Friends, Get Ready!

Wow! I have to start with that. I just did something I've never done before. I scrolled through my friend list on Facebook, taking time to look at each face, and suddenly I had tears forming in my eyes and trickling onto my chin. So many dear faces--faces I know and love well. Faces I see regularly and cherish, but also faces that I rarely see, and yet are no less beloved. Faces I recognize but don't know well; faces I don't know at all; faces of those I have never met and don't know anything about except what they share on Facebook. And yet, every single face blessed my heart, because every single face represents someone who is loved by God. Even those faces that may not know God or who don't follow Him and have not accepted His free gift of eternal life are loved by Him. Because that's what He does--He loves us unconditionally. He lives and moves and works in us and through us and around us, even when we don't acknowledge Him. He is our creator and our Father--even if we don't choose to believe that. He continues to love and longs to be recognized and accepted for who He is--the Creator of the Universe and the only true and living God.

As I continued to scroll through the faces, I saw so many that have already gone to their Heavenly Home, and that escalated the tears. So many that I miss seeing, even if I rarely saw them--just knowing I could see them was a comfort. But now, the reality of knowing that I won't see them again until I go to where they are, is so, so hard. But it's part of what keeps me strong in my faith that what God says is true:

My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. (1 John 5:13 The Message)

This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him. (John 3:16-18 The Message)

The truth is here: whether you believe in God or not doesn't make Him less real. I believe with all my heart that God is real; I believe with all my heart that The Bible is His Inspired Word, sent to give us an instruction manual for life; I believe with all my heart that Jesus was sent by God to give each and every person an opportunity to reconcile with God and spend eternity with Him. But I know that there are many who do not believe what I believe. And so, I can't help but ask this question: What if I am wrong? What if I die and there is nothing beyond that, or there is no Heaven or Hell, at least not the version the Bible describes? Does that mean I wasted a lifetime of believing? I don't think so! It only means that I lived a life that was focused on faith and truth and goodness, which is not a bad way to live, is it? And I can't imagine any kind of afterlife that could be as bad as what is described by the Bible as Hell, so even if I'm wrong, I have nothing to lose. But then I must also ask this question: What if the Bible is true and those who die without belief are cursed to an eternal agony of darkness and fire, with no hope for relief? Not because God hates them and wants them to suffer, but because God is the essence of love and truth and goodness and light and peace and comfort--It is impossible for Him to be in the presence of sin and unbelief. That's why He sent Jesus to die in our place and take the sin of all mankind--past, present and future--upon Himself and remove it from us. It was the only way we would ever be able to enter into God's presence. Jesus literally went to Hell for us. But the good news is--He walked out of that dark place victorious! He defeated death--not just for himself, but for all who will step out in faith and believe it. 

So the choice is ours, because God will not force Himself on anyone. Do I want to live in faith that what I believe is true: Jesus has already paid my price for being an imperfect being, which offers me the security of an afterlife that will be spent in a place where there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering? And knowing that even if I am wrong, I have nothing to lose? Or do I want to choose not to believe and take a chance that I might be wrong and end up with tears, pain and suffering for eternity? 

I guess looking at all the dear faces of my Facebook friends reminded me that there is a whole world of people out there who are simply friends we haven't met yet and that each and every one is precious to God. But how will they know who God is or how to experience His Love unless someone tells them?

My friends, I love you. I love you because God loves me. I love you because God loves you. I want to spend eternity with you in His presence. This is the time to search your heart and find that God-shaped hole that was placed in you on the day you were created. That place that has caused you to search, looking for something that will fill the longing to feel complete and whole and loved. Many of you have already found that peace that comes from trusting God, even when He is unexplainable and impossible to understand. Even when He works in ways that are mysterious to us and foreign to our human minds. That's what faith is: Confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.(Hebrews 11:1, NIV)

But believing in God is just the beginning. If you truly believe in God, then you must believe He is the truth, just as the Bible says. Which means believing in God is only the beginning of a path that was laid out for us by Jesus. Jesus came from the perfection and peace of heaven, to earth--knowing in advance that He would suffer, but also knowing that His suffering would be the only way for us to avoid eternal death and separation from God. He was willing to endure that because of His love for us, but also because He lives in obedience to His Father. How can we do any less? His example has shown us that life on this earth will include suffering, but He has also secured for us the promise of a new life in a place where there will never be any suffering.

Today my Facebook Friend List has become more than just a list of names and faces that represent my popularity. It is now my prayer list. So be on your guard because you may find some powerful things coming your way!

Dream and Re-Dream

The other night I kept "re-dreaming" something over and over. I have had recurring dreams before, but usually in the dream I revisit, I am trying to change the ending. This dream was not like that. It was the same dream with the same result every time and each time I would wake up wondering what it meant and then fall asleep and dream it again. It was a dream about running a race, and each time I would end the race and be declared the winner. And then each person who finished the race after me would also be declared the winner. I remember thinking this is a great dream--unless you are the first winner, and then it sort of feels like a nightmare--and yet, it doesn't.

After a few repeats of this, I began to wonder if maybe God was trying to tell me something. Maybe I have been treating my life like too much of a competition--like I need to be better than other people in order to be a winner. My brain is still playing with this. Wouldn't it be just like God to say to me, "you are the winner!"even when I can clearly see that I wasn't the winner? Such a thing would make perfect sense to Him, wouldn't it?

Isn't He the same God who said something like, "the first shall be last," and also something like, "you must look up before you can see what is down?" Well, maybe those aren't direct quotes, but I think the essence of the meaning is correct.

Jesus taught about how it is perfectly fair to pay two men the same wage as was promised, even if one man worked a whole day and one worked only an hour. He said things like, "if someone asks to borrow your jacket, let him have your shirt too." Such a strange way of thinking--if you're human.

We work so hard to be first and be best and have more and do more, and somehow we think that is what defines us as winners. But I think we have it all wrong. I think God may have been trying to tell me in my re-dream that none of what I do makes me a winner. I am a winner because God declared me a winner the moment I professed my faith to be in Him. Not that there will be no losers--there will be losers because some will not received God's free gift; some will take their eyes off the prize, which is Jesus. But those of us who remain faithful? First place winners! Every one. Wow! Sort of bends your mind, doesn't it?