do not spend enough time at His feet? Take a moment and reflect on your private worship. Do you take time each day to be with Jesus and Jesus alone? Being still and meditating and reflecting on God’s word, praying and just quietly worshiping Jesus has a way of making Him show Himself in our lives. The world is crying out for us to be still, to soak up the love of Jesus and let them see it. The world desperately needs for us to do this. Basically, what it means to “Be still and know that God is God,” is to seek Him above all else. This is what Moses did. This is what David did. This is what Peter did. This is what Paul did. This is what all of the great Christians across the ages have done, or they would not have been great Christians. We might not know many of the greatest Christians today because they are not famous preachers, but they are quietly influencing the world around them because they are taking the time to spend time with God in His word, in prayer and in corporate worship in church. You can be one of these Christians if you will take God’s advice: “Be still and know that I am God…” Bro. Joe “For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.”
Several Years ago coming back from Albany I read an interesting saying on the bulletin board at the Church of the Nazarene: “Are you living or just existing.” It is a good question. Our text was about finding the wisdom of God to find real life. (The “me” in our text is spoken by “wisdom.”) The question asked by our title suggests that there is real life that is full of meaning, or there is life that is not full of meaning and just goes on from day to dreary day. I want to share with you what I have found to be real life that has kept me from “just existing.” Proverbs 9:10 records that: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” I believe that a full and meaningful life begins with a deep reverence for God. People sometimes take God lightly by calling Him something like “the man upstairs,” or the “old man in the sky,” or some name that takes away from the reverence and worship of God. Life is made more meaningful when we worship our Creator. I can’t imagine anything more boring and meaningless than going through life thinking that there is no God, no Jesus who loves people sacrificially. If we would “find life” we would live for something beyond ourselves. A lot of the problems that people have today is that they live only for themselves. They could be good providers for their families, good citizens, involved in the community, but their lives are not built on anything beyond themselves. Everything that they do is for their own good or for the good of their loved ones. The parameters of their lives are too small. If all I had to live for is myself, I think life would be humdrum, and that I would be merely existing. It is good to go to bed each night and know that God/Jesus is alive and at work in the world through the Holy Spirit. It is satisfying for me to know that He loves me and has use for me in His purposes for this world. If we would find life and not just exist, we would have a great purpose for being alive. It begins with receiving Christ as Savior and finding our purpose within His will. This came easily to me because I was called to preach at an early age, and was the pastor of a church when I was twenty-one-years old. I have often said that the only reason I persevered through college and later through seminary, then a year of further study was that I had a purpose for doing it. If I had just been floating through college, I probably would have “shipped over” in the Navy. Now you know that Christian ministry is not the only thing in my life, for I have two daughters, a son-in=law and four grandchildren. (I also have two Grand=dogs.) They are all very special to me, but having a great purpose has even helped me enjoy them more. You don’t have to be a preacher to have a prevailing purpose for your life. You can be a servant of God wherever you are and whatever job you go to each day. Having God involved in your purpose would make you a better plumber, a better salesman, or whatever your occupation. I have known many fine lay people whose lives were enriched in every way that their purpose for living was to please God. If we would find life and not just exist, we would really serve God with all of our hearts. Jesus said that He came to bring abundant life to those who would believe in Him. That abundant life includes loving God with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength. It also involves loving our neighbor as ourselves. If a person loves God and people he or she will be really living and not just existing. Look at your own life and ask yourself if you are really living or just existing. Bro. Joe “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
“Again, He limits a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time, as it is said, today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7 Have you ever wished that you lived in another time or another place? I guess we have all wished this at some time or other, but it is a useless exercise. We are living in a certain time at a certain place, and the way I see it, we are living in this time and place because that is what God wants of us. I have often said that I would go back to simpler times if I could take air-conditioning and medical science with me. I think you get my point. If we could live in another time and another place, we would still have to face the hardships of each day. I think that the Bible teaches us that we need to live today, because we can’t relive yesterday and we can’t live tomorrow until it gets here. That’s right, that only leaves today. We should live each day to the fullest, giving our time to the Lord, and following His will for our lives. I want to point out some things about living life to the fullest today. What we do with each day