PERSPECTIVE: BE A RIVER OF LIFE

Most people’s point of reference begins from the day they were born and then become aware of their immediate surroundings.  For the majority of mankind, who are not even aware of historical events and key milestones, all that matters is the here and now. Sadly very few even consider their future, on earth and beyond.

So is it with matters of the soul.  One thing the world’s systems have succeeded in is not just removing the Bible and moral teaching from daily life, but they have removed critical thinking from the last three generations of young people, and counting.  However it is more than the inability to think of anything at all, it is the corruption which culture and poor-on-purpose education has wrought on entire people groups, over the last 55 plus years.

Those who are wise, already know that the leaders of entertainment hate the one true God, substitute Him with ungodly idolatry and have slowly boiled the frog to convince the majority of youth to believe either in nothing or a combination of nothing. This combined with a horrible liberal education system, which indoctrinates rather than educates or grows minds to fruitful, happy thinkers, has given us an increasing number of people called "nones". Nones are the fastest growing demographic in America, in that, they represent a rapid growth of people who believe in absolutely nothing at all. Faith brings hope. Lack of hope therefore, results in the opposite.

If you are looking for the root cause of the rampant hopelessness among the majority of the population under the age of fifty, these are the main ingredients: culture and indoctrination rather than STEM education (STEM being: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). But church leaders are not guiltless in any of this. Almost every western church – from Europe to North America and Australia – has failed the Great Commission. The first part of this Final Instruction from the Risen Lord as He ascended back to Heaven was “Go make Disciples”. (A disciple is defined as a follower or student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher).

There is no shortage of study, facts and evidence of what has gone wrong.  One thing is apparent, however, and it is that the vast majority of the lost (the wider population) and even weak professing Christians, do not know God, His Word or His Ways.

It is so wonderful to watch the eyes of a baby, toddler or child under the age of 10, who discovers the wonders of Creation all around them. Whether it is a caterpillar changing to a butterfly; or a loving pet snuggling up to a four year old playing with building blocks; or an 11 year old catching his first fish at the lake, Life is new exciting, and full of so much potential. It truly is beautiful thing. Here is where Life begins and all the child and young person can see, is what they have right before them.

It is incumbent upon those of us who are charged with shepharding the young, and those who will come after us,  to pass on the Knowledge of the Ages, which we were taught growing up.  God expects parents and those of us who know better, to share the Truth about Him- Truthfully. This includes the Truth about the meaning, purpose and ways of God, as much as we are capable.

The Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri

One thing which a child could notice, who has been properly educated at both home, school and/or home-school are the wonders of rivers. Ecclesiastes 1:7  tells us that “all the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, they flow again”. This is a perfect observation. For example, when the snow melts at the top of the Mississippi River in the great winter wonderland of northern Minnesota, and flows into the 1.7 square mile Lake Itasca, most people never connect it to being the very start of the Great and Fabled Mississippi River.

This River then picks up steam, width, depth and more and gets bigger as it

The Biblical Rivers Tigris & Euphrates still exist

begins its 2320 mile journey down to the Gulf of Mexico. Then, all that water, pours into the Gulf. Yet, it never overflows. It is the same with every other river, worldwide. The Tigris and Euphrates are the two Rivers from Creation and the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 2:10-14). They bob and weave, even now, all over the land of the Bible, growing in massive water volume, yet when they empty into the Persian Gulf as one – the Euphrates – that Gulf never overflows. 

Or how about the winds? Where do they originate and to where are they going? Even the best meteorologists are unable to answer these questions.  These items plus the futility of trying to change things we have absolutely no control over. This includes so-called “climate change”, which is a prideful heresy, against the Power and Control of the Lord.

The complete and unquestionable Sovereignty of God remains in place, in this timeless, seamless story where only the personnel changes. Human beings during the time of King Solomon, who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes over 2900 years ago, are the same as those being born in 2018.  Environment conditions and circumstances are obviously different, but the Plans and Ways of the Lord remain constant.

What was always will be. The entire book of Ecclesiastes describes the human condition from birth to death and all the turns, times and turbulence of life. However one thing remains true, and it is that God sees all. He will bring all to justice one day. Each generation will stand in the bright lights with our peers of our generation to account for our time here on earth.

While there is still time, we should be diligent to be aware of our Creator and His Law planted in the hearts of all who have ever lived.  The time to learn from History is now. The time to observe His ways in His creation is now. The time for our redemption is also now. Do not waver, hesitate or procrastinate. Tomorrow is never promised. In the meantime, roll on like the Mighty Mississippi and let your life be a testimony flowing into the Gulf of humanity, in all our immediate communities. Finally, may our lives be a River, through which the very life of Jesus Christ flows through us, to bless and improve the lives of others in our own families and communities.

