Materialism, purpose of life, transit in Hades or "with Christ", and future happenings...these have been touched on in this series of On the Doorstep, but Don't Get to Enter. These are based on snippets from the book The Eternal Journey by authors Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph. D. who relate their findings of Near Death Experinces (NDE) that surveyed folks have had over the years.
In Part 4 of this series, we realized that materialism isn't one of life's purposes. Of course whatever we have we use for the good of our family and those in need. Money is important but let it serve you, not you serve it. Part 3 explains about Hades. In Part 5 we saw some of what is to come in our future; earthquakes and such. Now we want to see about an extended time of love and peace.
From the book page 74, we are told,
"Materialism is not one of the purposes of earth life. On the contrary; it inhibits growth and development.
...according to NDE...prophetic visions, the earth will experience an increasing incidence of upheaval and destruction, both of social and natural natures. This transitional period will be followed by a new era of human history characterized by love and peace."*1
> This latter idea of love and peace is what I want to hone in on in this entry; especially that which pertains with peace. We can experience God's love and peace in our hearts now through salvation through Jesus Christ, God's Son.
Isaiah 9:6 gives us one of the names of Jesus...
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...And he will be called...Prince of Peace..."
And then the next verse (vs 7) says,
"Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end."
The Prince of Peace who increases peace and of which there will be no end. Yes, we can have peace here and now as well as into the future.
And why would we be sent this Prince of Peace? Out of God's love for us. He wanted to make peace with us and give us peace within us. So there we have both love and peace. If you'd like to learn a bit about God's love, take a look at The Love Chapter. It will show you the type or character of love God has. He is so good and so great. He proved his love for us "in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). The Prince of Peace died in our stead to bring us this peace. Praise the Lord He's alive again, living for us.
Peace. We make peace with God when we accept Jesus as Savior. We no longer have the wrath of God upon us (John 3: 36). We have accepted Jesus gift of salvation which was Him taking the penalty of our sins in our place. Death and Hell are for us otherwise. Thank God for this gift of salvation. Having made this peace with God, we then have free access to peace in our hearts no matter the situation.
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 11:28,
"Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."
Again, in 1 Peter 5:7 He said,
"Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you."
When we obey His simple commands like this, we get rest. We get peace. We can have peace beyond all our understanding too. Did you know that? He says,
"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7).
Here's a verse I like too, from 2 Thessalonians 3:16,
"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you."
What a blessing from God. Peace in the here and now. And we can have the peace in our minds that our final destination in the after earth life, will be "with Christ" (Philippians 1:23) in Heaven which will be "far better". Peace in our minds will develop peace in our hearts and vise versa.
Isaiah 26:3 comforts us,
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You."
Did ya get that? Our minds. Our minds are bombarded with so much distress and unrest just in our day to day life with family, work and health issues. Yet with our minds fixed on Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we can have "perfect peace" by "trusting in God". For the follower of Jesus Christ, we have an even greater asset and source of an unending supply of peace as we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. One of the fruit of the spirit is....peace (Galatians 5:22). An unlimited fountain of peace for the taking. Even this talk of peace gives me peace.
The idea of trusting in God...often we may feel that because certain of our life situations haven't changed, we struggle day by day just to barely keep our head above water, so to speak, that we wonder, is God really interested in us? Does He really want us to have peace? Hey, does He really love us?! When we keep trusting that "yes, He does", and keep our minds "steadfast" on Him, God's Word says we will have peace. This is how our peace and our faith in God can grow.
I watched a movie recently where a doctor's husband died. She, a doctor, couldn't prevent him from dying. She had even asked for God's help and healing. But her husband died. She lost her faith in God for a while. But then another lady who'd experienced hard times told her something like, "Just talk to Him (meaning to God) and then be silent." When we are silent we may just hear His "still small whisper" (1 Kings 19:12) of love and peace that can multiply in our minds and hearts.
A word of caution. There are some other disciplines that suggest you empty your mind to seek peace. BEWARE!! This kind of thing can take you in a whole different direction. When the mind is empty it will eventually have to be filled with something. This is when Satan can take advantage and fill it back with his own thoughts and doubts about the goodness of God and he is well known as the deceiver (Revelation 12:9; John 10:10) and liar (John 8:44). He or one of his evil demons may come in and possess a person too. That is why it is very important to "fix our minds on Jesus"; "let your mind be steadfast and trusting on the Lord of peace and the God of peace and the Prince of Peace (Jesus)".
When Jesus reigns in future times; times when the lion and the lamb, wolf and leopard, children, infants and cobras will be at peace with each other (Isaiah 11:1-9), what wondrous times that will be. Just like the Garden of Eden. I fancy that. What a peaceful scenario all stemming from His love for us and wanting to commune with us in close relationship.
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| I love this picture. |
But mostly I look forward to the time when we will live and reign with Jesus (Revelation 20:6; 5:10). In Revelation 22:1-9 there is even a greater time of peace. This is "for ever and ever". This will truly be the perfectly "extended time" of perfect peace in the presence of the Prince of Peace, our Jesus, Savior, and Friend; all initiated by God's love.
