Death punctuates a believer's life but is not the end mark. It is eternal life that is the ellipses on the sentence that is your LIFE...
Jesus had a friend who died. He told his disciples that the situation would not end in death but would instead bring glory to God. When he arrived to raise his friend from the dead, Jesus made a bold statement, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Naturally, we are all born spiritually dead and disconnected from God. We live a humanistic or pagan life of rebellion against God, our bodies die and our spirits continue their dead states in Hell for ever. That's the bad news. Then infinite LIFE stepped from eternity onto the human timeline and absorbed sin and death, and regained LIFE, purchasing for Himself the right to give LIFE to all who trust in Him as Savior and God. That's the great news. For a Christ-follower, death is part of our experience. We put off the habits of death that we grew up practicing. We take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. For many, that means putting to death personal dreams in order to serve LIFE Himself. If you give up your pursuits to pursue LIFE, you will find LIFE. You story will not end in death, but in the glory of God. Our time is short. We have a few more hours of daylight to bring the great news of LIFE to the millions whose lives will end in death. Be bold. Be brave. Be truly ALIVE!
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Predators are difficult to spot at times, unless you are living on a tropical island, surrounded by poverty. People living in extreme poverty make extreme choices... choices like to follow a 70+ year man into his hotel in order to make a few thousand pesos. She walked behind him about three feet, single file. Her expression revealed nothing, just flat resignation. She was the age of his granddaughter. I didn't say anything except, "Good Evening." What else was there to say? (There is a lot that I should have said!)
Seeing these two yesterday, just outside of my condo got me to thinking: Why is this so sick and twisted? Today, I looked at the young ladies in my Bible class, and I thought, "What can we do to make sure that none of these precious young women grow up to those choices? The answer is complicated, difficult to implement, and yet very simple: Teach them the children their need for Jesus, their identity in Christ and equip them to live lives that glorify God. With God's help, we can educate and equip a whole generation to succeed spiritually, economically, and live righteous, God-honoring lives... well above the extreme choice line. |
The SwansonsWe're a family on mission to bring the good news of Jesus to the Philippines. |