Pain

I started my day praying with a woman who has dealt with severe pain these past few months. I prayed with her as she told me of the pain that she will be facing in the days to come.

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Midway through the day I found myself in a dentist chair receiving treatment for pain that I was personally dealing with - a shooting pain that would not subside.

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Late this evening I received a call from a man who shared of the ongoing pain of grief that he faces with each evening as he lays down and tries to get some sleep.

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Pain. It’s not enjoyable but it is inevitable.

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Pain is the alarm that screams “something is not right”. Pain is the red flag that signals “I have had enough”.

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We each deal with pain in life because we live in a world flooded with sin - a world of selfish desires - a world that is not our home. 

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Pain is the continual reminder that we are hurting. Pain is the continual reminder that treatment is needed. Pain is the continual reminder that we incomplete. 

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Let us be reminded - by our pain - that eternal hope, healing, and wholeness is ours in The Lord. Let us celebrate our pain - as we are reminded of eternal glory.

We Have A Problem

Just a couple of weeks ago, during a physical, I found out that I have another hernia in need of surgical repair.

I had a hernia surgically repaired twenty years ago, when I was 13 years old. After the surgery, the surgeon told me two things that I still remember to this day. First, he said that I had probably had the hernia since I was 3. He also stated that I was likely to develop another hernia in the years to come. 

So, here I am, at the age of 33 facing the news of a second hernia. It could be much worse. And while a hernia repair is a fairly routine, outpatient surgery, the news still came as quite a shock during my recent physical. 

The doctor asked me if I had dealt with any pain from the hernia and, of course, I said "no". I had no idea that I had a hernia! 

However, since receiving the news, I can't stop thinking about my hernia. And, I am feeling the pain quite regularly and severely. 

Tonight, as I sat dealing with some sharp pains, I thought of how similar this situation is to our sin. 

There was a time in each of our lives that we were unaware of our sin problem. We had no idea that our sin was keeping us separated from the God that created us and loves us. 

But once our sin problem was brought to our attention, we began to deal with our reality. We were plagued by the nuisance  of our sin problem and painful consequences that our sin problem posed for our lives - now and forever. 

After a recent visit to a surgeon I was told that I could choose to get the needed surgical repair and take care of the problem right away. However, I was also given the option of waiting until the hernia got worse, at which time I could schedule the surgery. The surgeon did warn me that if I waited too long - and if the hernia got too severe - I would have the risk of gangrene setting in. 

In the same way, once our sin problem has been exposed - once we are diagnosed as sinners in need of salvation through Jesus Christ - we have a choice. We can accept His gracious gift of salvation right away and be free of our guilt, our shame, and the eternal consequences of our sin problem. Or we can continue to deal with the reality of our sin problem and refuse to free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Of course, there is always the risk of waiting to long. 

And while gangrene is a horrible consequence, eternal separation from

God is much worse - and irreversible.

So, in view of your sin problem, what will you do? 

Internal Error

This "Internal Error" message appeared on my computer this evening. Although I was a bit aggravated and confused, it occurs to me that it is also quite a convenience. 

What if my computer were to continue on without such a message? Chances are the "error" would continue on internally until in infected and affected many of the other programs on my computer and eventually ruined the hard drive and the entire computer.  

All of this made me think; what if we each had a message, such as this, that appeared when we had an "internal error" in our lives? 

When an internal error was made known to us we would then have the option to continue on and, perhaps, behave in unexpected ways or restart to avoid these side effects. Or, we we would have the chance to fix the error for the future. 

If  not addressed, the errors that occur internally in our lives will infect and affect many of the other areas of our lives. And, over time, these internal errors become eternal errors that are irreversible. 

What "Internal Errors" are you facing at the moment that need to be addressed?

What steps do you need to take immediately to restart and fix the error for the future?

Live For Now

That is stupid!

We have been offered an eternal future  in Jesus Christ. We have provided an eternal home in heaven. We have been promised an eternal hope. Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life on earth to show us how we are to live. Jesus Christ died a gruesome death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus Christ has risen from the grave to bring us a new and everlasting life. Jesus Christ ascended into heaven to preparing a place for us.

"Live for Now"  

That is stupid!

I don’t want to live for now.   I want to live for eternity.

Preparing for Victory

My wife and I have spent much of the week cleaning, cooking, and preparing for an open house that we are hosting tomorrow evening. We have done all of these special preparations because we want our home and to look its best and we want to provide the best atmosphere for our guests. But, in spite of all the preparations that are required for tomorrow evening, I paused for a few hours tonight to enjoy a college basketball game. My Indiana Hoosiers were hosting the Kentucky Wildcats, who are currently ranked number one in the nation.

It was quite a game and I am still reeling from the excitement after my Hoosiers pulled off a win tonight. Although the Hoosiers played at home and had a huge crowd advantage in the game, it was still a very difficult game in which a win would not have been possible if they had not come out with a plan and a desire to win.

After the game I went back to work, sweeping and mopping the floor in the kitchen and began to think, to think about preparing. The Hoosiers had to prepare for the game this evening and I have to prepare for our guests tomorrow night. In the same way, much of my job is about preparing - preparing individuals for heaven. Likewise, much of our life is about preparing - preparing for eternity.

Mercy is a means of preparing; Ephesians 2:3-5 says: "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Grace is a means of preparing; Romans 3:23-24 says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Through the grace of Christ Jesus we are being prepared for an eternity with Him where there will be no more sin and no more suffering.

Repentance is a means of preparing; when we ask forgiveness for our sins and we turn from our wicked ways God promises to forgive us (2 Chronicles 7:14), yet if we turn back to sin God promises that He will still remain forgiving and will accept us if we repent again (Matthew 18:20-22)

Worship is a means of preparing; as we worship as individuals we prepare for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11), as we worship together we prepare for an eternity when we will gather with all tribes and peoples to worship The God that is worthy of our worship (Revelation).

In all these things, in all these ways, God is working to prepare us for an eternity in heaven that He desires to spread with us as His children. As we think of God's mercy and His grace, as we consider our repentance to and our worship of God, let us also focus on the preparation that God has for us and how we can best prepare for the eternity that He is preparing for us.

In John 14:2-3, Jesus says: "My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."