Is Death-Death?

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 MKJV

In light of what Jesus did for us on the cross, perhaps we need to go back and rethink the whole death issue. Because of His death, burial and resurrection we are no longer bound by death and the grave. Perhaps that experience would be better referred to as simply meeting the Lord...or passing into the hands of the Father.

That may take some getting used to...since the last time we saw Uncle Charlie was when we put him in the ground. We are aware that his spirit is with the Lord, but as far as we are concerned Charlie is still in the ground.

A pastor friend of mine went to be with the Lord a few years ago, but his wife never acknowledged his death. She acknowledged he left and is not coming back, but would never acknowledge that he died. Consequently she saw no reason to go back to her husband's grave. At the time, I thought she must be in denial or shock. My concern was that when the reality of her husband's death came it was going to be hard on her, since they had been married over forty years. It has been several years since her husband's death and she is still at peace while carrying on the ministry.

Perhaps she knew something practically that the rest of us only know in principle. I think it must be easier to teach this principle to others than it is to practice it yourself. The question still remains, "Is death really death?"

Father,

We are still learning how to practically walk out the benefits you have afforded us spiritually. Continue to be patient with us Lord as we experience things such as the death of a loved one. You told us in Ecclesiastes 3:4 that there was "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance". Help us to live within that framework and not go to either extreme by allowing our flesh to control our emotions.

Amen.

Do You Believe All That Stuff?

Use clean language that no one can criticize. Do this, and your enemies will be too ashamed to say anything against you.

Titus 2:8 MSG

I was asked recently if I would like to know what people think of me. After pondering it for a while I said no. The compliments are nice, but the criticism takes a little longer to digest. You usually glow when someone compliments you, but you have an opportunity to grow when someone criticizes you. Even though we don't like criticism, it can be a significant help in our maturing process. It causes us to begrudgingly rethink what we did or said…and (hopefully) attempt to correct it.

Perhaps this is one of the points that Titus was trying to make when he suggested using clean language. He also seemed to suggest in this passage that most of our criticism comes as a result of what we say rather than what we do.

In Matthew 12:36 it says, "And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment". Maybe the idle words that Matthew is talking about have the same meaning as what Titus is speaking of. Nevertheless the point is well taken; let's clean up our idle talk.

Having said that, I am sure God gives special liberties to those in cases such as the following one. Many years ago, as I was holding a revival meeting in East Texas, I had an experience that remains one of my favorite stories to this day. Each night in the message I would share a personal story as an example to support my preaching point. There were two old men who faithfully sat on the second pew next to the center aisle on the left hand side of the church. They patiently listened to my message and waited for the accompanying story they knew would follow. Finally the last night of the revival meeting one old man turned and said to the other as I finished telling a story, "Do you really believe all that stuff? He would have to be four hundred years old to have done all that." The answer quickly came back from the other old man, "I don't believe a word of it, but I sure like to hear him tell those stories." After the service they both went up and told the pastor of the church what they had been talking about. When the pastor told me, he and I had a great laugh.

What is the point? There seems to be two kinds of idle words. The idle words that were spoken by the two old men in East Texas were not what Matthew and Titus were talking about. The old men's idle words were harmless. The idle words that Matthew and Titus were talking about were words of judgment and criticism. They are words that rob life rather than give life.

There are also two kinds of criticism. The first kind of criticism is the condemning kind which is meant to destroy. The other kind of criticism is the building of character kind of criticism which produces life and is used to perfect us.

Father,

I thank you for life-producing criticism because it helps perfect me in areas I need help. You said in Isaiah 61: 5 that you would send strangers to dress my vineyard. Thank you for sending help even when I am not looking for it. You are perfecting my language each day so that no one will have to say, "Do you really believe all that stuff?"

Amen.

Living in Love

If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

John 15:10 KJV

I have read this scripture many times over the years and I am not sure I ever realized that love was an actual place where you are supposed to live. I guess I thought love was only something you did. If love is in fact a place to live, then we must have a key to unlock the door.

Keeping God's commandments has to be the master key that unlocks the love house door. Jesus Himself lives there and is inviting us to move in with Him. However, there is a price to pay for the privilege of becoming a permanent resident in the love house. A part of that price is to move out of your flesh house into His Spirit house. Another way of saying that is we have to move out of our will into His will.

This concept may seem a little strange to the natural mind, but after meditating on John 15:10, you will know its origin.

Even though I have been a minister for many years, I suppose-except for God of course-I have learned just about everything I know about living in love from my wife, Karen. It is amazing how you can have the knowledge of love and not live in the house of love. You can have a level of the power of love and still not live in the house of love. You can even show love by feeding the poor and taking care of the widows and still not live in the house of love. You can do many great acts of love, but that does not mean you reside in the house of love.

I am also not sure that the dwelling kind of love can be taught...it is almost as if it has to be caught, because it is so supernatural.

