Eternally Minded

People die every day. Every day a vibrant life becomes a legacy... Something that people will remember. It's been running around in my mind for a while: How will people remember me when I'm gone? Will they recollect a kind, selfless person who loved her Saviour? Or will her sour moods and grumpy features be remembered more? In the Bible, I've recognized many legacies. I'd like to share a few with you: Enoch: "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." (Genesis 5:24)  Scholars believe that Enoch didn't die. God miraculously took him from the earth into His glorious heaven. When Christians are asked about Enoch, in many cases this is the first thing that comes to mind. Noah: "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9)  Righteous... Blameless... Like Enoch, Noah had close communion with his Maker. But what is also said about him is that he was righteous and blameless. I...

Ecclesiastes 3:14: I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that the people fear before Him. I love that... "Whatever God does endures forever." Why do you suppose that is? I petition to you that it is because God is omnipotent. What does omnipotent mean? Purely, all powerful. When we imagine how much power and might God has, enough to create the universe with His voice, gloriously bring millions of people to Himself by His blood, and sustain life on earth since creation (which is no sweat for Him), He must have a lot of power. More than the human mind could ever comprehend. "This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ..." (Ephesians 5:32) There is so much about God that we will never understand, but it is humbling to try. "To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of...

Exodus 34:14: You shall worship no other god, for the L ORD , whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Something that has become increasingly obvious to me in the passed few months is the importance of God's attributes. Once you separate God from even one of them, there is a great likelihood that we're no longer talking about the same God. Commonly, people shy away from talking about His divine jealousy, wrath, omnipotence [all powerful], and omnipresence [everywhere at all times]. Truthfully, God is all these things, equally and righteously so. God is holy and cannot sin. We are unholy with a sin nature. When our finite minds consider jealousy, we immediately associate it with sin, because, apart from God, it is almost always sin. You might ask how God can be jealous without sinning. In the Old Testament, God's jealousy is often focused on when talking about idolatry. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in h...

Ask that question to everyone in North America and you will find that most of the population are Christians. According to Statistics Canada over two-thirds claim to be affiliated with a Christian religion. Great news, right? After studying the book of 1 John , I've come to a different conclusion. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5) "So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire .   Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." (Mathew 7:17-19) Based on the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, does the Holy Spirit live within you? "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father Who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21) Jesus did the will of His Father, are ...

I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these things are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, emnity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit  is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with it's passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.   ...

Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe, Doing exactly what the L ORD commands, doing it happily. Action is the key, do it immediately.  Joy you will receive!  Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe! I'm sure nearly everyone has heard that Sunday School song at one point or another. But if you take a close look at the words, some of them are very profound and challenging. That line, "Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe" is like a hammer to the ego when it sinks in. How often do we obey? Like, really obey? What is obedience? Is it just doing as we're told, or it there more to it than that?  Obedience is defined as a " compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority."  Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive... Hebrews 13:17 You can outwardly obey without being submissive on the inside. We do it all the time.  Obedience which is n...