I have two dogs that I love. One is a border collie/ lab mutt named Mason and the other is a border collie/ German Shepard mutt we named Dakota. As you can tell from the breeds these are energetic and active dogs. The breeds that they represent, for the most part, are engineered to herd other animals. In fact most days in my home you can find my son running around the house laughing because Dakota is licking and nipping at his legs to get him to move in some direction. (Usually it is away from wherever she is trying to nap)
One of the reasons I love my dogs is because they are great outdoor dogs. I love taking them out to open spaces or forests and letting them loose because I can tell how much they love it too. In fact in my house If I even touch a dog leash I will immediately be bowled over by two of the most excited creatures you have ever seen. The point is my dogs love being outside in the open running free. Now like other dogs they also enjoy sleeping and they take part in this activity quite a bit as well.
Occasionally, I’ll be watching TV and one of them, let’s say Mason, is asleep at my feet or somewhere near by and I’ll catch him dreaming. If you have ever seen a dog dream you know that it can be somewhat disturbing at first. My attention is usually drawn toward them because they make some sort or shortened whimpering sound. Glancing over at them I notice their body convulsing and twitching uncontrollably. This is very disconcerting until I notice that their eyes are closed and I realize that they are dreaming. As I watch I become somewhat saddened by the whole display, because I know in my heart that they are not dreaming about sitting in the house all day waiting for us to come home from work. No, they are dreaming about the outdoors. They are dreaming about that rabbit that they chased after the other day or the mud puddle they ran through or the other dog they ran into on the street who has been given the freedom to run around outdoors.
Instinctually a dog is called to the outside world that’s where it belongs that’s where it thrives. Dogs were not meant to be locked up in a house or a cage all day just for our enjoyment, No they were meant to be free. Now, I am no animal rights activist so don’t let my verbiage turn you off if you have animals living in your house. I am merely walking us through this scenario to help us see something in our own lives spiritually.
When we become a Christian the book of Acts tells us that we receive the Holy Spirit into our lives. Many of us, once we’ve received the Holy Spirit, try to keep it caged up or domesticate it like we do a house pet, but the spirit of God was not given to you for the sole purpose of your enjoyment in your house. The spirit of God was meant to run free through you in to the outside world. Unfortunately, in many of us the spirit lies in our lives twitching and dreaming of the “outside” world where it can chase after the souls of unbelievers in your midst. Where it can run through the muddied lives of sinners and wash them clean. Where it can make contact with itself in another believer who is letting the spirit in their lives run free.
We do not control the spirit, but how we allow it to use us in God’s plan for this world is under our control. In reading through the book of Jonah recently I was reminded that God can and will work despite our attempts to cage up His spirit, but as a believer I find very little satisfaction in that. I am of course glad that my fear and idiocy cannot get in the way of God’s plan, but my soul longs to be used by God to do great things! I possess the same power and spirit in me that Jesus and the great prophets were filled with and yet my fear and desire for comfort keep that power at bay in my life. I want to see this power unleashed in my life and I want to inspire others to do the same. So, I hope this blog, for those who read it, will do that for you and this entry will be a starting point. Unleash the power of the Holy Spirit in you life. Let it run free!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
What will your reception in Heaven Look Like?
Have you every thought about what your entrance into heaven will look like? I’m not talking about the kind of death you are going to experience. No. I’m talking about the kind of reception you will receive. I have you ever thought about that, really? Will the lights suddenly come on and Jesus the prophets and all the angels are standing there screaming in excitement? Or will the lights come on and you’ll be face to face with the devil and his demons yelling ‘Surprise!’ You’re in hell! Look, hell is a real place but for the moment I want to talk to those who have the assurance of their place in heaven. Unfortunately, that is not going to be everyone not even all “Christians.” Now don’t get me wrong the security of salvation is objective or rather a fact. If you have truly given your life to following Jesus and his commands then your salvation is secure. However, your assurance of your place in heaven is subjective. I am not here to assure you of your place in heaven. That’s not my job. I am here to simply ask those of you who are sure you are going to heaven to wonder what sort of reception you life will deserve when you arrive in heaven.
Unfortunately, I think that most of us have not thought too much about that. In fact, I think that many of us will just be happy to get in. That seems sad to me because I don’t think God wanted us to follow him just so that we could make it into heaven, but rather he wanted us to live a life on this planet that would inspire others to follow in our footsteps. Isn’t that what the great commission is all about? When Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations” it is clear that he is leaving them a job to do. Jesus himself was about to ascend into heaven. If the whole purpose of life was just to know how Jesus was and decide to follow Him then Jesus would have taken all the disciples straight to heaven with him right then, but he doesn’t. He leaves them. Why is that? Jesus wanted to give them a chance to live out what they had decided to do. They decided to follow him and now he wanted them to act on that following in such a way that others will also decide and follow.
