Death is not the End

J. Vernon McGee writes, "The glory of the Christian faith is that it never views life as ending with death. This life is not all there is."

This week celebrated both the death of Jesus Christ on Friday and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The power of His resurrection dwells in me as a follower of Jesus Christ now inhabited by the Spirit of God. It is that power that will one day finally and ultimately bring me to my own moment of resurrection that is directly tied to and fully dependent upon the resurrection of Jesus years ago.

Death is not the end. Death was not the end of Jesus. It was merely the end of His suffering for sin. Death is a doorway into eternity that awaits us and everyone has an eternity awaiting them.

The Scriptures tell of only two eternities. The one more popular eternity stands at the end of a wide road on which many individuals are traveling. That road feeds into an eternity void of God and full of suffering the penalty for choosing everything else over God.

The other less popular eternity has a narrow road leading into it and few pilgrims who are making the trek. Yet the road, narrow and sometimes winding, leads into an incredible city and all the way to the throne of the King who will reign forever.

Death is not the end of any of us who walk in this world. By faith, however, Jesus Christ has placed us upon the path that leads to our home with Him. Death is but the finish line that once we have crossed it brings us to the author and finisher of our faith.

Where is you focus today? Where is your eternity? Are your eyes on the author and finisher of the faith that leads His followers to His eternal home?

The Air We Breathe

We owe an incredible debt of gratitude to Martin Luther whom God used in what we call the Reformation. Luther became convinced that Christ is the ultimate mediator between God and humanity rather than an earthly priest, pope, or king. 

He challenged people to see Christ's work as the only means of salvation, which could not be bought or sold. Luther desired to lead individuals into the intimate love-relationship with Jesus Christ for which we were made.

Every follower of Jesus, whether man or woman, should live in constant dependence on God through prayer. Not doing so is to in essence cut off one's oxygen supply. God wants relationship with us and communication (prayer) is essential to any relationship, even ours with God. Whether with my wife, kids, coworkers, neighbors, or friends, good and regular communication is essential to a good and regular relationship.

Once Luther wrote, "To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." He believed this and lived this often spending hours in prayer. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, urging him to lead the church in prayer. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul wrote that God's people should be lift up in prayer all people, including those in authority of them, whether believer or not. But I love even more that Paul wrote in verse 8 of that chapter to men specifically. He wrote, "I desire then that in every place the men should pray, liftingholy hands without anger or quarreling…"

The truth of the matter is that there are far more things for which I can pray in a day than I have the time.  Yet this should only drive me to pray more passionately and regularly.

And there is far more things for which I have to do in a day that I often see prayer as the impediment to accomplish those things. Yet again, praying focuses my priorities and connects me with the divine power from above for these things. Or as Thomas Brooks says, "You can do more than pray after you've prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed."

What stands before you today for which you need to first stand before God in prayer?

Grant Me Wisdom

The Bible teaches we often go without because we often fail to ask. More than this, however, is that we can often be asking for the wrong things or asking amiss.

What are we asking God to give to us?

Solomon inherited the throne of his father. David had been beloved and good (though imperfect) king. As Solomon took the throne, he felt inadequate to lead God's people. What an incredible undertaking to exercise authority over God's people and lead them in the way everlasting!  I can identify. Not with being a king or the son of a king, but the awesome task of leading God's people.

When God, therefore, asked Solomon what he would request, Solomon asked for discernment and wisdom. He petitioned God for a discerning heart to govern the people, distinguishing between right and wrong. He didn't want to be in power. He wanted to be a good leader.

This request pleased the Lord who granted him both wisdom and the things he could have asked for but didn't. God gave Solomon wisdom to lead the people. Wisdom is not synonymous with knowledge. Wisdom is the application of knowledge and the ability to discern among people and situations. The kind of wisdom we need comes from above, from the God who sees all things perfectly.

Knowledge may tell you what, but it is wisdom that guides you in how. Knowledge may give you the answer, but wisdom will give you the application.

Regardless of your need, ask God to supply. If your need is to know how God would have you to act or move, pray for the wisdom from God above.

Take a Daniel moment:

1.  Praise God for His infinite wisdom and counsel.

2.  Ask God to supply for your specific need today.

3.  Pray for wisdom in how God would have you to live, move, and have your being.

The Only Way to Please Him

There is only one way to please God the Father. Spending time in Hebrews makes this one way abundantly clear. The write says that faith is the only way to please God. Whoever draws near to God must believe the He is and that He rewards those who seek after Him.

Faith is the unwavering, unflinching, unreserved trust in God. It is a trust built on the confidence of God's character and God's track record of deeds. 

Faith that pleases God chooses Christ's sacrifice for our sin over my feeble attempts to earn salvation.

