Waken Up Life Is Too Short!!! Shalom Brothers and Sisters, if you ask every Believers today what they are longing for, they will probably all answer (or should); “The Second Coming of Jesus/Yeshua!!!” This would be great to hear, but also, out of all those saying this, how many of them are living their lives according the Will, Word and Commands from God/Yahweh every day? I mean, are they all living according to everything written in the Word of God/Yahweh, rather than following the ways of the world and the lusts of the flesh? For all those who truly are waiting for the Second Coming it is time to stop pretending and: Waken Up, Life Is Too Short!!! The passage from the Word of God/Yahweh for today is Matthew 6:19-24; “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Sometimes our thoughts about the Spiritual world are closer than at other times. The reality of that world comes home to us when someone we know enters into it, into the life, which lasts forever… It is a comfort to know about the next life: that death is not the end, but a new beginning; that Lord brings each person to life again in His eternal Kingdom, the Spiritual world; that He awakens the body of the spirit so that we can continue life there. It really is a continuation of life: we continue to be the same people; we meet up with people we know; and, what is particularly touching, husbands and wives who had been separated by death are reunited. This is a beautiful picture, and it can provide tremendous reassurance. In fact, the whole purpose of our life here on earth is to prepare for the other world and for the life, which lasts forever. The Lord has lots to say about this preparation. In the book of Matthew, He said the following familiar words from our passage today in verses 19-21; “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We can see here the call to rise above our worldly concerns and to recognize the reality of eternal life. There is a teaching, which takes these words one-step further by saying, “There is nothing better than having in your hearts what you know will last forever. Because it is better for one to know the truth and have that in their hearts about what has to come.” We need to know the truth about the Spiritual world, about the life, which leads us there, and about our responsibility to prepare ourselves for it!!! Keeping The Spiritual World In Mind!!! Life Is Too Short!!! I remember hearing said once; “ One day you will wake up and twenty five years will have passed by.” You know there is amazing truth in these words. Because the Lord taught much the same thing in the book of Psalms 103:15-16; “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” Life here on earth, no matter how important it is, is like grass or a flower of the field. The wind passes over it, and it is gone… Sooner or later it will be our turn to cross over to that world we know exists and experience it for ourselves. How often do we reflect about or picture ourselves dying and entering into the Spiritual world? Its one thing to know about heaven and hell objectively, but its quite another to picture ourselves there. People don’t generally like to think of their own mortality. After all, most of us have pressing concerns, which occupy our minds and good concerns. Some of us have families we could not imagine being separated from. Many of us have jobs, which absorb our energy and make us feel useful at the same time. We often think about things we would like to do in the future, such as trips that we would like to take when we’re retired or when our children are grown… But even these concerns are temporary, or at best transitional, when they are considered next to eternal life. And so the Lord asks us to prepare for that life as we go about our present concerns. He asks us to do this in the following words from Psalm 103:17-18; “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.” Eternal life is far more substantial than what earthly life is… It is far more important to prepare for that life, by fearing or honoring the Lord, by keeping His covenant, and by obeying His commandments!!! When we keep these principles and the reality of the Spiritual world in mind, then we are much more likely to prepare for our eternal life, instead of ignoring it!!! The Benefits Of Thinking About Eternal Life!!! Teachings like these are not just warnings or reminders. They describe a whole way of thinking and an attitude about Spiritual life, which is very healthy. Keeping the reality of the Spiritual world alive in our minds is a tremendous asset. At this point, I would like to mention what I think are three areas in which we can see the benefits of keeping this in mind: (1) It reminds us to value, the good things in our lives… One way to see this is in our relationships… With an idea of eternal life, we know that some of our relationships will continue after death. Certainly if we know someone who has died, we can anticipate the time when we will meet him or her again, and pick up where we left off with joy… In another way, we can value our current relationships more. The easiest way to see this is in the context of marriage. Most of us enter into marriage hoping that it will last forever and it will if we work at it. If we hold onto that perspective of eternity, then we may value our spouse more and not take him or her for granted. The importance of eternity in relation to marriage is emphasized in the Word. For if the idea of eternity is taken away, you will feel flat and deeply depressed. The feeling that a relationship will not stop getting better, that it will never end, is essential. Otherwise why work at it? Another gift we can value is children. The Lord gives parents the privilege of preparing their children; of equipping them with tools, which will help them prepare themselves for heaven. The end of His creation is a heaven from the human race, His children. It is a wonderful thing to realize that He allows us to participate in His system. It can inspire us to recognize our responsibility to do all we can for our children to help them on their way and not just for life in this world, but for life in heaven to eternity… Other things we may be