We were made to last forever. Thats right, LIFE ON EARTH IS NOT ALL THERE IS! "Your earthly body is just a temporary residence for your spirit." Rick Warren. There is so much more to life then are time here on earth. 2 Corinthians 5:1 "For we know that if the tent, our earthly home, is torn down, we have a building from God - a home not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens" If you think about it eternity is only heaven or hell. If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you are going to be spending eternity in hell and if you have accepted him you are going to be spending it in peaceful, blissful heaven. "The closer you live to God, the smaller everything else appears." Rick Warren. If we start living for God and not everyone else here on earth we become closer to God and start to see our purpose on earth more clearly. In order for us to make the most of living you can't have short term thinking you must have long term thinking. We have to think more about eternity. This life here on earth is just the tip of the iceberg, eternity is everything
else we can not see of the iceberg. Your purpose in life last for eternity! A lot of us think about eternity when someone passes but in reality we should think about it more often. Hebrew 13:14 "For here we do not have a permanent city, but we seek the city that is to come." Pondering the question of the day I believe I should stop worrying about the future and start living my life and serving God, trust in him, he's got a plan.
Point to Ponder: There is more to life than just here and now.
Verse to Remember: "This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever." 1 John 2:17
Question to Remember: Since I was made to last forever, what is the one thing I should stop doing and the one thing I should start doing today?
Day 5, May 5th, "Seeing Life from God's View"
Do you every wonder how God views your life? It's a good question to ponder. Rick Warren says, "The way you see your life shapes your life." So, how do you see or view your life? This is a hard question for me, I honestly don't know how I see my life. I guess I would say I picture my life like driving up Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs. Lots of windy roads, beautiful scenery, beautiful views, scary twist and turns, and when you finally get to the top its a breathless view. I have a lot of twist and turns in my life. I thought I was going to get a gymnastics scholarship and go to Kent State for college for a long time. I ended up with no scholarship and went to Eastern Michigan. I've had cancer 3 times. I had a break up from the person I thought was to be my future spouse. Each one of these experiences has brought me to be a stronger person and has given me different beautiful and breathless views on life. I'm not to the top of "Pikes Peak" yet thats heaven! Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." God's view on life is metaphoric in the Bible in 3 different ways, only the first 2 are talked about in this chapter the 3rd will be talked about on day 6.
1. Life is a Test
- Our character is developed and revealed by the tests we go through. I'm going through a test right now in my life. We are constantly being tested. Tests from God can be overwhelming and some we barely notice. Some areas that we are tested in are; major changes in our lives, delayed promises from God, impossible problems, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and senseless tragedies are just a few. "How do you act when you can't feel God's presence?" There are times when God draws back from our lives to test us and our character. At times like this he is preparing us for more responsibility. 2 Corinthians 32:31 "God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart." God never allows the tests in our lives to be greater than this grace. At times for me this is hard. There are times when I feel God's presence so much and other times I don't and really have to toon in on his word, mediate, and prayer journal. Everyday and every second we have an opportunity to deepen our character, demonstrate our love, and depend on God. I listened to a sermon last night by Rick Warren and he said you should spend the first 7 minutes of your day with God. Don't watch the news, don't check your phone, turn your alarm off or press the snooze and pray, mediate, read the bible. He said it will significantly increase your mood. I tried it today and will continue to do it. When we pass a test that God gives us we are rewarded eternally.
2. Life is Trust
- "We are stewards of whatever God gives us." Rick Warren. We don't "own" anything on earth , God loaned it to us and he will loan it to someone else once we go to heaven. "Society says if you don't own it you won't take care of it but, as Christians we live at a higher standard, because God owns it." Rick Warren. We should never boast about our accomplishments because we didn't do them on our own. God helped us. God gave us the talents to accomplish them. God gives us more the more he trust us. This is where I want to stress tithing. There is only one place in the bible that God asks us to test him and its with our tithe. Tithing is giving 10% of your income to the church before taxes. Now I know for a lot of you, you are thinking I could never do that! I'm telling you you can! Trust in God, test him. I have been tithing now for 3 years, I may not had a lot but I have always had enough to pay my bills. I have more in savings then ever before. I will never stop tithing. Trust in GOD! "God says there is a direct relationship between how I use my money and the quality of my spiritual life." Rick Warren.
Point to Ponder: Life is a test and a trust.
Verse to Remember: "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones." Luke 16:10a
Question to Remember: What has happened to me recently that I now realize was a test from God? What are the greatest matters God has entrusted to me?
Day 6, May 6th "Life is a TEMPORARY assignment"
Life on earth is so brief compared to the eternity that we are going to spend in our home in heaven as christians. As christians we should not get too attached to anything here on earth because compared to the time we are going to spend in heaven, life here on earth is so brief. We as christians should ask God to see life how he sees it, this will help us to get a better perspective of are time here. People that come over to our country for work get "green cards" that they have to carry around with them; as christians we should get "spiritual green cards" to live on earth because this is not our ultimate home. We are citizens of heaven not earth. God says that we should not care to much about earthly things, we should not live for the here and now, we need to think more eternally and not flirt with earthly things. In James 4:4 God even calls it adultery to be friends with the world more than him, "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." Rick Warren says, "...its easy to forget the pursuit of happiness in not what life is about." So often we get caught up in pursing everything here on earth and we forget about God and ultimately what life is about. I know I do this. When I get "happy" I stop going to bible studies and my prayer life diminishes to only the times when I need God. In reality I ALWAYS need God and should never turn my back on him. Yesterday we talked about the two ways God views life and today I am going to talk about the third way.
3. Life is a Temporary Assignment
- "In order to keep us from becoming too attached to earth, God allows us to feel a significant amount of discontent and dissatisfaction in life - longings that will never be fulfilled on this side of eternity." Rick Warren. We will never be 100% happy here on earth because this is not our permeant home! Heaven is! This one is hard for me, but we shouldn't waste our time worrying about something this is so temporary. I am the biggest worry wart! I worry about not worrying. This is an area I so desperately struggle in. I need to have more faith and trust. God has a plan and everything happens for a reason.
Point to Ponder: This world is not my home.
Verse to Remember: " So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
Question to Consider: How should the fact that life on earth is just a temporary assignment change the way I am living right now?
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