life lessons

Posts Tagged ‘how to enter the kingdom of heaven

We all have an address. We all live somewhere. Some of us might live by the sea. Others in the mountains. Others in the city and still, others in the country. Each one of us has a particular physical address, location, where we live, eat, rest, socialize, play, and even do business.

But what about our spiritual man? Where do you really, really live? What is your real hiding place? What is your real address? Where do you really run? Where do you really escape? Where do you really go to find comfort?

Many of us go and run to many different places to find comfort. Sadly, these places only comfort us for a while, but at the end we just turn and run to something else because each time we go there we find no hope, no comfort, no touch that heals us, no place that we can run to alleviate all- if not just a little- of our distresses. Some of us run to people like family members, psychiatrists, doctors, preachers, pastors, mentors, teachers, friends, etcetera. I am not saying that they are bad or that we should not go to them or that they might not help us, what I am really saying is is that sometimes, just sometimes, they just won’t cut it. They can not (although they try as hard as they can) to soothe and touch what really needs to be healed. Still, some of us submerge ourselves in pornography, drugs, sex, money, violence, manipulation, “religions”, theology, etcetera, to find a little bit of comfort. Unfortunately, we desperately run to and live in these things to seek help only to find ourselves sinking into a web of deceit and more helplessness.

Yet, the question remains-so, what should we do? Simple, let’s move out of that residence of deceit that we are living in. Let’s get a change of address. But, where should we move to? The answer lies in Psalm 91. 

Here it is:

Psalm 91 (New Life Version)

1. He who lives in the safe place of the Most High will be in the shadow of the All-Powerful. 

2. I will say to the Lord, “You are my safe and strong place, my God, in Whom I trust.”

3. For it is He Who takes you away from the trap, and from the killing sickness.

4. He will cover you with His wings. And under His wings you will be safe. He is faithful like a safe-covering and a strong wall.

5. You will not be afraid of trouble at night, or of the arrow that flies by day. 

6. You will not be afraid of the sickness that walks in darkness, or of the trouble that destroys at noon. 

7. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. But it will not come near you. 

8. You will only look on with your eyes, and see how the sinful are punished. 

9. Because you have made the Lord your safe place, and the Most High the place where you live, 

10. nothing will hurt you. No trouble will come near your tent.

11. For He will tell His angels to care for you and keep you in all your ways. 

12. They will hold you up in their hands. So your foot will not hit against a stone. 

13. You will walk upon the lion and the snake. You will crush under your feet the young lion and the snake.

14. Because he has loved Me, I will bring him out of trouble. I will set him in a safe place on high, because he has known My name. 

15. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will take him out of trouble and honor him. 

16. I will please him with a long life. And I will show him My saving power

Wow. What a wonderful Psalm… but for all these promises to be accomplished in our lives and for God’s saving power to be manifested in our lives we have to meet God at His place of residency and meet Him on His terms. In other words, we have to move out of our sinful life and move in with Christ… with Christ living in our hearts and having Him as a roommate. Look closely at verses 1 and 9 of this Psalm, “1. He who lives in the safe place of the Most High will be in the shadow of the All-Powerful; 9. Because you have made the Lord your safe place, and the Most High the place where you live.” God wants us to live with Him. Let’s make God our habitation. Let’s make Christ our Secret Place. Let’s make Christ our address.

Let us be honest. Life is good, right? Some of you will say yes and some of you will say no. Others might say, “Aahhh… i don’t know, maybe”. To those of you that said yes- good answer. To those of you that said no- good answer. And to those of you that said… I don’t know maybe- good answer. Whoa! Yes, whoa is right. All of those are good answers. Why? Life is not fair.

People have different perspectives of life. Each of us have had different experiences in life. Some have experienced a life filled with good fortunes (what some would call a “good” life) and the comforts that come with it, such as money, businesses, fame, power, and being born into a good family etc. Others have experienced  a life filled with misfortunes (what some would call a “bad” life). Misfortunes that many people don’t put attention to, like being born into a dysfunctional family filled with violence, drugs, promiscuity, poverty, etc. Still others are not sure because they have had a life filled with up, downs, and in-between (what some would call an “average” life).

Perspective matters then, yes? How you look at life and how you live it depends on how you have lived through it; but, that is from our perspective. From God’s perspective all of it changes. He sees the people that have had a “good” life as people that have everything in the world, but inside they have nothing but an empty, hollow, life. A life void of the things that really matter in life. He sees the people that have had a “bad” life as people that have nothing in the world, but inside are hurting, feeling dejected and destitute as the curve balls of life keep coming at them. A life void of love, joy, purpose, and reality. And the people that have an “average” life, He sees them no different than the other two. All of us, in reality, then, are the same in God’s eyes.