~ERC 2016~
1. The Eternal Journey;
Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D.; copyright 1997;
Warner Books, Inc., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 A
Time Warner Company; page74.
I wonder what the future holds? At times it really would help to know, at other times it has turned out fortitudinous to not to have known what was around the bends in life. As some of you may know, this series On the Doorstep, But Don't Get to Enter is about the phenomenon of Near Death Experiences (NDE) as I'm learning from the book entitled The Eternal Journey by authors Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D.
The authors explain about "flash-forward types of NDEs" that people have encountered.
From the book page 71.
They can come as a "prophetic vision" which has "a world or global focus and pertains to a picture of the earth's future rather than pertaining solely to the personal future of an individual...highly consistent from person to person..."
"...there is a sense of having total knowledge...seeing entirely earth's evolution and history from the beginning to the end of time...seldom extend beyond the beginning of the 21st century...increase in earthquakes, volcanic activity, generally massive geophysical changes...disturbances in weather patterns and food supplies..."*1
> The Bible has numerous references about earthquakes and end times cataclysmic activity happening. In fact throughout the ages of time from Creation there have been such. Some in reference to times ahead are the passages in Matthew 24:6, 7; Mark 13:7 and Luke 21:11. Revelation has several terrifying revelations as well: Revelation 6:2; 8:5; 11:13; 16:18. If you turn to the Old Testament and look at Isaiah 24:19-20 and Ezekiel 38:19-20 you'll see that God did not leave the people back then without warning and witness of things to come. This is all true enough.
This will happen on the earth. We need to realize that those of us who belong to Jesus Christ need not fear. Note that Heaven is our home (Philippians 3:20); "Our citizenship is in Heaven..." So whatever happens on earth will not harm us.
This is why it is especially urgent that any who do not believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, need to do so asap! Dear people, if you have read Parts 1-4 of On the Doorstep, but Don't Get to Enter, you will know what is in store at the end and how you can avoid the penalty of sin which is death and Hell. Come to Jesus, now, I implore you!! What will happen on earth after Jesus has called His followers up to be with Him is nothing compared to the fire and brimstone and agonies of Hell. Hell is forever after, and that, definitely NOT, happily!
We may not know exactly how our personal life story will enfold but we can know from Scriptures that the destination thereafter needs to be considered here and now. As Erwin W. Lutzer wrote in his book, One Minute After You Die, page 31...
We should be
"...more concerned about what we will experience after death than what we will experience when we're near death. It's not the transition but the destination that really counts..."*2
God in His wisdom and mercy has allowed individuals to "see" for themselves in their NDE. Let the rest of us take heed to their testimony. And more importantly, what God Himself reveals to us in His Word on the subject. It is always important to measure, what we hear/learn/read, up to the Bible and what God wants us to know. Let God, His Word and the Holy Spirit teach you. He will never fail you; praise His Holy Name.
Let me open another can of worms here...
"We must warn...that those in heaven cannot communicate with us...the Bible strictly forbids any attempt...with those who have died..."*3
Those in Hades can't communicate with us either. We have seen that even though the Rich Man pleaded with Abraham to allow Lazarus to go back and tell his family about what happens after death, that Abraham said "No". Abraham told him that if they couldn't believe Moses and the prophets, why should they then believe Lazarus? (Luke 16:24-26)
Please see this website listing some twenty verses from the Bible about contacting the dead.
Some people like to dabble in such things as Ouija boards and seances. Here is what Rebecca Brown, MD says in her book He Came to Set the Captives Free about seances...
"The many seances that are held to supposedly contact the dead are all lies. These witches cannot actually contact the dead. This Scripture (1 Samuel 28:12) shows us that they only use demons who masquerade as the dead person. Satan can kill humans physically, but he cannot control their spirits and souls after death."*4
See what Jesus says in Luke 12:4-5 and Proverbs 9:10. Be wise. Contact only God. He promises that those who, "Call on Me, I will answer" (Jeremiah 33:3).
"We must learn to hear the Lord in our own spirit and mind. Only the Holy Spirit can teach you this, but you must ask for it and seek such communication earnestly..."*5
We have God's Word, the Holy Bible. Read and know it well. He will teach you what He wants you to know. Obey it and so "draw near to God" (James 4:8). He can and will content your heart without your having to know every detail of the future. Just be sure of your final destination; at Home with Him in Heaven for ever. That is the best 'assurance policy' in the world.
I want to share this age old song with you all. It's a lovely old piece called "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow".
~ERC 2016~
Bibliography
1. The Eternal Journey; Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D.; copyright 1997; Warner Books, Inc., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 A Time Warner Company; page 71
2. One Minute After You Die; Erwin W. Lutzer; Moody Publishers; January 5th, 1997; page 31
3. Ibid. page 83.
4. He Set the Captives Free; Rebecca Brown, MD; Whitaker House, July 1, 1992; page 283
5. Ibid., page 202.
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There is purpose for our lives. We've mentioned that God has a plan for us (in Part 2) and that we should busy ourselves fulfilling His purposes for us in our lives. That involves working on ourselves, sanctifying our character and conduct to be more like Jesus Christ; to love Him and to love our neighbor as ourselves; and learning that life is precious and we need to become mature and complete in that 'mission' to be more like Him. All this we do with the help and guidance of God's Holy Spirit. Now we will see yet another aspect of our purposes on earth.
