When Death Takes Me Down

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Daniel

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15 KJV)

I had this Scripture rolling around in my mind as I stepped into the Nursing Home yesterday to share some music with the residents. As I came in I was informed by a nurse that there was a resident who was passing away. I asked if I could play a song for her. She asked the family and they invited me in.

As soon as I stepped into the room she took her last breath. Soon, they were listening for a heartbeat… nothing. She was gone.

It is hard to process watching someone pass away before your eyes. As the family sobbed one woman was reading the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. As she finished, I offered a song. We sang Amazing Grace and then by request How Great Thou Art. I had played this song (her favorite) on so many occasions before for this woman and now it was for her gathered family.

I got the chills as I thought about how she might be observing us hovering in the room. It was a sobering moment. The faith and love of the surrounding family spoke volumes about who this woman was and of the faith and love she had passed down. Jesus has her covered. If she trusted that, then she’s in glory. Simple as that.

Some Thoughts

Do you ever think about how frail life is? We take it all for granted and we think we are so strong and are the masters of our own destiny, don’t we? Truth is, we are all just a few short breaths and heartbeats away from eternity.

Due to a certain vitamin deficiency (magnesium) I would sometimes get heart palpitations. My heart would stutter and flutter. Sometimes I got light-headed. When this first happened to me more than a year ago I was terrified! I thought my heart stopped and I fell to the ground and begged Jesus, “Have mercy on me! I don’t want to die!”

When this has happened since, I calm myself and just take the moment to receive the Lord’s grace, forgiveness and love. I realize he has my days in his hands and I exist for his pleasure, and I die for his pleasure as well. I trust his perfect timing in this and as much as I enjoy life and my family I’d welcome the promotion.

I know I’m going to be with Jesus. I know I’m going to paradise… forever.

This isn’t because of anything I have done to deserve or earn it, but simply because I trust Jesus. He has me covered. My salvation is secure. For me the biggest questions have been answered.

As I was running in the park the other night I wondered if I will hear, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter the joy of your Master” from the LORD Jesus.

I expect so. Everything we have done for him by his Spirit will be remembered while all our sins are forgiven and forgotten. What a deal.

Of course everything not done by his Spirit but by our own efforts or for ourselves will be burned and we will suffer great loss, but, for the believer, our spirits will still be received into glory (but as through fire). Because of Gods great love he has made it impossible for him to reject the believer because he has made himself one with us and he cannot deny himself. But John makes it clear that the true believer will not continue to make a practice of sin. There is great tension in this and it causes us to examine our own faith and life and areas that we need to repent of.

I thank God for the tension. He never intended us to coddle ourselves in carefully scrutinized and dissected theology. No. We are all on trial every day of our lives until our last breath. Will we embrace and pursue Jesus and his love and let this effect who we are and how we live? Or  will we live for ourselves and pursue the world and it’s passing pleasures?

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)

His word is a constant challenge to our hearts as he intended it to be. My question for you. Are you letting it challenge you? Or are you running?  If your heart stopped right now would you be in terror or have peace? Are you ready to take your last breath?

“When death takes me down and I breathe here no more
My anthem will sound on that eternal shore
I’ll join with the angels in heaven on high
I’ll sing Praise the Lord, He is the light”
(I Saw The Light Lyrics, David Crowder/ Hank Williams)

Categories: Death | Tags: , , | 3 Comments

Love Your Neighbor… Rebuke them?

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Daniel

I was reading Leviticus 19 in my journey through the Bible and was struck by the verse just before the famous “love your neighbor as yourself” verse.

Here it is: “Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.” (Leviticus 19:17 NIV)

Here it is in context in another translation: “You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Lev. 19:17-18 NET)

I thought that was interesting. It has always been a real struggle for me to rebuke anyone. This is mostly because I doubted that any rebuking I would do would come from a place of love.

Jesus quoted the above Scripture when asked what the most important command in Scripture? He was asked this once by an “expert” in the Torah:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’(Duet. 6:5) This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’(Lev. 19:18) All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:34-40 NIV)

So often in today’s society we think that “tolerance” is love, when in reality it is just the opposite. If you saw someone in a kayak heading down a river and knew a fatal waterfall is just beyond them, wouldn’t it be unloving not to do everything in your power to stop them and save them? Yet in our society we are told we ought to be tolerant of their right to explore rivers so don’t make them feel bad or upset for their choices. “That would not be loving”, so says the world.

I got pissed off the other day thinking about the fact that so many enemies of God are demanding of their loved ones, “It’s me or God. Make your choice. You can’t have us both.”

Let me explain.

Say your Christian friend or neighbor, brother or sister, parent or child is shacking up (we all know someone who is). Of course they just want to be accepted (as we all do) just as they are with their chosen lifestyle. But you, the Christian who loves and obeys Jesus (?), you want them to love Jesus and obey him too! And don’t we all agree this is the very best thing any of us could do? BUT, they stubbornly refuse to repent and so you are left with a difficult choice. Either you follow Scripture and rebuke them and likely suffer loss of “relationship” OR you accept them the way they are with the choices they have made. This is the demand they make of you.

How dare they hold you hostage like this and make you a partner in their sins! They are cruel!

gilbert-k-chesterton-writer-tolerance-is-the-virtue-of-the-man-without

I admit it. I accepted them. I refrain from rebuking because I didn’t really love them. And to top it off I’m not loving God in this either. But guess what? I get praised by the world for being “loving”. I get acceptance from society for being tolerant.

Tolerance sucks!

How loving is it to tolerate our friends, neighbors, and most especially our own family to their own destruction? The way I see it, tolerance is the enemy to love! Tolerance condemns! Tolerance also reveals a lack of real faith.

