Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a little while He who is coming will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by Faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed but of those who believe and are saved.
Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
- Hebrews 10:35 - 11:1 (NIV)
I - me, myself and I - I am sure of what I hope for. I am certain of what I do not see. And God has given me ample reason to be so sure, so certain.
But what is it that we (you and I) hope for? And what is it we (you and I) do not see?
When I entered the Kingdom my hope was borne of fear: I did not want to go to Hell. Indeed, fear is the beginning of knowledge.
What I am certain of that I do not see?
That there is a GOD on HIS throne; the Creator, the only being to have life in and of itself without outside agency (who was and is and ever shall be, world without end, Amen), the terrible and dread LORD of lords, the Tetragrammaton - the ineffable, unutterable name of the Great I AM (I AM, I would like to suggest is NOT GOD’s a name but a statement of HIS state of supreme being), and in my study of the Tao, HE is the eternal, the tao that cannot be named, the VOID, from which all creation comes and returns to.
Now I got chills and teary as I wrote the preceding paragraph. We have so little understanding, so little appreciation of the absolute power, the absoluteness of HIS being. Our God is an awesome God? Perhaps awesome is a lesser attribute of the being of such immense power and consequence and it makes a nice song but...there is so much more to HIM who was and is and is to come, world without end. Amen. My personal opinion after studying the tetragrammaton is that calling GOD awesome is like comparing THE CREATOR to the college football player who wins the annual Heisman Trophy - an amateur who may or may not make it in the pros; there’s no guarantee.
We’re like small children in our faith and not in the way Jesus meant in His Gospel teachings. We think (those who know it) that proper Judaic practice of prohibiting the speaking or writing of YHVH, that when a Torah scroll, like an American flag, needs retiring, it is buried in HIS honor and fear - is quirky or funny or uptight or so yesterday, I don’t know what. And consequently we have no proper understanding of the terror that Hebrews 10:31 implies: it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Of HIS existence from Creator to the I AM to ultimate terror to ultimate comforter
I cannot see HIM but I am certain. Absolutely.
But I digress.
Apparently though, my certainty is not that affecting otherwise my behavior would be different. If I was so certain, as certain as I say, then people, total strangers on the street, could tell I was a disciple of Jesus Christ, a slave and an ambassador ("minister" and not ambassador under US law) extraordinary and plenipotentiary of GOD, by the love I show for GOD and for my neighbors. (The first and second greatest commandments.)
Then Jesus says that everyone will know we are His disciples if we have LOVE (agape) for each other. (John 13:34-35 - Please follow the link and read the footnote!) Check these references from the Holy Spirit through John: I John 3:14 - ...He who does not love remains in (spiritual) death.
I John 4:20 - ...for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
You’d think those simple commands would be impetus for me to change my moral life of this world for the holy and eternal life of the eternal Kingdom, right? But it hasn’t - not really. And it’s not because I consistently keep being told by liberal theologians and the Republi-Christians and agnostics that the practice of agape is impossible but rather, I suppose laziness or even out of ennui with the Church - I don’t see anyone else or hear anyone else trying to live by agape.
But I know there are some trying to live by agape and succeeding! I can spot someone who exhibits the traits of agape/Love, with almost 100 percent accuracy, without them saying a word. Usually all they have to do is walk into a room. They have a certain air about them, a glow or aura if you will, as Henry Miller says:
“At no time in the history of man has the world been so full of pain and anguish. Here and there, however, we meet with individuals who are untouched, unsullied, by the common grief. They are not heartless individuals, far from it! They are emancipated beings. For them the world is not what it seems to us. They see with other eyes. We say of them that they have died to the world. They live in the moment, fully, and the radiance which emanates from them is a perpetual song of joy…”
- The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder
Henry Miller, 1959
Sadly, I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of people who’ve had “the look;” whom were unsullied by the common grief.
I don’t have it and I know it.
I tend to wallow in the common grief; mired, occasionally happily, in the quotidian and inconsequential things and worries of this life. And of course, it makes my life ineffectual, meaningless within the context of life in the Kingdom (The Parable of the Sower).
I am comfortable in the bonds of this world. Oh, I can see the other world, the eternal Kingdom - I just can’t actualize it. So have I died to this world? Well, let’s say I’m on life support and no one I know wants to pull the plug, no one that I know has even expressed interest in helping me pull the plug that frees me spiritually to be the citizen of one Kingdom and not straddle the two Kingdoms! (And then again, maybe I’ve never told anyone or ask anyone to help me be a better disciple, to die to this world.)