The following quotation is taken from page 68 of The Eternal Journey written by Craig R. Lundahl and Harold A. Widdison both sporting Ph.D's. They say,
"It is quite evident from Near Death Experience (NDE) research that materialism is not one of the purposes of earth life...NDEers become less status conscious and materialistic..."
> We followers of Jesus Christ are to
"lay up treasure in heaven where moth doth not eat nor rust corrupt...where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-20).
Many of us like to shop or torture ourselves with window shopping. We like things. Things are nice. Or we "get into a sport" and learn all the ins and outs of it, buy up all the paraphernalia and play it, watch it (on TV or at the stadium) or talk about it with other like-mined (or not) souls every chance we get. To some extent that's ok; however if we are obsessed with it we are making it our 'god' becoming 'materialistic' in this sense. We appear to believe there is no other purpose in the world.
Jesus told a parable about the rich man who had such abundance of crops he ordered more barns to be built while he sat back and relaxed, well satisfied with himself and his accumulation (Luke 12:16-21). He said, "Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' He had no regard for anyone but himself. He is not seen to be helping the hungry and needy. He is not seen to be asking God what he should do with what he has. He definitely hadn't thought of his soul and where it would end up.
"God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
His wake up call was coming too late.
The Bible goes on to say,
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
By contrast we see the widow who gave her last two mites into the temple treasury (Luke 21:1-4). Jesus said that she had "put in more than any of the others". The others were scooping out of their wealth to show off but she out of her poverty. She gave all she had. The shame should have been on those wealthy ones. Why was she in such a degregated situation? Well, the widow out of her heart for God, out of her "richness towards God", knew where her true treasure was and how to make true treasure.
This reminds me of a book I read some time ago by Craig Blomberg called Neither Poverty Nor Riches, the title attuned to Proverbs 30:8. He makes similar rebukes.
We don't necessarily have to empty our coffers, nor give our resources out to simply anyone and everyone who asks. There does have to be good stewardship. Let that stewardship be characterized by, or stem from, our desire to be 'rich towards God'. Our love for Him and His people and those He directs us to, can be our standard and catalyst for giving; for relinquishing the hold money and possessions might have on us. This may help us to overcome materialism.
A chap named John Wesley has a famous saying that goes something as follows (there a several variations to it):
One of my blog entries entitled Morning Musings-Money Talks, has a lot to say in general about money, obviously, but also about addictions which in my mind relates also to the idea of materialism. Getting, getting, getting with selfish ambition. Learn to give. Give from a heart full of "richness towards God". And so, as the NDEer learned, there is indeed purpose in life which is not materialistic. Let us pursue good in the name of Jesus, and do it.
~ERC 2016~
Can a person escape their problems by committing suicide? The Eternal Journey book authored by Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D divulges that the "depressed suicidal" woman named
"Joyce Brown experienced a Near Death Experience (NDE) and learned that life is precious, that it's a gift from God and that we have no right to end it. She found out that one cannot escape one's problems through suicide, one takes them with you." (Page 67)
From page 68 of the book...
"...life is precious" (is her message to others) and...suicide is never the answer to any problem."
"...adversity has a purpose...not a punishment...to help us grow and develop those qualities needed to accomplish our mission on earth..."
> God wants to make us mature and complete in our faith and to be more Christ-like through our sanctification" (James 1:2-8). He wants to make us "holy as He is Holy" (1 Peter 1:13-16). As He molds and shapes us He puts us in situations in which to do so. We can choose to be molded or not. When we do choose the molding, then the "adversity" has done it's work; what a poignant purpose of life. (See more about 'purpose' from Part 2 of this series.)
We may be very tempted to shout at God and ask, "WHY ME? Why did you do this to me? I can't bear it!!!!" But you know, God is right there with you if you are His child. A man called David we read about in the Old Testament in the Bible, says in Psalm 23:4,
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me...".
David was talking to God. David went through a lot of stuff that never seemed very fair. There were times he was depressed but if you read through the Psalms you will see that although, as he began to write a Psalm, he would start off at a very low point by the end of the Psalm he would be praising God. This is a very good habit to inculcate too. Praise. Thankfulness to God. This can teach us to rely on Him; to help us out of ourselves and to overcome depression.
Patience and long-suffering could be products of facing our afflictions, disasters, and miseries of life. Ever hear of the "patience of Job"? Read about what he went through and the ending results if you think you have it bad here on earth (Book of Job in the Old Testament). Our trials and tribulations could bring us from impatience, to patience; from stubbornness to submission to His will and ways; from mercilessness to fullness of mercy; from unforgiveness to forgiveness and fullness of grace; from pride to humility and from meanness to kindness and so on. Our distresses, weariness and burdens of life can compel us to leap into His arms, bosom of love and rest despite the tragedies. Wouldn't you like to be that kind of person?
