Death and Homecoming are on my mind.

The anniversary of my brother’s death was a few days ago. A life-long friend died a few months ago. My mom and dad each died in the spring. Kay Arthur, the co-founder of Precept Ministries which was key in my spiritual growth, died a few days ago.

Grief. Grief. Grief.

And Yet!

And yet, my grief was Homecoming for each of them, believers in Christ.

Grief here and Joy there at the same time.

We are told not to grieve like the pagans do.

[Do] not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)

Those of us grieving over the death of a believer ALSO know:

They have been glorified.

They are holy and blameless.

They are more alive than ever. Truly alive.

They are in bliss we cannot imagine.

They see Christ face-to-face.

We (believers) will see them again.

Those truths do not eliminate grief, but our grief is changed by knowing their joy and the certainty of our (believers’) Homecoming as well.

~~

Are you positive that your death will mean heaven? Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Do you believe He died for your sins and was resurrected, proving He is the Son of God? If you don’t, you will die in your sins. Read Becoming a Child of God.

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Father, help us live in the hope of heaven. Help us be certain about the joy of our deceased loved-ones’ joy. Help us demonstrate to others Your truth, love, and power through our simultaneous grief and joy.

We all know, or know of, people that are hard to please. Is God that way? Is God hard to please?

Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

All religions, other than Christianity, teach that you have to earn your way to God through works. Those who are trying to earn God’s acceptance through works fail. They will die in their sins.

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)

Belief in Jesus Christ, however, means Christ-followers have faith and therefore please God.

Growing in Pleasing

The entry point in pleasing God is faith. If you have received Christ as Lord and Savior, you please God.

And, then, through our lives, as we grow, as we are sanctified, we learn more and more how to please God.

trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:10)

We learn how to walk in a manner worthy of Him.

Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

Motives

Over time, we learn how to bring our motives in line with what God wants.

Thought, Word, Deed

Over time, we learn how to think, say, and do what God wants.

Make Pleasing God our Ambition; Our Driving Goal

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:9)

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Father, thank You that we, believers in Christ, can please You. Help us please You more and more.

Trouble! I mean Trouble. Trouble with a capital T. TROUBLE!

I try to solve problems. Sometimes I can.

I know God has already given me everything pertaining to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)

I know I need to learn to use the gifts He gave me as well as rely on Him.

But!

Not everything is solvable. Certainly not always solvable by me. Some things will remain issues until the end … unless, of course, GOD solves it.

But!

God is working His holy plan. I must obey Him. I must trust Him. I must remember He is our holy God, doing what is righteous. I must submit to Him. 

In my trust and submission, I am to be content.

Paul learned to be content. And he was content and joyful in an awful prison with wolves attacking the church….

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. (Philippians 4:11)

~~

Father, help me learn to be content, knowing You are my loving, holy, sovereign God.

Believers, Christ-followers, are responsible for our thoughts, words, and deeds. Our sins are our doing.

Our actions, righteous or sinful, have results. Consequences of sinful acts can be life-long, and they can be horrible.

There are at least three lessons:

First, strive to live a righteous life. God is working in every believer to sin less, to make us more holy. When we do sin, and we will, confess immediately. Take the steps needed to resolve the impact of our sins, including reconciling if possible.

Second, remember that God is sovereign. Trust God throughout the consequences of our sins. He controls the length, breath, and severity of the results of our actions. It truly may be awful, but remember that God is with you, with me, helping us to walk through whatever it is in a way that pleases and glorifies God.

Third, thank and praise God. Thank Him that there are consequences of sin, helping us learn to refuse sin and obey Him. Thank Him that He is working in you (and me) and in the situation right now. Thank Him that He is sovereign. He won’t leave you or forsake you. He is teaching you, teaching me, something we need to know. If your long-term life situation changed, thank Him that He repositioned you to a new area of service.

And, finally:

Believer: whoever you are and where-ever you are, you are in God’s holy plan. He has, now and always, a purpose for you. He is leading you to glory. PRESS ON!

PS. WE are responsible. GOD is sovereign. It is impossible for us to understand that both things are true, but they are. We “just” need to believe what God says in His word.

There is no sin in heaven!

In heaven, there is no sin in me or in anyone else. 

All the redeemed in heaven are glorified.

I absolutely cannot comprehend the wonder to come. 

Three stages of salvation

Saved from the penalty of sin

Believers, including OT saints, have been saved from the penalty of sin. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)

Believers have been justified by God. (Romans 8:30)

Being saved from the power of sin

We, the still-living believers, are in the process of being saved from the power of sin. We are learning to live in newness of life, to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

In Romans 8:30 it is the unspecified period between justification and glorification. 

… these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

We are responsible to live obeying and pleasing God. We have to work at it. (But God helps!)

… work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)

Right now though, we still sin. And I HATE my sins. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Believers typically will sin less as we grow in the Lord. But we hate our sin more. We must continue to strive to live godly lives. And, as told in 1 John 1:9, we are to confess.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Shall be saved from the presence of sin

But next! We shall be saved from the presence of sin. No sin anywhere. The will of Almighty God’s will be done perfectly and joyfully. 