reminded to value are the church of God/Yahweh and His Word, which the church of God/Yahweh has been given. The Word teaches us about the life that leads to heaven, and the church of God/Yahweh supports us in living that life. With a keen sense of our own mortality, we may feel called by the Lord to pay greater attention to these treasures which He has given us!!! (2) The second benefit of keeping the reality of Spiritual world in mind is that it gives us perspective when bad things happen. In the work of the Lord, He teaches us a principle of His Kingdom to come, by telling us: “Eternal things are far more of importance than any material thing that you may have, because not all material things last forever, they are only temporary, but eternal thing from God/Yahweh will last forever.” This shows us that the Lord is constantly working for our eternal happiness. He does not ignore our present concerns, but if there is a choice, He will always choose our eternal happiness over our present happiness… (Example): There are plenty of car accidents in the world that are involving drunk drivers. In most cases also it is the innocent people that get hurt through no fault of their own in most cases. Does that mean the Lord doesnt care about these people? Of course not!!! But His eternal end is that all people who are following Him and His Word may go to heaven. He has to permit people to be selfish and cruel in a way, and even allow them to cause others to suffer, by doing so they are going to have the freedom to do the opposite from what they have been doing and to turn to Him, to respond to His call, and to return the love He offers from freedom… Knowing this principle of the Lords Kingdom in mind and that He looks out for our eternal welfare over our short term happiness here and helps to give us a perspective. When bad things happen to us or to anyone else we can see that the Lord still cares. Our job, from day one of our lives to the end, is to cooperate with the Lord and to let Him prepare us for His heavenly Kingdom. His system is set up for that goal and always emphasizing the eternal over the temporary!!! (3) It helps us when evil delights tempt us. The last benefit that I will mention comes in the form of a negative sense. It may be easier to see the benefit of having an eternal perspective by seeing what its like not to have one… When people fail to think about or care about eternal life they are actually; “laying up for themselves treasures on earth.” So by doing this, such a person is carried away by hell… They are led to think about themselves and occupy their minds with what will make them happy now, in this world. We know that all people are all born with evil hereditary tendencies in them. What this means is that all people feel pleasure sometimes when they shouldnt and an insane hellish pleasure, but it is still pleasure nonetheless. You see Satan can use these delights to be tremendously persuasive. He uses our pleasures to lure us… Sometimes the pleasure of hell doesn’t have to try very hard, because the delights arising from putting ourselves first are so powerful. There is a teaching, which says, “that hellish pleasures are felt more forcefully than heavenly ones in this world.” If we think about it, thats true… It feels good to drink too much… It gives us a feeling of power to make ourselves look good at the expense of someone else. There is satisfaction in having the biggest house and the best clothes to wear… Our senses are so alive, and the worldly pleasures, which arise from them, are strong… But heavenly delights are much less forceful in this world. They are there, but internal… I suppose you say that they are a Blessedness that is hardly perceptible, because it is hidden away in the interiors of our life. Of course it feels nice to do good things… There is satisfaction in doing our jobs well… But, the trouble is, it often feels like hard work while we are doing it. The rewards are secondary, and we have to pay attention to see them. Theyre there, but less forceful in this world… Fortunately, things will change in the next life… Selfishness is rewarded not with pleasure, but with punishment or frustration, while charity brings delight itself. But while we are in this world, we need to be aware. That hell is much less persuasive when we are paying attention… When we get caught up in acquiring stuff in the world and in being well off, it is important to remember the Lords Words from Matthew 6:25, 33; “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” The truth is; heavenly happiness is the only real happiness. If you are following God/Yahweh and His Word then you are on your way to happiness. Because with Him in our lives we have the promise of peace, Blessedness and happiness and all that will be in eternity. Reminding ourselves of the reality of the Spiritual world can help us to forego some of the transitory pleasures offered to us by hell!!! So let’s return to what was written in the passage in Matthew 6:20; “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” In other words, He asks that we keep the Spiritual world in mind as we go about our lives, for then our hearts will be there also. He also asks us to remember that our days are numbered that we saw written in Psalm 103:15-16; “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” Finally, He asks that we remember our Spiritual responsibility to prepare for His Kingdom and obey His laws for the Kingdom… We need to know what the laws of the kingdom are, so that we can live happily to eternity. If so, then we can be assured of happiness, as we read written in Psalm 103:17-18; “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.” So brothers and sisters, we should have in our hearts always the life that will last forever and that if we are Believers truly then we will have life after death and in doing so we all need to: Waken Up Life Is Too Short!!! Be Blessed in the name and shed blood of Jesus Christ/Yeshua and keep your eyes and hearts wide open as time is running out…Hallelujah, Amen!!! PastorJeff Walker
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 13:37:31 +0000
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