Satan comes to "steal, and to kill and to destroy" and he would snuff out our lives as quick as a wink if he can get by with it with his many lies and deceit. "End it all" he deceives, "and you'll have peace. You'll get away from your troubles." What a liar! If a person does not know Jesus Christ as their Savior they will go straight to Hades enroute to Hell in the final judgment. Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and who commit suicide (or even die a natural death), will have gotten out of the frying pan right into the fire. Hell is indeed a place of fire and brimstone and darkness, pitch black darkness void of love (Revelation 21:8)
If you do know Jesus Christ as Savior, you may get to get away from earth's troubles but you have wasted your life. God saved us to do "good deeds". And think of those you leave behind. They still have to deal with your 'mess'. What is it, money problems? Marital problems? Loss of a baby or some other loved one? Whatever problems?
I am not without my compassion or empathy, I too have had my share of troubles. Instead of opting out of life however, opt to forge through the difficulties of life, gain courage, strength and comfort from God and His people and opt to then help others through their struggles (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) as we develop our faith and relationship with God. God is on your side. This would indeed be a mission worth accomplishing on earth, life by precious life.
~ERC 2016~
Does God have a plan for our lives? In the book I've been reading called The Eternal Journey by authors Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D. about Near Death Experiences (NDE), the writers reveal that
"Gallup found that after an NDE some NDEers felt that God had a plan for their lives. Morse (another chap they quote) says, "The feeling that there is a purpose to life is one of the results of many childhood NDEs." (page 61-62)
> God does indeed have a purpose and plan for our individual lives. A plan not to harm us but to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11).
The first plan He has for us is salvation. To put our faith, hope and trust in His Son Jesus Christ who has made atonement for our souls as mentioned in Part 1 of this series on Near Death Experiences. He wants us to become His child, to be part of His family.
The second plan or purpose is to serve Him in some way that He unfolds to you as you commune with Him in prayer and quiet. He has prepared "good deeds" in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). One of the basic "good deeds" is to become "holy as He is holy", to be sanctified in our character and conduct (1 Peter 1:16). We can then shine as lights for Him as we tell others of God's good news of salvation through Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:15; Matthew 5:14; Romans 1:16).
Page 63 of the book reads,
"Perhaps the point to be made here is best summed up with the words of Neddie Pitcher. She was told by a personage in the other world, who she believed was her Father in Heaven, that she would know her mission in life as time went on. This statement implies that all people have a purpose or some mission in this earthly life.
Often family is part of a person's mission on earth...many NDEers have returned to their bodies because they felt they had responsibilities to help their families..."
> We know from God's Word that if we do not provide for our families we "are worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8). Widows in our family must needs be looked after by family and not to be fobbed off on the church's welfare. Family members even to the extent of the grandchildren, are responsible (1 Timothy 5:3-16). Father's especially are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the family imparting knowledge of God and His ways at all times (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:18-21). So whether spiritually or physically there are responsibilities that are inescapable.
The book gives such an example which can be found on page 65...
"Mary Evans saw her husband awaiting her [he was definitely physically dead and gone], but as she attempted to join him, he told her, "No! Not yet! go back." She realized that it was for the sake of their mentally handicapped daughter."
"The family is the basic unit both on earth and in the spirit world..."
> Many examples stated in this book have documented similar experiences...for the sake of a family member still on earth, the NDEer returns to his or her body.
We have a Biblical example of Paul who in his body or out of it (he wasn't quite sure) had such experience (2 Corinthians 12:2). This may have been the occasion when he was stoned to death and left for dead but the disciples came along later and found there was still life in him (Acts 14:19-28). He hadn't completed God's purpose for him just yet and so he pressed on.
~ERC 2016~
Bibliography
The Eternal Journey by Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D; copyright 1997; Warner Books, Inc. 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, A Time Warner Company Pages 61-63.
"On the Doorstep, But Don't Get to Enter" is a new series I'm beginning about Near Death Experiences (NDE). What got me started was my son asking me if I knew anything about it since he'd just heard about it at school. Well, I didn't know much of anything about it then but maybe a tiny bit now, thanks to a book a friend had so timely bequeathed to me, entitled, The Eternal Journey about "how NDEs illuminate our earthly lives", as written by Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D.
Yes, you are correct, I'm no Ph.D. holder. I'm a child of God however, and my angle on this is to line up what has been related in the book to what God tells us in His Word. And, as my husband said, "These are all experiences (re: what has been related in the book) but they are not doctrine". Thus my comparing with the Bible as my standard and my Witness.
I will be quoting snitches and snatches from the book and then commenting as we go along.
From the book page 61:
"George Gallup Jr. said, "One of the main results of NDEs was a strengthening of personal religious beliefs." Ring (another fellow they quoted) concluded in his study that the NDE is a spiritual experience that can produce spiritual behavior. Ring differentiates between religious and spiritual with a saying by a wise man, "A religious person follows the teaching of his church, whereas the spiritual person follows the guidance of his soul."
> There is truth in that I believe. Following Jesus is not a religion but a relationship. A relationship between God and man (if the man will cooperate). God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23). We have the guidance of God's Holy Spirit in our lives when we accept Jesus Christ as Savior.