will determine what will take place in the future. I remember that when I was in high school, I decided that studying was a waste of time, and that homework was just a nuisance, so I gave them up. Each day passed, and life just kept going on. It took awhile, but I finally decided that I had better make better use of my days. Suppose I had not wised up and had kept on like I was going. The days would have kept passing and I would have gotten sorrier and sorrier. (Some of you are probably thinking that I couldn’t be any sorrier – shame on you. lol) How we use the time that we have each day will determine the quality of our lives as we live from day to day. It is important that we embrace each day. The psalmist gave us some wise advice: “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” It is worth noting that he did not write: “We should rejoice and be glad in it,” but he wrote “we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The NIV translates it: “Let us rejoice and be glad in it. ”Either way it is a positive statement about living each day that God has given us and rejoicing in Him and in the fact that He has given us another day. You can rejoice in the day or bemoan the day, but it is all you have at the moment. We can meet each new day with rejoicing, or we can bemoan each new day, and it will still be all thhat we have at the moment. Too many people are putting off today what they plan to do tomorrow. We need to take advantage of the fact that we are alive today, and that we can live it in a positive way. I have heard it said many times that we can greet the day with “good morning Lord,” or with “good Lord, it's morning.” Which do you think will give you a better day? It is today that we can take care of the things that we know need to be taken care of. One of these has to do with our spiritual lives. We can start off the day with prayer and reading God’s word. We know that if we want to draw closer to the Lord, we need to communicate with Him, and that we need to delve into His word. Today is a good day to start your day, as best you can with the time that you have, in fellowship with God and His word. I have found that the exercise of prayer and Bible reading has helped me “rejoice in the day that the Lord has made.” Today is the day to get right with the Lord. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:2b: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”In the spirit of that text, we can say that today is the accepted time to draw near to the Lord. You have today! What are you going to do with it? There are choices before you as you face today. You can spend some time praising God and thanking Him that you have today. You will be surprised at how much difference that will make in the rest of your day. Try it! Bro. Joe “For whoso findeth me (wisdom) findeth life, and shall obtain favor from the Lord.”
All of us like to think that we live in wisdom, and we need to make sure that we are. I can only speak for myself, but looking back I can remember things that didn’t come of wisdom – come on you know what I mean. If we want to find the favor of the Lord, we need to seek His wisdom and base our lives on it. This is why I am asking you to do yourself a favor and live the best life possible. You have probably already guessed that I am about to share with you what I think that means. Do yourself a favor and make sure that what you do in your life is serving God’s purposes. The problem that a lot people have is that there is no great purpose in their lives, and there are others that their purpose is destructive to themselves and to others. I am glad that God called me to preach, because this gave me a great purpose in life from the start. But I have to admit that even in that great purpose I have found myself drifting from His real purposes. These were not happy times in my life, and I’m sure that they are not in your life either. I don’t mean to leave the impression that you have to be a preacher to serve God’s purpose in your life. God brings great purpose into every life that He touches. I think that Romans 8:28 applies to this idea: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to God’s purpose.” I have not written about specific purposes, because God’s purpose for you is between God and you. Do yourself a favor and make it a purpose of your life to pursue those things that will make your life better. I can think of no better place to go than Philippians 4:8 to find virtues that will make your life better and that will make you a better person: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” There is no better advice anywhere to make your life better than these six virtues. There are all kinds of solutions about how to have a better life today, but I challenge anyone who would say that these virtues would not lead to a better life. Paul wrote these words to lead the Philippian Christians to become better people in order to be better witnesses to the fallen world in which they lived. We still live in a fallen world and we need such Christian virtues to make us better witnesses. Do yourself a favor and purge those things from your life that you know are keeping you from being as close to God as you can. I can’t tell you what you need to purge from your life, because that is a personal decision, but I can promise you that the Lord will hear your prayers and will help you get rid of those things that you need to shed. Paul gave advice on this point in 1 Corinthians 5:7: “Purge out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened…” The "leaven" referred to here is anything that you know is holding back your Christian growth. Do yourself a favor and do the things that you need to do tp grow in Christ. The three points above should give you a good start. Bro. Joe “Let not then your good be evil spoken of. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy of the Holy Spirit.”
