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Tag: Jesus

  • A Picture of Heaven – Chapter 13

    A Picture of Heaven – Chapter 13

    “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” echoed the near-silent words of the graveside.

    I thought of the stark contrast of the graveside scene to the love and glory of the depiction of Heaven in the little girl’s picture.  I smiled with joy.

    “Amen,” the words of the graveside service confirmed in my heart.

    They now seemed to be speaking to my soul, rather than to the clutter of noise in my ears and my thoughts.

    Everyone left the graveside. I watched as the casket was lowered… and then I left.

    +++

    It had always seems too difficult to glorify God on earth. We really do love our sin and hate God.

    Yet that day and one picture had changed everything.

    Jesus was now real. Jesus was now: God in the flesh — flesh and blood, broken and shed for me. His love even for a sinner like me.

    I thought of the picture of Jesus carrying a lamb.

    I thought again of the weightier significance of a childhood song:

    Jesus loves me

    This I know

    For the Bible

    Tells me so.

     I am weak

    But He is strong

    It’s for His love

    That I now long.

    I think the kid’s verse is different, but this is what I was thinking.  It’s what I was singing in my heart.  And I had His joy – like a lamb warmly held in His arms.  I was safe from the world now.

    Jesus loves me, this I know… and I had a little girl to thank… a little girl with a picture of heaven.

    +++

    Conclusion to follow tomorrow; but in case you missed any chapters or want to SHARE: 

    A Picture of Heaven – prologue.

  • ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 3

    ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 3

    Christians can safely presume that anything wrong in our person-to-Person relationship with God is OUR problem, NOT HIS.

    ANGRY children of God who remain a prodigal son or daughter do NOT look to God for ANY solution for their anger.

    By contrast, Christians pray.

    ANGRY relationships between two ANGRY children of God are quite another matter.  In all likelihood, we are BOTH probably wrong in this person-to-person love-hate relationship.

    The unbeliever or disobedient believer hides in the darkness of their sin.

    Other hidden issues boil beneath the surface of their anger, fueled by a hardened heart against the love of Christ – HATRED for the celebrated Son of the Father.

    Consider your own SELF from Jesus’ Parable of the Angry Brother.

    Are YOU the brother who will NOT let go of grace for another?

    Christ’s caution to the heart of the faithful son, however, is that we must set aside our anger and rejoice in the love of the Father for all.  You know His example:

    FORGIVE US our trespasses, AS WE FORGIVE those who TRESPASS AGAINST US.

    “Do ANGRY children of a forgiving Father really have any right to NOT forgive ANY other?

    [To be continued…]

  • ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 1

    ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 1

    “Our lives are weighed on a sensitive scale of love-hate relationships.

    Why do Christian seek secular solutions for problems of God?

    Answer: Because we share in common the same love-hate relationships of man.

    The true answers of ANGRY children of a loving God must come directly from God.

    To begin, let us establish the difference between the scriptural approach of Christians to our ANGER and the ineffective secular approach of those separated from our loving God.

    John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

    18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

    20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

    Do Christians sometimes practice evil?  Of course we do.

    Do we believe in Christ Jesus, the only begotten Son of God?  Of course we do.

    Therefore each time we sin; every time we have anger; all times we hate the light and turn to darkness:

    we must repent and turn back to our loving Heavenly Father and the Perfect example of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

    We must hate only evil and love all that is good.

    Yet it’s not always easy.

    Hear this discussion between a lawyer and Jesus:

    Luke 10:  “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

    26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

    27 So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

    28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

    29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

    Isn’t that just what we tend to do when we do NOT want to love someone?  How like the world we can be in our relationships with others.

    Two commandments: Love God.  Love each other.

    Where does that love-hate relationship seep into each of our lives?  The answer is: in our sin.

    [To be continued…]

    Just in case you missed our earlier related post: Christian Anger