The Journey 12-12-14 Morning People! Woke up very early again thinking and praying for people who have had such great loss in their life. As a pastor, especially a youth pastor, you should not have to bury the young that have been in your group, your ministry, your life. I was lifting those parents, sisters, brothers etc. up for the past half hour. My heart hurts. Sometimes I will be sitting at my desk at the university and weep when I think of them. Please, some of you know who I might be talking about, some of you know you are the recipients of my prayers, God’s grace, and His future plans to resurrect your love one. It is going to happen. Resurrection was at the CORE of our story in Mark a couple of days ago. LOVE, the MOST important commandment out of the 613 floating around during Jesus’ time and when that young, most likely PHD was asking the question. FIRST, the resurrection (I am not addressing the whole marriage thing right now. I have done that. Trust God for that and remember, it was thrown in the middle of this argument for arguments sake) • Jesus makes CLEAR, ‘Resurrection’ is the reversal of DEATH! Death will NOT have a sting, a place anymore in the New Earth, God’s place in the universe. The gift of a new body (like Jesus’ resurrection body according to Paul’s letter to the church of Philippi) to enjoy LIFE in God’s new world! We are going to LIVE, learn, move about, discover, be in relationship and LOVE for eternity people, NEVER to say good-bye again!! Comfort each other with that amazing concept. The other aspect to me is BELIEVING (and you know how God feels about FAITH) in the resurrection does NOT just offer the best hope of all for our ultimate future; it give to the PRESENT created world its full value. What God has made, here me, listen to His Word, God will, WILL REMAKE! Hold on to that, embrace it, NEVER let it go! And, remember, He will never let you go. SECOND, this story yesterday in Mark 12 about the young scholar who wanted to know what commandment is the MOST important. Great question, right? Okay, STORY: Your house is on fire, what will you grab as you run to escape? Your children of course, if they can’t walk themselves. Your wallet? Your computer. Your passport and personal documents? Maybe a precious photograph or two? Wristwatch your grandfather gave you? Stack of letters someone you love dearly wrote/ Now you are watching from a safe distance as everything else in the house burns to the ground, becomes ashes. You realize the significance of what you’ve just done. You have made some IMPORTANT choices. These things are more valuable to you than tables and chairs, china and glass, clothes, books, and a thousand other things. You have discovered the real PRIORITES in your life. The QUESTION the brilliant young lawyer asked Jesus was like that. Faced with a whole volume of Jewish law, which commandment really matters? Which one will you grasp on to in a moment of crisis? And what is the significance of that choice? What are you saying about the others? What does God want from us? That is the most important question one can ask, right? We need to know that. That knowledge would be extremely important as to how we live our life. I would change the way one lives their life. I would change the way we react to how other people drive! It would change the “checks” we write. It would change the websites we might visit. So, I ask again, do you know what God wants from you? Seriously! When a crisis comes, could it be that loving God and others really matters, not sacrifices? (staying with the context of this story) I love the fact the lawyer GRASPED, and agreed with, Jesus’ underlying meaning. No wonder Jesus commends him with these breathtaking words: ‘You are not far from God’s kingdom.’ Wow, I want to be there, close to that understanding for the rest of my life. How about it gang, if Jesus walked with us for a little while today would he say, ‘man, (woman) you are not far from God’s kingdom.’ Love you guys and gals, pray up, love up. . . it is the most important. pb
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 09:34:13 +0000
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