The theme of Romans 14 is primarily about eating meat offered to idols. Under grace we can eat whatever we want, but not every Christian in Rome had reached the maturity for that. They could not eat meat offered to idols, which was sold in the meat market, and were the best cuts of meat, because it might hinder their new found faith. More mature Christians insisted that eating that meat was alright. Paul’s idea was that it was not wrong to eat that meat, but if eating it became a stumbling block to new Christians, then they should not eat it. In the two verses under discussion here, Paul is reminding both groups that the kingdom of God is not about what to eat or what not to eat. He wanted them to get away from such mundane arguments and think about the higher elements of the Christian faith. The kingdom of God is about righteousness. Righteousness in the kingdom of God does not have as much to do with what we eat and drink as much as it does about how we live our lives. The first step to the righteous life is faith in Jesus Christ, for our righteousness is not our own, but is imputed to us through faith in Jesus Christ. This does not mean, however, that righteousness does not have to do with our behavior. For example, Paul asked the mature Christians to “let not then your good be evil spoken of.” It would not be righteous to eat the meat sacrificed to idols if it hurt the faith of a fellow Christian. Righteousness is not just refraining from doing things that we used to do, but to do things that would be pleasing to God and a good witness to people. I think that a good measurement here is what has become a cliché, but is nevertheless important: "What would Jesus do?” I doubt that anyone could ever keep that admonition perfectly, but it surely is a good goal, and would lead to kingdom righteousness. The kingdom of God is about peace. Kingdom peace is not about “Peace on earth.” It could have to do with that, but it is mainly about peace in our hearts. Jesus told us that we would have trouble in this world, but that He was giving us His peace. (John 16:33) Kingdom peace is peace of mind and heart in spite of turmoil. Paul certainly knew something about this, for he experienced a lot of turmoil everywhere he went. Leonard Ravenhill wrote that everywhere Paul went there was a revival or a riot. But Paul had kingdom peace, because he was at peace within himself. I think that the turmoil in a lot of churches could be done away with if people were at peace in their hearts. The point is that instead of worrying about legalistic things like what we should eat, we should be trusting the Lord and living in His peace. The kingdom of God is about “joy of the Holy Spirit.” When we spend our time arguing about this, that or the other, we are not taking advantage of the “joy of the Holy Spirit.” Like peace, this is not just outward joy but it is inner joy – joy in the heart. Part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, is joy. It is not joy that comes and goes with circumstances but stays in our hearts through good times and bad. In fact, it is joy of the Holy Spirit that gets us through good times and bad. It is this joy that helps us to love one another, minister to one another, and witness to the world. With this spiritual joy we can go forth into the world and spread the joy of Jesus. Everybody will not appreciate it or share the joy, but those who do will have a better life. Let’s take Paul’s teaching about true kingdom living to heart, and cease worrying about things that do not really matter and concentrate on those that do, such as, rigtheousness, peace, and the joy of the Holy Spirit. “Behold now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.”
Paul gave the Corinthian Christians a reminder from Isaiah 49:8 about the importance of time. I want to share a few thoughts that I had recently about time. First, time is a gift from God. I guess it is difficult for us to see time as gift, but it is, indeed, a gift from God. We need to view the time that we spend on earth as a gift to be used to benefit the kingdom of God and our fellowmen (fellowpeople). I look back over the time that I have wasted and I wish that I had some of it back so that I could make better use of it. I think you probably know what I mean. I do not mean that we should never take “time off” for rest or for a vacation. Also, I do not mean that we need to use our time being “religious” and talking in stilted tones. I have come to the conclusion that most of the time our best use of time is to be decent human beings. (Don’t you agree with me that Jesus showed us how to be good human beings?) Second, time does not wait. Chaucer wrote that “time and tide wait for no man,” (Nor does it wait for any woman – just to be politically correct.) I served in the U.S. Navy from 1956-1960. I remember thinking that 1960 would never get here. Believe me it did get “here” and it flew by afterward as well. If there are things that you know you need to do, and, perhaps, things that God would have you do, to quote Paul and Isaiah “now is the accepted time” to do them. It is not just the accepted time to be saved, but it is the accepted time to do God’s will for your life. You are here for a purpose, or for purposes, and you need to discover what those purposes are and get about them, because time is not going to wait for you. This leads me to the third point: Time is to be used wisely. This does not mean that we should never take time for ourselves, or for our families and friends. Even Jesus took time to rest, reflect and pray. He even spent time with children. Our wise use of time is as much in our thought lives as in our activities... For example, (Here I go bragging again.) there are not many waking hours that I am not thinking of what I should write in CouchPotatoRedux articles –even when I’m watching TV. (Yes, friends and family, even when I’m watching “American Pickers” and Hallmark movies.) I’m not calling on you to be a workaholic, but to just remember Who is in control of your time and use it wisely. Think of the gifts that God has given you and use them, not just in church work, but in your daily life. Bro. Joe “Jesus said unto (Thomas) I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