Jesus alluded to this possibility when He suggested living a forgiving lifestyle in Matthew 18:21-22,

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, till seven times?

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven".

I knew a man who was known by everyone as Pa Pa. He had a level of kindness and generosity that almost left you awestruck. As a matter of fact, you would leave his presence with one of two emotions. The first emotion would be that of extreme peace. You felt you had been bathed in something that washed away all your cares and put the things of life back in perspective. The second emotion would make you feel as though you were coming up short of your full potential.

It seemed that I always wanted to do more when I was around him. Destiny may seem like a strange word when talking about Pa Pa, as he had always been a loyal blue-collar worker. However, after studying his life as I did, and still do, I have come to the conclusion that real destiny is not in the having, but in the doing. I learned a great deal from Pa Pa's life and I believe I have discovered his secret to success. He spent his life living in love.

Another point I learned from Pa Pa, was you cannot live in the house of love with un-forgiveness in your heart. Living a forgiven lifestyle is not an easy thing to do particularly if you are easily offended. However, if you can live a forgiving lifestyle you are well on your way to living in love.

Father,

I thank you for giving me such great practical examples such as my precious wife Karen and a loving father type called Pa Pa. My desire is to live in such a way that both would be proud of their investment in my life. My desire is to carry on their work of living in love so others will be as inspired as I was. Father, help us all to pursue Your perfect love.

Amen.

Stale Bread And Spoiled Bologna

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Psalms 37:25

There is an old saying that goes, "I know the light is on but nobody is home". The meaning of this is even though you are alive and breathing, your brain are disengaged.

As I was watching some young people the other day the thought crossed my mind, "I know the light is on but it appears that nobody is at home." That being the case it does not exactly make one feel secure knowing they will one day be our leaders. The thought that usually follows that is…my generation was never that way. However, after spending a few minutes reminiscing about the good old days I began to remember how imperfect my generation really was. You talk about the light being on and nobody at home, just wait until you hear this story.

When I was fifteen years old I decided I wanted to be a movie star. That was back in the days when all movie stars were discovered rather than going through acting schools as they do today. To be discovered you had to be in the right place at the right time. After giving this some serious thought I figured Hollywood was the place to be, so I spent the next few minutes coming up with a foolproof strategy. I talked a friend into going to Hollywood with me. We pooled our money which added up to about $30.00-and off we went. Since I was the smarter one and the one with all the acting talent I convinced my friend that he could get rich picking oranges.

Our plan was to hitchhike from our little East Texas town (where a lot of other smart people lived) to Hollywood where I would be discovered in a couple of days and by the end of the week would be rolling in money.

You talk about the lights being on and nobody at home… Looking back I'm not sure that I even had a light bulb to turn on.

After a few days of not being discovered and believing that Hollywood missed an opportunity of a lifetime, I came up with another brilliant idea. Let's go home and get something to eat lest we die.

After a couple of days of hitchhiking and not eating, my belly felt as though it had shriveled up against my backbone. While walking through a small town in New Mexico and passing a country store, all of a sudden I came up with another brilliant idea. Since I was the team leader as well as the brains of the outfit, I felt responsible to shoulder all the heavier matters myself while giving my friend the lesser responsibilities. The reason for this is because I did not want him to do something stupid. My plan was to sit out by the road and figure out which fork in the road to take while I sent him into the store to beg for bread. Oh, he whined a little bit at first but after I explained the benefits of the job, he got into the spirit of the thing and gladly went in with a cheerful heart and started begging.

I can almost guarantee there was nobody home in his house.

After giving the butcher the speech that I had carefully prepared for him, the butcher gave him some bologna and stale bread. He came back across the highway baring these precious gifts for which praise was awaiting him. I told him how impressed I was with his performance and that I was even considering letting him do it again. After that I gobbled down my bologna sandwich.

Our victory was short lived because the butcher had given him spoiled bologna. We spent the next few minutes throwing up everything except our toenails while the butcher enjoyed himself immensely watching us out the store window. We wobbled a little but went on down the road.

There are several points about this story worth developing, but I only want to address two. The first point is to never underestimate the youth of the next generation because they will usually turn out fine even if it appears that"the lights are on and nobody is at home."You never know what God is developing in those who look absolutely hopeless.

The most important point in this story is-the best the world has to offer is nothing more than spoiled bologna. It will not only make you sick, but it will eventually kill you. Therefore I can say with David,

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

It has been almost sixty years since my stale bread and spoiled bologna experience. Now my bread is from heaven and it grows sweeter and sweeter each day.

I am sure over the years there have been times when others thought in regards to me that the lights are on and nobody is at home, but I've never begged for bread since meeting my Lord.

Father,

I thank you that there is no end to the good things that you have prepared for those who love you. Thank you Lord for showing me how to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things are added to me. Lord, help me to have more faith in the young ones you are birthing today because you have plans for them as you had for me.

Amen!