We can thank God for a NDE as that can point us to Him and our relationship with Him. Do we have one? If so, how are we developing that relationship with Him. He loves you and cares deeply about you. If you are not one of His family yet, there is for this very minute, still time to accept Jesus as Savior. Admit and confess we sin and are sinners. Repent of them. Ask Jesus to wash all your sins away with the blood He shed for you on the cross. He took the full penalty of our sin, going all the way to hell and back for us. The penalty was death and hell. When you have done that He will forgive you and cleanse you from all sin. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleans us from all sin." (1 John 1:7). Then thank Him for all He's done for you. Start on your journey of relationship with Him by reading God's Word and finding out just what pleases Him and then obey it. In this way we can draw near to Him. In so doing we also no longer need to fear death; a near death experience or a real death one either.
NDEers often come to the brink of either Heaven or Hell. It is either a euphoric or a terrifying experience. With Christ, we no longer have to fear death or the hereafter.
Page 61-62.
"...both believers and non-believers come out of NDEs saying religion concerns your ability to love and that denominations do not count."
> More truth in that...God is love (1 John 4:8). Those who belong to Him should love Him, and their neighbor as their self (Matthew 22:39). I'd like to insert here that it's not religion but relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ that will directly spark our ability to love and maintain the unity of the Spirit. When we get that concept that God loves us to the core, accepts us for who we are, then we, in turn can love Him back and radiate His love out to others.
Denominations often divide, true enough. Form, law, duty and often not a lot of grace as we toe the line and guard it. Religion is a form. We should love God and Jesus and build a relationship with Him. As some have said, "love conquers all". Let it be God's love in us to love others as He has first loved us (1 John 4:19).
~ERC 2016~
Bibliography
The Eternal Journey by Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdison, Ph.D.; Copyright 1997; Warner Books, Inc., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New Your, NY 10020; A Time Warner Company.
Sister's Day? Oh, some people call it "Sibling's Day". How did it get started? Originally it was started by a lady named Claudia Evart to honor the memory of her brother and sister both of whom died at early ages; she wanted a celebration of those relationships. She must have been a very loving sister. She celebrated around 10 April which was her sister's birthday; however, time and place really don't much matter for those of us who wish to honor our own siblings. Although Evart has so far been unsuccessful in getting this day instituted as a public holiday, it doesn't need to stop us if we want to celebrate. Some people do just that and many have chosen the august month of August. But hey, does it really matter when?
Originally the following sharing was presented at a church ladies' fellowship group where we wanted to celebrate our relationship with our sister's-in-Christ in the area. We wished to help strengthen relationship among each other with prayers and togetherness. We also invited our friends to join us in the hopes that they too may one day become part of this wonderful bond we can have through Jesus Christ; to become part of God's family along with us. I present this sharing here in an adapted form and may God bless all who read it.
The ladies' group had always wanted to build each other up in their most holy faith in God and get to know each other so well that when joys or troubles came our way we would feel freer to share more easily and openly, with less shyness and to find help and strength from God together.
When we build these friendships well, we will even know our friend's dog's name and as one character named Charlotte Gray is purported to have said:
"You can kid the world but not your sister."
Let us observe our sisters, not to be busybodies, but out of sincere love and concern for each others' well being: spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally. Get to know each other so well in appropriate ways, that whether in joy or in sorrow we can connect and detect where and when help is needed.
At the start of our celebration, we had a mini garage sale of "white elephants" from our homes (one person's junk is another's treasure), followed by a dinner. (The proceeds of the sale to go to a charity we were helping to support.) During that time we each had a rectangle of paper taped simply to our backs with scotch tape. On that piece of paper we wrote a mini message to as many of the ladies as we wanted to. We wrote what that sister meant to us; what we liked about her and/or mini words of encouragement. This is an exercise to help build up each sister as a woman of worth, not only in God's eyes but as a sister in God's family. Later on they got to read what was written.
The term "sister" is used among Christian circles when referring to one another because when we become a follower of Jesus Christ, God calls us His children. No matter what we look like or from which country or race we are from, we are God's children. If God is our Father that means we each are His children and in His family; thus each of His children would then be brothers or sisters in Christ.
"You may be as different as the sun and moon, but the same blood flows through our hearts. You need her, she needs you." ~George R. R. Martin~
With sister's-in-Christ, we also talk about the blood. Who's blood? Jesus Christ's...but let's go back a bit...
In life there is plenty of suffering. No doubt most, if not all, here have experienced such: money problems; health issues; marital stresses; boy-girl relationships; worry over our children or even the loss of a child. Just so much suffering in this old world.
Prince Siddhartha Gautama of India (also known as 'Buddha'), after being traumatically shocked at the sight of the abject poverty and suffering of his fellow countrymen, when he had his first glimpse of such when he'd escaped out of his 'ivory palace' at the tender age of sixteen, philosophized and wondered...
People suffer...why?
He acknowledged...people have sin.
We know from our Bibles how sin entered the world; through one man named Adam (and his wife Eve).
Prince Sid went on to ponder...people sin, therefore there will be punishment.
