The Best Thing I've Re-read Lately......C S Lewis

Of course we never wanted, and never asked, to be made into the sort of creatures He is going to make us into.

But the question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us.

He is the inventor, we are only the machine. He is the painter, we are only the picture. How should we know what He means us to be like?...We may be content to remain what we call "ordinary people," but He is determined to carry out a quite different plan.

To shrink back from that plan is not humility -  it is laziness and cowardice. To submit to it is not conceit or megalomania - it is obedience.

Here is another way of putting the two sides of the truth. On the one hand we must never imagine that our own unaided efforts can be relied on to carry us even through the next twenty-four hours as "decent" people. If He does not support us, not one of us is safe from some gross sin.

On the other hand, no possible degree of holiness or heroism which has ever been recorded of the greatest saints is beyond what He is determined to produce in every one of us in the end. The job will not be completed in this life; but He means to get us as far as possible before death.

That is why we must not be surprised if we are in for a rough time. When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well (in the sense that some of his bad habits are now corrected), he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along--illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation--he is disappointed...

God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level - putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary; but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us...

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense.

What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building a quite different house than the one you were thinking of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.

You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

From Mere Christianity, Book 4, Chapter 9, Counting the Cost, by C. S. Lewis

Old Songs and New Songs

                                    

                                     Old Songs and New Songs 

        Thinking  about a song that was popular some years ago -- the first lines were "I'd rather be blue, thinking of You, I'd rather be blue over you, than be happy with somebody new."

I think it was originally sung by Fanny Brice and then later by Barbra Streisand when she played Fanny in a couple of movies.

Anyway, look at those words -  Aren't they foolish? Who would rather be sad than be happy?

We would say to that person, one who had been abandoned by the one they loved (not through death, but just by being left for somebody else)..."Hey, I'm sorry you lost him...but it's time to move on...go back to living - get over it...it's time for a new relationship...." Things like that......

Here's an even better idea: move on to something better, or Someone better. Someone you can always count on. Someone who will never leave you. 

Make your most serious relationship Jesus - the only One we can count on forever.

He is and always will be there for us.

Here's a different and new song we can sing:

"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You. You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness, and I love You, Lord.

Now my heart's desire to to know You more. To be found in You and known as Yours...You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness..and I love you, Lord...so I'll live with you and ever die. And I love You, Lord."

I sure like this song better than Fanny Brice's, don't you?

We Can Start Forever Today!

                                                

                                                       We Can Start Forever Today!

A sincere prayer from Psalm 30:

      To You, O LORD, I called; to the LORD I cried for mercy.

      Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me and be my help.

This is how David cried out to God for mercy. Be my help, he begged.

God hears our prayers for His help.

And here is David's response to God:

      You turned my wailing into dancing; 

      You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

      that my heart may sing and not be silent.

      O LORD, my God, I will give You thanks forever.

God will listen to our humble and desperate prayers and will reward us with joy forever.

David says, I will give You thanks forever.

Let's start on "forever" today!

Protoevangelium - Prototype of the Gospel

 Protoevangelium - Prototype of the Gospel

The first glimpse of God's plan to finally destroy Satan's hold on mankind occurs right there in the Garden of Eden, where Satan began his campaign to destroy God's perfect world. It is recorded in Genesis 3:15: "So the LORD God said to the serpent, '...I will put enmity between you and the and woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.'"

That set the stage for the ancient struggle between good and evil -- between God and Satan. That was Act 1.

John explains Act 2 in 1 John 3:8 -- "The reason the Son of God came was to destroy the devil's work." That was done at the cross. The power of Satan over us was abolished.

And then in Revelation 20 we see the final destruction of Satan - the ancient serpent who deceived man from the very beginning. "The old serpent, who is the devil, is thrown in the lake of burning sulphur to spend eternity, without God and without hope forever." That is the final Act - Act 3.

We were saved from the guilt and punishment for our sin at the cross. We are being saved every day from Satan's power over us through the Holy Spirit -- "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" we are promised in 1 John 4:4.  And in the future we will be saved from Satan's very presence when we are in heaven with our Savior and Satan is in the lake of punishment.

That's the gospel -- good news of God's grace -- for all times --  past, present, and future!

Genesis 3:15 is known as the "Protoevangelium"- the first glimpse of the gospel message. The "prototype" of what God has done for us. The promise that God's great enemy will be utterly destroyed. And we will join God's family and live with Him forever!

Yes, Satan can still right now disturb us and distract us, but he cannot defeat us and his time is short!

Jesus has already saved us from Satan's power over us, and someday He will save us from Satan 's very presence!

And so, come quickly, Lord Jesus! Maranatha!

Cut Flowers - Eric Metaxas

Q. But right-thinking people want to do good...right?

A. Of course. But it is as if we're cut flowers. We might look great, but we are dying. We've been cut off from our Source. And He wants to reattach us so that His life can flow through us again.

But many people say, "Hey, I'm looking great! Check out the color of my petals! The bees are all over me!"

But because we're cut flowers, it's only a matter of time until we wither and die. It's inevitable. Without God we have no life, no goodness that lasts. We were meant to live forever, but until God reattaches us to Him--until we choose to allow Him to do that--we have no eternal life.

--From Everything You Always Wanted to Know about God...by Eric Metaxas...

       I am the vine; you are the branches.

 If a man remains in Me and I in him,

he will bear much fruit;

apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5