Live in the moment? Are you kidding?! There’s yesterday and its mistakes and things not done. There’s tomorrow with bills to pay with too little money and places to go and my health changing from day to day. But the moment? It is as Scots poet Robert Burns wrote in To a Mouse (1785):
Still, you are blessed compared with me.
You live only in the present,
Whereas -- ouch -- I can look back
and remember the disappointments of my past,
And look to the future
And guess and fear.
- Modern English translation by Suzanne Chandler
http://adventuresindailyliving.blogspot.com/ © all rights reserved, Suzanne Chandler
I’ve never recommended another’s blog - but you might want to check hers out
(I’d be willing to bet she might be someone with “the look” - so I’ll have to start using my toes to count now!)
So, back to the Greatest, Second Greatest commandments and Jesus’ command in John 13:35 - if I am so absolutely certain of what I do not see, why don’t I live differently?
I’d like to suggest, based on my longstanding experience, my struggle to quit straddling worlds and cross fully into the Kingdom (and I am not talking about physical death or dying) that we get a clear vision of what we hope for, other than escaping Hell or being raptured off this rock, leaving all our fears and pains behind.
I’d like to suggest we get a clear vision of what we do not see. And from this frame of reference, look at the world with other eyes and see what changes it brings to our lives in Christ; how it changes our thinking and behavior.
My hope (in no particular order) of which I am sure:
- That I can trust the promises of God and that I will stop worrying about the quotidian which mires me, easily entangles me, the inconsequential that fills my waking hours. He says do not worry because He knows what we need and will take care of it.
- That someday, as an ambassador of God, He will recall me home and that I can stand before the Bema seat and say. I’ve fought the good fight, I’ve finished the race. And hope to hear, Well done, My good and faithful servant. Well done My son.
- That I can live in the moment each day for the present is all we have. How’s it go? Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow may not come? And that I can live it in joy - though I haven’t quite got a handle on joy.
- That God will grant my supplication that He give me at least 24 more years to live and learn to do His will. Then do it.
- That God will look after and care for my loved ones - my father, my sister and brother-in-law, my wife, my sons - that I may fully serve Him without worry or fear.
What it is that I cannot see - but am certain of beyond GOD on HIS throne:
- Paradise.
What we can be certain of from Scripture is this:
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
- Revelations 21:3-4 (NIV)
Beyond this, I think it is wide open to our desires, our imaginations.
My hope is that Paradise/Heaven is an infinite space with infinite dimensions where I can have every pleasure I have ever dreamt!
Where nothing is impossible so…
I want to go everyplace and in every time on the old earth that I’ve never been but wanted to go. Around the world on the Queen Mary. Tour the ancient world from Britannia to Persia.
I want to stroll around the New Jerusalem and walk and talk with GOD. Lookup some people: the apostle Paul, Peter, James and John. Maybe find Mary Magdalene and find out what she was really all about; see if she ever watched The Da Vinci Code. And of course find family and old friends. See what they’re up to and if they were surprised(!) they were here and were they surprised by what they found?
Then I’d find Einstein and I’d yell, “Hey, Al, let’s go break some laws of physics!” And he’d smile at me and start to come but then he’d say, “Wait a minute, Snark. I gotta go borrow God’s dice!” (An inside joke among Einstein fans.) - I’d see more beauty and more wonders than I could ever imagine in a millinillion (10 to the power of 3003) lifetimes!
- Maybe I’d get to pick a planet or a villa in Heaven and have my own lab and I’d hire da Vinci to work for me and we’d you know, mess around. Paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa - after meeting her, of course. Otherwise things could get awkward.
- I’d get to see the vengeance of the tetragrammaton, GOD, upon the evil. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the LORD. (Doesn’t that give anyone the chills?) And this is just my short list of things to hope for and to see!
I don’t know...what is your dream, your vision of Heaven - or do you even have one? Have you never allowed yourself to think about these things or have you never felt the need?
What is the hope you are sure of and what is it you do not see that you are certain you will see when the time comes?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
You may want to read Hebrews 12:1-3 in the Amplified Bible to get a more detailed handle on things. Click here.
Ah yes, to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles... to run the race… to persevere, keeping our eyes on Jesus… To quote the Bard, Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.
Help me. Help one another. To throw it all off, to run the race, fight the good fight, keep our eyes on Jesus and do the will of the Father.
And consider what your Faith is. And consider how different you’d act here and now because of closely examining your Faith.
Maybe someone wants to volunteer to help me a better disciple, to cross over into the eternal Kingdom? Drop me an email.
Until next time, may the peace of Christ be with you.
† Scott, VDM, ev
And, oh yeah, the storm is coming, in fact it may be next!
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