The first Buddha said that that punishment is suffering in life and then in the end, death and after death, hell. There are different levels of hell depending on the degree of sin. Buddha developed many rules and regulations for living by, to minimize the sin people got up to, with corresponding levels of hell if they didn't follow them.
To follow all this takes ones' own effort. One might be able to make a go at it for a while, but in the end there would be much failure and frustration and one would still have to face at least one of those levels of hell no matter what, according to those beliefs. Man's, or woman's, in our case, efforts fall short.
God's Word tells us that the curse and wages of sin is death and hell. That is our punishment; forever.
NO sinner can get off the hook. No matter how good living a person is in this life, and there are some very, very good living people, I definitely grant you that, there doesn't seem to be much hope for any of us using our own efforts of righteousness.
BUT God offers us hope....He has a rescue plan...the Bible says in John 3:16...
"For God so loved the world..."
Stop there for a minute...
God sooooooo loved...He didn't leave us with the death sentence hanging over our heads because He so loved us...His love prompted His action.
"...that He gave His one and only Son..."
How many of us would willingly give our child up to take a gangster's punishment; a gangster who had raped and murdered or kidnapped children to sell into prostitution? Oh you might not think you are a gangster...I believe that most reading this are likely very good living people but we all have the 'death sentence over our heads' if we are not a child of God. Thank God that His love for us compelled Him to do something about that and He gave His "one and only Son". One and only...! Think of that!
There is a story from a way back in the 1800's about a fellow named Pierre Paul Emile Roux who worked with the Louis Pasteur Foundation. He was in the medicine line as well as bacteriology and immunology and developed the vaccine for black diphtheria, a dreaded, fatal disease.
Most of the medical world of that time eventually wouldn't sanction Pierre and his work, so he took his experiments and bacteria into the forest. He brought twenty beautiful horses, so the story goes, into the forest and infected each with the black diphtheria bacteria. All but one died and then the last of the twenty horses was in the last throes of the disease, lying down moaning. In the middle of the night, however, one of the assistants awoke Pierre to tell him that the horse's fever was reducing and by day break it had come down to normal. Pierre got a mallet and whacked the horse on the head and the horse died. This is a gruesome story but I do have a point. Pierre then collected the horse's blood from which there was antidote...a vaccine. He and his cohorts rushed that vaccine into the hospital, breaking through those who would stop them, and vaccinated three hundred black diphtheria-sick babies who were quarantined til death. All but three of those babies survived! The life of that last horse was given for the life of three hundred babies; one died for all. And likely a whole number more people were vaccinated since then.
Back to the story of God and His Son Jesus..
Why did God give His Son?
"...so that whosoever believes in Him..."
"Whosoever" = you, me, anyone...believes in Him,
"...should not perish but have everlasting life." ( John 3:16).
To perish would be to be put into hell forever with no way out, termed, everlasting death; everlasting death as opposed to everlasting life.
Everlasting life however, means to be with Jesus Christ in heaven forever.
Jesus, the One and Only Son, died for our sins, every single last one of them, from every single last person in the whole wide world. One died for all, for the "whosoever". He took the penalty for those sins.
What was the penalty? Death and hell.
Praise the Lord, He rose again from the dead securing our rescue. This is all Jesus's effort; not an ounce of our human effort was required at all, at all to secure payment for our sins. It was noted that our human effort would fall short and we'd still end up in hell. Jesus's effort is all encompassing and enough. Enough to pay for the penalty for our sins and enough to keep us out of hell and forever in heaven at the end of our earthly life. Praise the Lord for His rescue.
Jesus is THE WAY, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
Jesus is the way to heaven.
Jesus is the way to avoid going to hell. Hell with all its torments.
I've heard that in Singapore there is a hell museum type of place you can go through. You can look it up on Google. I've never been but they say its very scary. For example, there are ten levels of hell depicted in that Buddhist belief of Hell. Level three is for those who have been ungrateful and have disrespected their elders. Their hearts will be cut out. In level seven, rumor mongers and those who sow discord among family members get to have their tongues cut out. That is only a model...what would the real place be like?
The Bible talks about Hell being a place of darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus is the Way to escape, to never ever have to go there.
Jesus offers salvation to one and all. He holds it out in His hands to you as if on an offering plate or a present on your birthday. He holds it out to you. It's yours, it's got your name on it. If you never reach out and take it, its not going to be any use to you. You must choose to take it and then take it.
When you receive God's offer through Jesus, you come into His family. He calls you His child and He loves you to the core; way deep down where you crave acceptance and validity as a person. He loves you. He accepts you as you are. He has forgiven you your sins and taken your punishment for you.
People want longevity and immortality. They do not want to die. Jesus is the Way. Through Jesus's death and resurrection and our acceptance of His gift of salvation, we have everlasting life. This is what people yearn for.
Our bodies may crumple up and die but our spirits and souls live on. As a child of God we go to heaven because from the exact second we accept Jesus we have "everlasting life". If a person dies without Christ their spirit and soul will eventually go to everlasting death and torture in hell. It's as plain as that.
When we come into God's family, He takes care of us. He loves you. He has forgiven your sins because the blood of Jesus Christ has washed those sins away. He has given you everlasting life.