John the Baptist didn’t tolerate Herods sin of shacking up with his brother Philips wife. He could have kept his mouth shut and avoided the hurt Herod would bring his way but he did not. For your and my benefit he did not. His principles and his God were of more value to him than his life. Eventually he lost his head… literally.

Do I have the courage to love my neighbor like that? Do you?

BUT, the good news is that we all have the wonderful privilege of repenting from our sins! YEA!!!

I repent!

I repent of all my sins and I also repent of refraining to bluntly rebuke you when I see you sinning! (In love of course). You can do the same for me.

May God give us the wisdom and courage to do as His loving Spirit directs.

Your thoughts?

Update: Is this a New Testament idea? How do we rebuke others the way God would have us to, saturated in the love of Jesus? How do we follow Christ’s example in this? Paul’s example? (Paul said, “follow me as I follow Christ”).

Categories: Repentance | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

“Old Men Will Dream”, Am I Getting Old?

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Daniel

“I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.” – Joel 2:28

Does this mean I’m getting old? I had a couple of dreams recently I thought were worth preserving for posterity:

Last night I dreamed that I was preaching on forgiveness. I shared that Jesus told us to:

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Luke 17:3-4 NLT

I shared that if Jesus asks us to forgive like this then surely he forgives like this… and more. Check out this Scripture:

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  – Matthew 18:21-22 NLT

forgiveThis is not exactly referring to 490 times but to God’s eternal complete forgiveness.

This has been my lifeline. I trust the forgiveness of God. And then, I extend this forgiveness of God to others.

Today as I was driving I began thinking of a dear friend of mine who is living in sin, running from God. I prayed, “On behalf of Jesus I forgive _____ of all their sins.”

“Blasphemous! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Sound familiar? The Pharisees said this of Jesus when He performed that incredible miracle of forgiving the paralytic’s sins! (Oh yea, and then he healed him… yawn… j/k!)

Well, the answer to that question is: Yes! Only God can forgive sins AND ALSO anyone else that he gives the authority to forgive sins. Jesus said this to his disciples:

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:21-23 NLT

So this means if you are a disciple of Jesus who has received the Holy Spirit you have the power to forgive others sins.

You may be someone who needs to start following Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit before you too can possess this awesome power.

DREAM NUMBER TWO

“Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,  and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:25-26 NIV & NLT

Scripture says that when we refuse to repent and oppose the truth we are taken captive by the enemy to do his will. This actually happened in my dream because I was guilty of a sin!

In my dream (and reality of course) I had super powers (as every believer does) and Satan was using me to destroy things, blast open doors, wreak havoc, cause general mayhem, chaos, and ruin.

Of course I was disturbed by what was happening. At one point Satan stopped and said, “Let me pause for a moment to laugh maniacally… Bwa hahaha!”

it-is-worse-when-you-dont-repent_mobileAt this point I came to my senses and yelled, “I repent!”

The invisible chains that the devil held me with broke off of me and I fought him off… quite easily actually. He was scared of me!

I saw the truth of James 4:7 in a whole new light:

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

This dream really spoke to me about the power of just being in right standing with God. Not a difficult thing by any means, we just get to (and absolutely must) repent of all our sins! No problemo!

Happy repenting everyone! Go and save the world my superhero friends!

Here is some context from James 4 & Psalm 51 that will help with the repenting:

“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy? But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,

“God opposes the proud
but favors the humble.”

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” James 4:4-10 NLT

Psalm 51:

“Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.”

Categories: Dreams, Forgive | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

Read through the Bible in 90 days?

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Daniel

openbible-1I decided to read through the Bible before Christmas. Yesterday marks the first day of a 90 day read.  Will you join me?

The Challenge: http://66in66.wordpress.com/the-challenge/

Why am I passionate about reading through the Bible?

Because it has radically changed my life for the better every time I experience a journey through God’s Word.

When I immerse myself in the Bible I gain a grasp of reality as it truly is (aka “grow in faith”) and escape the “matrix” of a deceived and perverse society. I have come to see that gaining God’s perspective and worldview is really at the core of what faith really is.

To quote Paul, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”.

Sign up to my other blog to get updates as I, once again, take a Journey Through the Bible:

http://66in66.wordpress.com

Thanks for listening!

Daniel

Categories: faith adventure | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Be like Anne!

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Daniel

I was reading the story of David and Saul to Ellie last night and was struck by Sauls response to David after he spared his life:

“You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the Lord put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn’t do it. Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the Lord reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today.  And now I realize that you are surely going to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule. Now swear to me by the Lord that when that happens you will not kill my family and destroy my line of descendants!” (1 Samuel 24:17-21 NLT)

(Read the whole story here)

“So what do we do when someone is mean to us and treats us badly?” I asked Ellie. “We treat them with kindness and we love them and maybe even bring them a gift”, I told her.

This reminded me of watching Anne of Green Gables awhile ago with my wife. I was so impressed with Annes zest for life and just how truly full of life she was. One scene that stuck with me was the transformation of one of Annes enemies. She was a jealous and bitter woman that worked with Anne at her first teaching job and made her life so difficult. At every opportunity Anne just responded with kindness and love and finally won her over earning her trust. She in turn became one of Annes dearest friends and “came to life” herself. It was beautiful.

I shared all this at my concert today and asked the group, “Wouldn’t it be awesome to see this played out in real life? In our own lives? Are there people in our lives who are mistreating us that we can respond with kindness, show love, or even give a gift?

How about you? Is there someone like that in your life? I know there is in mine.

I can’t wait to see what God will do and what former enemies will become dearest friends as we do as Jesus taught us:

 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5 NLT)

Let me know what happens when you respond like David did, repaying evil for good. Come back and leave a comment!

Related articles
Categories: Forgiveness, Gospel | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com