THE PRAYER OF MOSES - PART 7

10 The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,  that we may gain a heart of wisdom.....(Psalm 90:10-12)
Any glance at the obituaries in any local newspaper would show its usual share of senior citizens who have passed on into eternity, after long productive lives. However, on an increasing basis, a disturbing trend has developed over the last two decades as more and more younger people are moving into eternity in their 20's, 30's and 40's. I have known some of them.

Judging from the brief synopsis of their lives and legacies,  the chief end of the younger set seems to be a whole lot of self-gratification and almost nothing of any eternal value. Most of them do not even have a Christian burial. They are mostly cremated now and "celebration of life" in taverns, restaurants or banquet halls are increasingly the norm. Their apparently main accomplishments in life seem to include things like "he was a loyal St. Louis Cardinals and NASCAR fan"....or "she loved pets and volunteered tirelessly at the local animal shelter"....or  so and so "loved family picnics, backyard barbecues and feeding ducks in the park".

What does all of this mean, in relation to what the Bible says in these verses (Psalm 90:10-12)? It most definitely shows us that the normal nice folks next door and down the street, while susceptible to the same uncertainties of life, which you and I possess, are oblivious to what the next stage of life holds for them.  As previously stated, mankind was created to live forever. The choice is up to the individual WHERE their eternity lies. By the time this current age expires, which it will, NOBODY could use the excuse before God that they never heard of God, Jesus or the plan of eternal salvation.

Before the great Flood in Genesis 6, of which there is ample evidence (Grand Canyon, rock formation etc), people lived hundreds of years. However, the sheer volume of water flooding the earth, altered the eco-systems to the point where, apart from Noah who lived a couple hundred years after the Flood subsided, the atmosphere (and God) only allowed a lifespan of around 120 or so years. Abraham lived 176 years before he went into Eternity. Moses was stronger at 120 when God took him, than most 40 year olds are today. The average lifespan in the 1800's was hardly 35-40 years yet today, due to excellent medical care, we can now live into our 80's and 90's.

In the long run, the numbers are not as important as our preparation to meet our Maker.  Additionally, the demands of modern life are such that hope is a premium. The cost of living and/or providing for a family leave many to wonder if "this is all there is".  When you parallel this to the increasing number of  "nones" (those with no religious or "faith") - they are correct - there is no Hope. There is no Hope because they refuse to see the evidence of God all around them in Creation and the still on-going proclamation of the Gospel from street corners and church pulpits. We can blame the culture, churches and conmen from Charles Darwin to Marx to the new Buddhist craze of "meditation" etc. But the fault, as we know from the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Who indwells Christians, that the problem is sin.

Sin faces the Wrath of God. The nice couple in the 40's who perished together in a motorcycle accident, as friendly and hard-working as they were in their community, will face eternal separation from God as much as the 70 year old pastor who was never born again, but faked his way through life with people thinking he was such a godly man!  The nice grandmother who volunteers in the small town library or the forty year old social worker who specializes in helping people access needed benefits for her hungry toddlers will face the anger of God one day, for rejecting the Gospel and staying at arms' length from the Everlasting Arms which wanted to hold and love them.

So given the fact that the majority of mankind, whether they perished when a bridge collapses in China or an earthquake kills 350 in Ecuador or another scaffold collapses outside a half-finished skyscraper in Seattle,  will have no standing before God, what can be done?

Verse 12 tells us "teach us to number our days".  The original word for "number" is the Hebrew word "manah". Basically, God is encouraging us through this portion of Moses' His Prophet's prayer to make every day of our lives count! Not just that, but we have the opportunity to approach God to ask Him HOW to make it happen. "Teach us" means "God, I have no clue how to do this, can you help me make something out of my life, to make a difference to someone else's life which can bring meaning both them and me, please? Teach me, oh God, how to do this thing called life. I feel so useless, in vain search of meaningful thoughts and actions and feel as if all I do is work, sleep, eat, watch TV, go to ball games and such. Help me oh, God."

This is guaranteed to work....but there is one catch. God does not hear the prayer of an unrighteous or unsaved person. This cry and appeal to Holy God only works if your life is found in Christ, your sins are forgiven and you are a real Christian, which Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The second part of verse 12 is "that we may gain a heart of wisdom". The Wisdom of the knowledge of God implied here is "chokmah" or true wisdom, which starts with knowing God, fearing Him in the right way and wanting to seek and serve Him daily. This is what brings meaning to our lives - being wise in the Ways, Works and Wonders of God. Hence, this heart of wisdom can only come from knowing Him....and we know Him from knowing His Word - reading, studying and understanding the Scriptures. Verse 12 is calling us to come to God to ask for a realization of some of His Wisdom that we may be focused and disciplined in our approach to life.