When each individual comes to God through Jesus Christ, its because the "blood of Jesus Christ has washed away and cleansed us from our sins" (1 John 1:7). Our hearts are now clean. Our hearts now flow with the same blood, not from biological parents but from our adoptive parent God, through Jesus. God looks down from heaven at our hearts and sees His one and only Son Jesus's sacrificial blood has wiped and washed them clean from all sin and replaced it with His righteousness, and He accepts us into His family. Any of His children are now brothers and sisters in Christ.
Many of us ladies reading this are likely already sisters. We would like all readers to be our sister (or brother) too. Then we can begin that special sisterly bond and relationship with you too. We need each other. We need you. You need us. Reach out to the sisters in your neck of the woods and connect with each other today.
You see, we get so much because of God's love for us. He gave His Son, but has also given us His family. As we build our relationship with God (that's right, I'm talking about 'relationship' NOT religion) we must also build with His family.
I mentioned that God accepts us as we are, on an "as is where is basis". We don't have to attain to a certain level of goodness in order for God to love us and offer us his salvation and this means no matter what you have done, or to what degree of wickedness a person might have committed, He still wants you in His family. He loves you too much to reject you now in this day of grace period. However, there is a saying that goes something like this: "God loves you and accepts you into His family as you are but He loves you too much to leave you that way".
Picture a coin; it's two-sided. On one side you come into God's family as you are--you have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life and a brother-&-sister-in-Christ family. The other side of the coin is, how am I suppose to live in this family? How to live like a Christian? How is a Christian to behave?
There are many, many things we are supposed to do in the way to behave in God's family. We live this way so we don't give God, Jesus or His family a bad reputation. For example, a senior pastor in a regional mega church grossly mismanaged church funds. He ended up in prison. People look at that and say, "If that is what a Christian is like, I definitely don't want to have anything to do with God or Jesus or any Christian, for that matter and I certainly don't want to become one!" And so we are all in disrepute. (Yet our Father is a forgiving one and would hold out forgiveness to that brother. If he repents, we too will have to forgive him.) Thus, God in His great wisdom has given us a whole Bible full of ways in which to please Him. Read well to know and obey His will and ways.
Matthew 28:19,20 says,
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..."
A disciple is a follower of Jesus and the emphasis I want to make here which often gets overlooked, is "teaching them to obey". Once we are a follower of Jesus we must follow, we must obey and not pick and choose what to obey but to obey "everything" in God's Word.
The New Testament has so many instructions on how to live for God. The more we submit to God and obey them, the more Christ-like our behavior will be. God wants us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15). Many of our ways of living, habits we have, language we use, we need to be rid of them and start acting more like Jesus would.
How to know how Jesus would behave? By reading God's Word. The first four books of the New Testament tell many wonderful stories of Jesus: what He did and how He did them and how He treated the people with kindness and goodness, helping the poor and needy and much more. The more we read and study God's Word, the more we will know how to behave in His family. By reading and knowing God's Word and obeying it we will slowly become more like Him and will please Him.
This is the Way to follow. Jesus is the Way. Follow Him. He is the right Way.
We have God's Word, we have Jesus, we have our brothers and sisters-in-Christ to connect with to help us in this new life with Him. There is more...the moment we accept Jesus's gift of salvation we also get forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. We are also given the Holy Spirit of God to indwell us. His, God's, Spirit!
His Holy Spirit can lead and guide us. We don't need to beg for dreams in temples or use other methods of divination to know our future or to find our way out of our troubles. We have God's Word the Bible and God's Holy Spirit. And it is all free for us. When we talk to God He will talk to us through His Word and His Spirit.
We can show our gratitude to Him by worshiping Him. Him, the Creator God of all the universe; our almighty God , our loving, Heavenly Father. Worship Him, the Creator, not His creation. It's lovely to get into a 'back to nature' setting and relax in front of beautiful scenery and feel cool breezes on our faces as it can be so refreshing and de-stressing. A grand feeling of wanting to commune with nature may come to us. But nature is not God. Nature is creation not our Creator. God wants us to worship Him and to become one with Him, not with His plants, birds or bees.
Certainly there's no harm in being in nature and calmness can come from that but Jesus tells us a sure way of de-stressing...
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28,
"Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Another verse, 1 Peter 5:7 says,
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
"Him", meaning, God and His mighty hand outstretched to you, this time offering you rest and peace and to de-stress. Take a deep breath, hold for the count of five then slowly let go. Do that two more times. Make a list on paper of your anxieties, worries and cares. Now talk to God. Give Him your weariness, burdens and anxiety. He'll give you rest.
We all need to go to God and rest in Him. Close your eyes, breathe deeply again, take time for another short time of individual prayer and bathe in God's love and care.
Do you realize that the number of stress related diseases or conditions there are out there? High BP; various heart related diseases; migraines, etc. Medicines mostly do not cure them, they only manage them. But God has asked us to put our fears, anxieties, worries, and stresses on Him. He's got a mighty hand. Trust Him. He'll give you rest. The root cause of many diseases are because we do not obey His simple commands. I read this fairly recently from a book called Be In Health, A More Excellent Way by Dr. Henry W. Wright.*
This is getting to be a rather long article and so I won't go into too much greater detailed description of this "other side of the coin" of behavior in God's family. However, remember some of these following thoughts are in regard to our character and conduct in His family that need to be brought into line with God's Word, which is our standard.
