Serving Rascals, Clumsy Disciples, and Physically and Mentally Ill Believers with the Unconditional Love of Jesus Christ
The heavens tell us about the Glory that God has. We look up and see a universe that was created, and is now on display. I remember on an isolated beach in Mexico. One night, the entire Milky Way was revealed. I laid on the sand transfixed by it all. Suddenly, I got afraid and had the sensation of being very, very small. That awareness has never left me.
The Lord my God hath given me rest on every side.
1 Kings 5:4
This was part of the preparation for the building of the temple. Times of quiet in one’s life should not be idle times. There is other work to do then. These are days for temple-building.
True living is not all activity – struggle, conflict, gathering money, toiling with one’s hands.
Building of character is the great work of life. This goes on best in the quiet. We ought not to wait for idleness to compel us to be still; we should get the quiet into our life even in our busiest times. We must have a restful spirit if we would build up the inner temple. There should be “silent times” in every day’s life.
The secret of Daniel’s noble character, while carrying a great part of the burden of the kingdom of Babylon was that he never forsook the place of prayer. Not even fear of the lion’s den could make him neglect devotion.
There is no other secret of a true and noble life amid the world’s strifes and trials. We must keep quiet within, that we may build up in our hearts the temple of God. -JR Miller
I’m coming up to 50 and it seems very strange. I have never gotten old before, so it is an adventure. I guess for the first time I’m face-to-face with three things.
1) I am older than most people I meet.
A few weeks ago I attended the weekly pastor’s meeting for Homer. I looked around and of the 7-8 pastors/elders I realized I was the oldest present. It really felt strange. I am no longer ‘looking to’ but am now ‘looking back’. But I still find myself thinking that old age is always 15 years older than where I am now.
2) Time has become increasingly valuable.
For the first time ever, I am operating with the sense that my time is slipping away. It’s funny but I can’t watch TV anymore, because it uses time up. It seems foolish to me. The same with books and magazines. (I even resent bathing, because of the time involved, lol.) I get frustrated unlacing my shoes, because time is slipping away. We think that as we get older, we will have patience. That is decidedly not the case for me.
3) I have an eternity with God and His faithful, ahead of me.
The first two are somewhat automatic, they just seem to come when I am in a certain frame of mind. But this one, #3, comes when I pray. Growing up I always had a fear of death. Just thinking about it now, makes me a little edgy and anxious. I need to hold on to the promises and actively anticipate heaven.
Growing old is weird. Making the different transitions to age-appropriate concepts is a real hoot! My hair is grey now, and I’m having issues with my hearing and my sight. I really like to read the obituaries, especially noting the age of the deceased. I’m also a big baseball fan, and it’s funny but I catch myself thinking that I could be the father of anyone of them.
Time rolls on, whether you like it or not. It’s best to think about scrapping your earth suit. Our present bodies are becoming obsolete. The funny thing is, 100,000 years from now, we will look back at this time on earth and wonder what the heck that was all about. :-)
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What can we do but pray for the throngs of defiant men and women who believe that their humanistic view of life is all sufficient? They believe that they are responsible “captains” of their own souls.
The sad fact is that even while they are joining in the age-old rejection of Jesus Christ—“We will not have this Man to rule over us”—they still are beset with fears within.
The present competitive world and its selfish society have brought many new fears to the human race. I can sympathize with those troubled beings who lie awake at night worrying about the possible destruction of the race through some evil, misguided use of the world’s store of nuclear weapons. The tragedy is that they have lost all sense of the sovereignty and omnipotence and faithfulness of the living God.
Although the material world has never understood it, our faith is well placed in the Scriptures! Those who take God’s Word seriously are convinced of an actual heavenly realm as real as this world we inhabit!
Broken Believers 