This may seem easier to speak about than to put into practice. However, it is a common sense approach to these fleeting years on earth. It used to be when we were little kids that the summer months seemed to last forever. Now, even young people comment how fast the years are flying by. This can be compared to the last few sheets on a roll of paper towels where those last sheets of Bounty or whatever, fly right off the roll - then it's over.

Life is like this, for us as well as all mankind. The end of all things approaches quickly. Therefore, it is very wise to be prepared no matter how young or old, whether 17 or 70, to stand before God. The question is - how prepared are we?

(Photo Credit Here)

KEYS TO A GODLY LIFE PART 11/12 - BE ON THE ALERT!

THE DAWN OF GLORY SERIES:

PLEASE READ THE PASSAGE, THEN - WATCH THE BRIEF EXPOSITION FROM THE PLUMBLINE VIDEO:

2 Peter 2:1-22

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who willsecretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and intheir greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.

Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, 11 whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like unreasoning animals,born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, 13 suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

THE DAWN OF GLORY

NEW SERIES ON 1 & 2 PETER BEGINS

KEYS TO A GODLY LIFE -PART 1:WHO IS PETER, THE ROCK?

A couple months ago, a 12 part series on the Book of Ecclesiastes was posted here, along with the video teaching from my PLUMBLINE TV show to go along with it. That series on Ecclesiastes kicked off the topic on the general "Meaning of Life", according to how God sees it. God used a deeply flawed man to get His point across, while at the same time, giving us a Living Example of what we should not become - like Solomon.

First and Second Peter are the bookends to Ecclesiastes. While the latter explained the Meaning of Life, Peter showed us exactly HOW we are to walk out that Life in expectation for the "Dawn of Glory" - that is, the coming Kingdom of God! How did a rude, crude, three-time denying, jump-out-the-boat and walk on water only-to-sink kind of guy end up with this lofty position of writing for ALL people of ALL ages? Well, because GOD HIMSELF through Jesus Christ His Son - gave Peter the Keys to the Kingdom!

The Keys to the Kingdom are not to let people into Heaven! Only Jesus Christ can do that. The Keys to the Kingdom are to show us HOW we are to live DAILY as saved and rejuvenated people, so we can come into the Fullness of what Christ expects of us. Remember this - Peter means "rock" but only in the pebble size sense of the word. Jesus Christ IS the Rock. Peter is a servant. Jesus is the Master.

The Apostle Peter was personally selected by the LORD Jesus Himself to be the Head of the Church - His Church. Peter is NOT the first pope and the word pope is nowhere near the canon of Scripture. The rough and tumble Galilean Fisherman sure had his ups and downs as a follower of Christ, yet we see in Paul's writings that he ministered with his wife and ended up in Rome where he was crucified upside down between the age of 65-70 years old.  

These next twelve teachings are not done by Chapter but by sections and are fully fleshed out for the most part. Pray, read and be blessed, in Jesus' Name, amen.

WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT OUT OF LIFE?

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady

Many go through life without grasping the full meaning of it life.  Like all of us, at some

point in our earlier years, many have questions, the answers for which they either seldom seek (and find) the correct answers  or get the world’s misdirection or even worse – just give up and let their lives just slip away, meaninglessly.  This is not what God intended for us – whether Jew or Gentile or rich or poor. There is something within the spirit of every human which instinctively desires more than the present condition.  Increasingly, we hear this, not only from those who have not surrendered to the plans God originally had for them, but those who frequently darken the church door.

Some think “if only I had a little more, a boat or a trip to Europe or….” It would make me really happy. Some seek love and relationship, and end up on some dating website or worse – a bar, looking for love in all the wrong places.  Some seek answers in their occupation, lacking the proper perspective of what work is really about. Some seek it in music, writing books or athletics.  However, no matter what the temporal condition of the person in question, it is all boils down – more times oft than not – to “is this ALL there is”?! Is this it?

This is the same question that Super bowl Champion New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had! Here is a man who has everything a man could want, in the world’s eyes! Brady has the big multi-million contract. Brady has the huge diamond-studded Super Bowl rings. Brady has the awe of his peers and the world sports media. Brady has the massive mansion in California. Brady has the fashion model pretty wife. Brady has it all…or does he? What did he have to say about all of this? Now he does seem to be a nice guy on the human level, and has taken a liking to born-again Christian and new Patriot Tim Tebow, so this not a personal attack on Brady. It is though, an honest look at what makes successful men tick (or not) and why honesty really is the best policy...as well as the first step to personal, spiritual redemption!

I recommend you watch this Plumbline program called “WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT OUT OF LIFE?” – It is the introductory program to my 12-Part study of the entire Book of Ecclesiastes which will be posted here over the next several weeks. This upcoming series is called “THE MEANING OF LIFE”. The underlying Spirit-led premise is this- if you and I really want to know what the true meaning of life really is – FIND IT IN THE GOD OF THE BIBLE!