Briefly...
More About Christian Living
James 3: Tame your tongue; don't let praise and cursing come out of the same mouth. I can tell you that driving in the city I now live in can really give cause to curses coming out so, so easily. The way people drive and cut in on you is enough to make a big sinner out of you. I admit, I am guilty of a lot of cursing and God is having to get a hold of me with these verses. So now, I say, "God, look at that guy, look what he did, he cut right in front of me and now he's blocking the way, blah, blah, blah." And what does God say? "Are you now going to praise Me?" And I say, "Ok, ok, Lord, I will bless that fellow. May he have a good day, maybe he's on the way to the hospital to see a sick and dying mother, or maybe he's in a hurry because he has to go to the bathroom. God he needs your help and needs you if he is not a Christian yet. Let Him know you so he won't cut in on me again..." And then God says to me, "Are you asking me that with wrong motives?" I say back to God, "Ok, ok, Lord, he needs you so he can go to be with you someday..."
You see how this works? We have to submit even these simple mundane areas of our life to Him so that He can make us more like Him.
James 4: Submit to God; resist the devil. When we submit to God, the curses won't come out so easily and that is also resisting the devil.
James 4 is also "do not slander one another". That old tongue needs the taming on this too. If they are bros and sis-in-Christ, why do we want to talk bad about them; they are our kin? Why can't we, by God's grace, be forgiving of wrongs (real or imaginary)?
Actually if you read from 1 Corinthians all the way clear to Jude you'll see that malice and slander are a HUGE issue. God sees them equally as bad as adultery (1 Corinthians 5:9-11; 6:11 [NIV])! Much of that slander stems from unforgiveness, anger and bitterness in our lives towards others.
1 Peter 2:1 says,
"...rid yourselves of all malice and slander of all kinds..."
That is a command in God's Word! What should we do instead? Here comes another command:
"Crave pure spiritual milk..."
Craving....think of something you really like. I mean really, really like. Take for instance, people who love to play badminton. They go and play two or three times a week. They watch it being played on TV especially when their 'star' player is playing. And if they are not playing or watching they are talking about it. They saturate themselves and everyone else with it. Or people who love shopping, just can't seem to get enough of it. You get the idea.
So too, with God's Word. Read it and drink it in. Crave it.
I want to tell you about my "Thankfulness Book". An 'angel' from Sunday School once gave me a hot pink spiral notebook in a gift exchange around Christmas time a couple of years ago. I started to jot down on a daily basis at least one thing that I was thankful for that day. Some days I was hard put, but I'd 'vowed' to write, so write I did even if it was only to say to God, "Thank you for the food I had to eat today; I am grateful."
Have you tasted that the Lord is good? Jot that goodness down and then you can go back and review His ways of goodness to you. In return, honor Him with obedience to His Word, will and ways. He says in 1 Samuel 2:30, that those who honor Him by obeying His commands, He'll honor back.
So what I'm saying my friends and sisters (& brothers), Come to Jesus, He is the Way to God, the Way to everlasting life, the Way to forgiveness of sins, the Way to a new life in a new family: God's family, with new brothers and sisters to interact and connect with. Jesus is the Way to have a Spirit guide in your life and that Spirit is God's Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Way to God and upon whom to put our stresses, worries and grievances.
You want to go the right way? Come to Jesus Who is that Way. Come and follow Him. Obey Him you'll not regret it. He loves you to the core and wants you in His family. You can then truly celebrate the relationship we have in Christ. May each of you truly experience Sister's Day to the full.
If any of you readers would like to come to Christ, to be His child and be my sister or brother-in-Christ , here is what you can do.
Admit to God that you have done wrong, that you have sin and are a sinner.
Tell God you repent of those sins and confess them to Him. Ask Jesus to wash all your sins away with His precious blood which He shed for you on the cross. Thank Him for taking the penalty of your sins by dying and going to hell for you. Thank Him then for that forgiveness of sins, this gift of salvation and for the everlasting life. Find then, someone to tell and find a group of brothers and sisters-in-Christ to connect with. Build your relationship with God by reading His Word and obeying it and talking daily with Him.
May God bless you all.
*Note: Re: Dr. Henry W. Wright and his ministry... I may not agree with all he says but most is ok.
~ERC 2016~
> This latter idea of love and peace is what I want to hone in on in this entry; especially that which pertains with peace. We can experience God's love and peace in our hearts now through salvation through Jesus Christ, God's Son. 
Did ya get that? Our minds. Our minds are bombarded with so much distress and unrest just in our day to day life with family, work and health issues. Yet with our minds fixed on Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we can have "perfect peace" by "trusting in God". For the follower of Jesus Christ, we have an even greater asset and source of an unending supply of peace as we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. One of the fruit of the spirit is....peace (Galatians 5:22). An unlimited fountain of peace for the taking. Even this talk of peace gives me peace.