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (Romans 5:9)

We shall be glorified.

… the spirits of the righteous [in heaven are] made perfect. (Hebrews 12:23)

“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. (Ephesians 1:4)

I can’t wait.

Christ-followers are to walk worthy … because He is worthy and we are following Him.

Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. (Ephesians 4:1)

Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. (Philippians 1:27)

Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)

Walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:12)

You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

WHEW!

That is our goal: Christ-likeness. That is our prize: Christ-likeness.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

Life Long Endeavor

We have not arrived, but over our Christian lives, we are being made more godly, more in the image of Christ, our Lord and Savior. We are learning how to walk in a manner worthy of our worthy Lord.

Our Responsibility

We are responsible to live our lives according to our Lord’s commands.

BUT! (Thank God!)

God is helping us.

God … is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

Christ and the Holy Spirit intercede and pray for us.

He [Christ] always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26)

Press On

We are to press on. We are to strive to please God in all our ways. We are to shun sin and flee temptation. We are to confess, knowing God will forgive and cleanse. We are to do everything for the glory of God.

We are to pray for ourselves and others.

Don’t give up. Keep your eyes on Jesus. KNOW whatever is happening, God will bring good out of it for you, making you more in the image of Christ.

Praise Him.

~~

Father, HELP. This is an impossible standard. We cannot improve without Your presence and help. Thank You that You love us. Thank You that You—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—are working in us to make us like Christ. Thank You that You WILL bring us to glory. Help us remember all You have already done for us. Help us keep our eyes on You.

See He Is Worthy

Jesus Christ is worthy

He lived a perfect life.

He was (is) God’s perfect Lamb, sacrificed for our sins.

He was resurrected from the dead, declared the Son of God with power.

He lives at God’s right hand, intervening for believers, and is with us always.

He sent the Holy Spirit who lives in believers.

Christ is coming again.

The slain Lamb of God is worthy

The slain Lamb of God, standing, alive, in God’s throne room, is worthy.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)

To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)

Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

Christ is coming again!

Today, Resurrection Sunday

Today, Resurrection Sunday, let’s take some time to meditate on the eternal enormity of Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ died because of our sin, taking God’s wrath for our sakes. Christ is resurrected and lives for us. The life we live we live because of Him.

AND He is taking the title deed of the universe and will righteously judge. Death will be defeated. Evil will end. The righteous will be glorified.

This is many magnitudes beyond what we can understand.

He is worthy.

Let us praise Him.

Let us rejoice.

Let us worship Him.

Well….

We are to rejoice. And we have reason to. Our belief in Jesus Christ, His life, death and resurrection,  guarantees our future. We always have His presence in our lives.  God declares that ALL things will work to our good. Even if we strike out.

As believers, we do NOT permanently stike out. We err. We sin. But God is working in us, and will continue to work in us, making us more godly, until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

And we know what to do when we strike out. If it is sin, we are to confess, and then know, KNOW, that God has forgiven us and has cleansed us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). And we fix, atone, ask forgiveness from those we hurt, and reconcile if possible.

If it is a human error, but not sin, we fix things if we can, make things right with people affected, if any, learn from our mistakes, and press on. (Note: we are human beings with limited knowledge and frailties. Well-meaning humans make mistakes.)

But it is so easy to focus on the wrong things. To focus on striking out.

Father, help us get our minds in the right place. Help us focus on You, Your glory, Your righteousness, Your love. Help us rejoice in You.

What do you THINK are your needs?

What does God KNOW are your needs?

God knows you (and I) need

            Humility

            Endurance

            Patience

            Contentment

            Cleansing from sins

            Freedom from anything/anyone taking God’s rightful place

            And more….

What do you (and I) pray for?

Do you—do I—pray for what God wants for us? Developing godly character often hurts… Do I really want what it will take to make me be more humble? Or more patient, or …. ?

Ouch.

Let’s resolve to listen to God’s infinite, eternal love for us, what we know from His Word about how we need to confess/grow, and pray for our godly development.

Realize that God often uses trials to develop these characteristics in us. We must trust Him in our hard times, and cooperate with Him in our circumstances.

This requires work from us.

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)

~~~

Father, help us pray for what You want in us. Help us please You.

A favorite childhood memory is watching my older brother play with his model trains. One time he and a friend had set train tracks throughout our living room, dining room, and entry, challenging each other to get a specific car to a designated place fastest. I was there with big eyes wishing I could play.

A key in their game was switching tracks to get to the goal.

As I was reading about temptation, I realized that we need to switch tracks to escape temptation.

We ARE able to escape

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Don’t stay in the track of temptation

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. (James 1:13–15)

Switch tracks

Deliberately switch tracks. Stop thinking about the supposed pleasures and remember the consequences of sin.

Leave the room. Leave the situation. Flee. Switch tracks!

Stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about your glorious Lord.

Stop your harmful thoughts and remember the Word of God. Recite verses to yourself.

God is faithful

God is faithful to give you the way of escape. Switch tracks to His path.