I am attempting to show the essence of Christian life by the letters of the word for life. Here is what I found: L – Lordship – We receive life in Christ when we accept Him as our Savior, but the effectiveness of this life in Christ is realized when we make Him the Lord of our lives. This means that we give Jesus the control of our lives. Wait! That should be when we realize that Jesus is in control of our lives. We discover that our lives are better for Christ being in control of them. When we fail to follow Christ’s Lordship, we make mistakes that hinder our growth in Him. Another word for Christ’s lordship is “will.” We follow His lordship when we seek to follow His will and when we actually follow His will. This is not always easy and can change the direction of our lives and even some plans that we might have for our lives. I cannot tell you how to follow Christ’s Lordship, but He will not you know if you are listening with your heart. I – Intimate Relationship – We cannot follow Christ’s lordship if we are not in intimate fellowship with Him. I discovered this in my life when I had to deal with a fellowship problem in one my churches early in my ministry. I fully discovered the importance of beginning each day in intense prayer and in intense Bible study. Prayer and Bible study are two of the main ingredients of an intimate relationship with Christ. Perhaps, you are reading this because you need to make this discovery for your own life. There is no better way to do this than to actually do it. Make time for prayer and Bible study in your life. F – Fellowship – We need fellowship with Christ, but we also need fellowship with our Christian friends. Christ called twelve men to follow Him, and with the exception of Judas Iscariot, they followed Him and invited others into their fellowship. This is what the Book of Acts teaches us. We need our fellow Christians and when we fail to realize we crimp our growth in Christ. My life in Christ has been enriched by the fellowship that I have been able to have in the fellowship with my Christian friends. Look around you at your fellow Christians, thank God for them and enjoy fellowship with them. E – Eternity – This is where our life leads with Jesus. He made this promise in John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in me hath everlasting life.” In John 14:2, Jesus said: “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” When Jesus said that He is “the way, the truth and the life,” He meant more than the life that we have here and now, but He meant life that reaches beyond this life to eternal fellowship with Him. This we have through His Lordship, our intimate relationship with Him and it is made more meaningful through our fellowship with each other. This LIFE is available to all who receive Christ into their lives. Bro. Joe “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
To deal with human life, I want to start at the beginning and move out from there. The first thing that I want to say about human life is that it is a gift of God. God created man from the “dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” We have life on this earth because He has given it to us. This is why we hang onto life as long as possible. Our lives on earth have meaning and purpose. God did not initially put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to just admire its beauty. He put them there to “dress and keep it…” Even after they had sinned, they still had purposes to fulfill, even after they were banned from the Garden of Eden. Your life has meaning and purpose, and you need to discover what God’s meaning and purpose is for your life. The second thing that I want to say about human life is that it is fleeting. In the midst of his misery, Job said: “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.” Can’t you identify with Job here? I know that I can, at least where the swiftness is concerned, and if I’m not careful it has sometimes seemed without hope. You wake up one day and you are a child. The next thing you know you are teenager. At if by magic, you are an adult. Then, if the Lord sees fit, you are an old person. I have run the full gamut from child to old person and it has gone by swiftly. This is why we need to weigh the importance of our days and make them count for something, or for what God intends for them. You cannot stop time, but your life can be filled with hope. Read on: The third thing that I want to say about human life is that is eternal. Did you notice that after God had breathed into man’s nostrils, he “became a living soul”? He did not just give us a soul, He made us living souls. Our lives have meaning beyond this life. God made us to live forever, and He sent His Son to “become sin for us” so that we can be forgiven and be saved and to live with Him in eternity. Where we will spend eternity is based on our being “saved by grace through faith” in Jesus Christ. That is why is important for us not to ignore God’s means of giving us eternal life with Him. This is all I have to say about human life. I hope that it was informative and encouraging. Bro. Joe |
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