On top of all of that, all of us are void of the most important thing that really matters both to us and Him- fellowship with God. We are destitute of God’s presence. Destitute of His power. Destitute of His wisdom. Destitute of His blessings. And all of it because of our sins. Yes. We are all sinners. Have you ever lied? That’s a sin. Have you disobeyed someone in authority? That’s a sin. Have you ever become drunk? That’s a sin. How about this one? Have you never read the Word of God everyday and kept His word in your heart? That’s a sin. Have you never talked with God everyday? That’s a sin. Sadly, the punishment for our sins is death, the curse of living an empty life, and broken fellowship with God.

Do you like it? No, I guess not. The thing is… God doesn’t like it anymore that you do. He does not like to see any one live like that. It saddens His heart, because the most important thing to Him is His creation. You. He loves you and cares for you. He does not like that broken friendship He has with you. He wants every one to experience a life filled with purpose, love, reality, peace, joy, and most importantly, His presence. He wants to be your friend and because He wants to be your friend and does not want to see you suffer He gave you a very special gift. A gift that would allow you to have blessings, unbroken fellowship with God, His presence, joy, love, peace, purpose, His power, and many other wonderful things. This gift was His son- Jesus. Jesus paid it all by dying on the cross for all of us.

The question is… Do you want it? All you have to do is accept this gift that God gives you. Ask Him to come into your life, recognize that you are a sinner, that He died and rose from the dead for you, and make Him your friend. Do this and you will have a good life. A life filled with good things. Does it mean that trials will no longer come your way? No, but He will be there with you to uphold you, keep you, and guide you. He will be there by showing you that He cares and by providing for you. Do it… personally, I will tell you that it has been an awesome ride with God. He loves me and I know that He is always there waiting for me to have a conversation with Him. I know that He is there listening and being a help to live according to His Word. Words can not express what He has done for me and how I feel about Him and He about me.

If you do want this gift then say this simple prayer:

Jesus come into my life. I recognize that I am a sinner in need of you. I recognize that you died for me on a cross and rose from the dead. I want you to be my friend. I want to have that unbroken friendship with you. Make my life anew and use it for your glory. I want to live my life with You. I surrender my life to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Friend, I believe that if you’ve just prayed that prayer then your life will never be the same. Congrats! 

Where does the time go? I haven’t been able to write some more blogs but I will try my best to keep writing periodically.

On my last post I discussed the issue of wanting to be successful or to be relevant… this is the continuation…As you can see, we can be either relevant for God or we can be successful for the world. Yet, I failed to mention one thing. We can also be successful for God… why?

Well, as you can see parts d, e, f, and g of success are:d. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors e. a successful performance or achievement f. the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted g. a result or an outcome.
Yes!
We can be successful for God by following His will and achieving the goal that He wants us to achieve. Let’s be God minded and let us be driven by eternity. Let’s try and be God driven. Many people do not know what their goal in life is… some are driven to be successful in areas of business. Others are driven to be successful in the areas of sport etc. etc. Yet, the most sweet success that one can have is to please God in every area of their life. Not with hypocrisy, but with reality in front of Jesus. By being open to Him.I encourage you today… Be driven by wanting to give a performance that Jesus is worthy to receive. Of course our righteousness are like dirty rags, but God looks at the heart. God looks at the action. God looks at the purpose. Be driven by wanting to please Him. I encourage you to push yourself to be successful in God’s world.
I know what I want to successful at… Do you?

i was reading another book on Saturday and something in this book struck me….this is what it said (i paraphrased it) “it is harder to be relevant than to be successful!” wow, that blows any person’s mind specially if you look up the definition of success and relevant…… 

  1. success- a. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like b. the gaining of fame or prosperity c. the extent of such gain d. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors e. a successful performance or achievement f. the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted g. a result or an outcome 
  2. relevant- a. having bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand b. pertinent c. pertinent to the matter at hand 
  3. pertinent (just in case you were wondering what it means)- a. pertaining or relating directly and significantly to the matter at hand b. relevant c. being of striking appropriateness and pertinence

WOW! what is it that you want to be in life? relevant or success? do you want to be determined by the wealth, riches, honor, and prestige that you have? do you want to be measured by the standard of this world? or do you want to be relevant in this world and be measured by the standard of God? its up to you

   

 

So today i was reading a christian book concerning the life of Jesus and His disciples and i came upon a section that discussed Matthew 18:1-5. In this passage the disciples of Jesus ask Him the question “Who is the greates in the kingdom of Heaven?” and He replies “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” This passage has left me wondering many times about how we can become as little children…..and the book gave me the answer:

  1.  Humility. One of the definitions of humility is to be meek. Children are meek. They are not full pride and full of arrogance. We need to be humble for God. 
  2. Teachable. Children, especially babies, tend to be very fascinated with new things. They want to discover and nothing stands on their way. They want to go deeper. They don’t care if someone else is looking at them they just go in and discover…….and with (get this very important) an open mind. We need to be teachable for God. Be open to learn new lessons from our Master Jesus.
  3. Faith. Children are apt to believe anything you tell them. If you tell them that the best thing is candies they will eat them. Anything you say goes. That is how we need to be with our Father. He teaches us and we need to believe Him and not second guess what He says.

  


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