I think that many of us stop at the decide and don’t really try to follow and truthfully many of us are satisfied with that. The problem I see is that I don’t think those two ideas, decide and follow, are mutually exclusive. I think that if you have truly decided then you are compelled to follow and if you find yourself not compelled to follow then I would contend that you didn’t truly decide. I can hear people saying, “But Markus, once saved always saved.” I am not disagreeing with that. As I wrote earlier the security of salvation is a fact. What I am wondering is if a person who says they are a Christian but then continues to live in there sin, was ever truly saved to begin with.
Look at this in 2 Peter 1:5-10
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
The passage is telling us to “make every effort” to add these mentioned qualities to our lives. It is not telling us to accept Jesus and then sit on our butt enjoying the fire insurance we just bought, but rather it is reminding us of who bought us and how we are to model His example. Furthermore verse 9 tells us that those who sit on their butt and don’t seek to increase in these things are nearsighted and blind. Have you ever seen anywhere in the Bible a true follower of Christ being called blind? No. In fact, one of the most famous clichés of salvation comes from the famous song “Amazing Grace” “I once was blind but now I see.” This idea is taken directly from John chapter 9 when Jesus proclaims to have come to the world so that the blind will see (verse 39). Salvation, true salvation is not about faith or actions. It is about faith and actions, they work together and if my faith doesn’t move me to act I would wonder about my faith. But don’t take my word for it examine the scriptures. Look again at the passage above. The writer backs this up in verse 8. “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive…”Did you catch that? As followers of Christ, God has an expectation of productivity and effectiveness in our lives. But what are we supposed to produce and effect? Look at the last thing Jesus says before he ascends into heaven in Matthew 28. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” God wants you to introduce Him to your friends and the world around you. You can’t heal a person’s disease but you can introduce them to the doctor. If you had been dying of cancer and someone healed you, what would you do if a loved one contracted cancer? You would take them immediately to the doctor that healed you. Salvation in Christ is no different.
But what does this have to do with my reception into heaven? I think many of us believe that all entrances into heaven are the same, but in the passage above verse 11 implies that you can receive a special reception and I believe it will be based on how you lived as a follower of Christ and how you inspired others in that life. So I asked you, what do you want your reception into heaven to look like?
Unfortunately, I think that most of us have not thought too much about that. In fact, I think that many of us will just be happy to get in. That seems sad to me because I don’t think God wanted us to follow him just so that we could make it into heaven, but rather he wanted us to live a life on this planet that would inspire others to follow in our footsteps. Isn’t that what the great commission is all about? When Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations” it is clear that he is leaving them a job to do. Jesus himself was about to ascend into heaven. If the whole purpose of life was just to know how Jesus was and decide to follow Him then Jesus would have taken all the disciples straight to heaven with him right then, but he doesn’t. He leaves them. Why is that? Jesus wanted to give them a chance to live out what they had decided to do. They decided to follow him and now he wanted them to act on that following in such a way that others will also decide and follow.
I think that many of us stop at the decide and don’t really try to follow and truthfully many of us are satisfied with that. The problem I see is that I don’t think those two ideas, decide and follow, are mutually exclusive. I think that if you have truly decided then you are compelled to follow and if you find yourself not compelled to follow then I would contend that you didn’t truly decide. I can hear people saying, “But Markus, once saved always saved.” I am not disagreeing with that. As I wrote earlier the security of salvation is a fact. What I am wondering is if a person who says they are a Christian but then continues to live in there sin, was ever truly saved to begin with.
Look at this in 2 Peter 1:5-10
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
The passage is telling us to “make every effort” to add these mentioned qualities to our lives. It is not telling us to accept Jesus and then sit on our butt enjoying the fire insurance we just bought, but rather it is reminding us of who bought us and how we are to model His example. Furthermore verse 9 tells us that those who sit on their butt and don’t seek to increase in these things are nearsighted and blind. Have you ever seen anywhere in the Bible a true follower of Christ being called blind? No. In fact, one of the most famous clichés of salvation comes from the famous song “Amazing Grace” “I once was blind but now I see.” This idea is taken directly from John chapter 9 when Jesus proclaims to have come to the world so that the blind will see (verse 39). Salvation, true salvation is not about faith or actions. It is about faith and actions, they work together and if my faith doesn’t move me to act I would wonder about my faith. But don’t take my word for it examine the scriptures. Look again at the passage above. The writer backs this up in verse 8. “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive…”Did you catch that? As followers of Christ, God has an expectation of productivity and effectiveness in our lives. But what are we supposed to produce and effect? Look at the last thing Jesus says before he ascends into heaven in Matthew 28. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” God wants you to introduce Him to your friends and the world around you. You can’t heal a person’s disease but you can introduce them to the doctor. If you had been dying of cancer and someone healed you, what would you do if a loved one contracted cancer? You would take them immediately to the doctor that healed you. Salvation in Christ is no different.
But what does this have to do with my reception into heaven? I think many of us believe that all entrances into heaven are the same, but in the passage above verse 11 implies that you can receive a special reception and I believe it will be based on how you lived as a follower of Christ and how you inspired others in that life. So I asked you, what do you want your reception into heaven to look like?
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