Faith that pleases God leads us to obey His perfect will rather than follow our own wisdom.

Faith that pleases God spurs us on to seek Him daily instead of seeking Him at our convenience.

Faith that pleases God focuses our eyes on the reward stored in heaven as opposed to earthly treasures.

Faith that pleases God dares to live a life of impact for God's glory over living for safety and my glory.

How will we live today? 

It is by faith that the people of old have received their commendation. Noah, Moses, Rahab, David, Joseph, Joshua, Seth, Enoch, Samson, and more have all received their commendation because of a faith fixed upon the unchanging, unmovable, unstoppable God of heaven.

How should we expect to receive the commendation of Christ our Savior and King any other way?

We either live by faith in the One who sees all things perfectly or we live by the sight of what we can see, grasp, and figure out.

Will we live today a life of faith that pleases God? Will we live today pursuing hard after a God who has rescued us from darkness into His marvelous light.

Take a Daniel moment:

1.  Celebrate God seeking after us that we would be found in Him.

2.  Thank God for giving us faith to believe in Jesus Christ.

3.  Ask God to enlarge your faith in Him.

4.  Pray for strength to live every moment, every situation, every decision, and every day by faith.

Powerful Reminders

Pastor and author Voddie Bauchum once made the statement that if the godliest man in the Bible (David), the strongest man in the Bible (Samson), and the wisest man in the Bible (Solomon) all committed a moral failure in their lives, then who am I to think I am above it.

As I continue reading this year through The Story, I have come to passages about David, Israel's king, who succeeded Saul. I know this story perhaps well. But as God's word is so powerful to do in our lives, the Scripture penetrated in a new and deep fashion.

Here are some of the powerful things I took away from this passage:

Sin is always crouching at the door. While the men were off at war, David remained at home. Arising from his bed, he walked out onto his balcony to find a beautiful woman bathing on a nearby rooftop. He didn't plan for this moment. He did not seek out this temptation. But he was not guarded against it either. Sin is always crouching at the door of the man or woman who does not arm him or herself for battle. Our battle with our sinful flesh is real and sin is always at the door waiting to pounce upon us.

Internal foes can do what external ones never could.  David took down the giant Goliath. He eluded King Saul who sought to take his life. David killed thousands upon thousands of the Philistines who mocked God and His people. He was victorious in battle and Israel flourished as a result. But the internal foe did what the external foe never could.  Lust did what warriors could not. David was conquered from within and not from without.

One step of rebellion can turn into a country mile. David looked upon her in lust and sent for her to be brought to him. He enjoyed the pleasure of sexual intimacy with another man's wife. But that one time act, heinous enough as is, wouldn't be the end of it. Bathsheeba became pregnant and David plotted to make Uriah, her husband, believe it was his baby. That didn't work, so he tried again by making Uriah drunk. That didn't work either. So David sent Uriah back to battle carrying his own death decree. Uriah was placed in the heat of the battle and then the commander pulled back leaving Uriah to be struck down and killed. Adultery is not better than murder. Both nailed Christ to the cross. Yet we see a progression from lust to adultery to manipulation to murder. It all began with one step of disobedience beyond the boundaries of God's perfect will for our lives.

Relationships suffer because of disobedience. Whenever we sin, as David did, relationships are destroyed. I don't know how the relationship with David and Bathsheeba was but I can imagine there was a great deal of trust issues, hurt, and healing that was needed. But what I do know is that this moment destroyed David's relationship with Uriah. Uriah had been one of David's mighty men who had fought for, protected, and placed his life on the line for David. Whereas Nathan and David had what appears to be a great relationship beforehand is now strained as Nathan has to confront David about his sin. David would encounter difficulty with his own son as a result of this. Some relationships are destroyed because of disobedience and never get repaired. However, all relationships suffer as a result of disobedience.

Hope exists through repentance. David's predecessor had always made excuses for his sin and wayward ways. When Nathan confronted, David repented. Hope came through repentance. In fact, that is still our hope today. When we repent of sin and surrender to Jesus Christ, we have the eternal hope of salvation in a relationship with God forever. God will work to restore in us what has been broken when we repent. David's prayer in Psalm 51 expresses both his repentance, his hope, and the request for God to restore the joy of salvation.

Take a Daniel moment:
1.  Celebrate that God's armor (Ephesians 6) can protect us against our enemy and the sin that ensnares us.
2.  Pray for God to make us aware and alert to the sin and danger crouching at the door.
3.  Ask God to reveal error in your life today because of a step of disobedience in the past.
4.  Pray for the relationships that have suffered because of your sin or the sin of another. Do all you can to see those restored.
5.  Repent of any sin in your life. Celebrate the hope of Christ as a result.