No Chance In Hell

While there is life, there is hope. --Publius Terentius Afer

This morning while I was getting ready for work, my wife asked me to make her a cup of coffee.  Not fully awake, I stumbled to the kitchen and filled the reservoir with water.  I placed the pod into the  slot, and waited the 90 seconds for the coffee to brew.  At the very last second, as the Keurig machine began to sound like a steam locomotive, I realized that I had not placed a cup below the spout.

Now, it would not have made any difference how good or how bad the coffee was if there had been no cup there to catch it.  Without a receptacle in place, all I would have made would have been a mess.  Fortunately, I was able to grab a cup and place it under the spout in time for the hot java to be received and enjoyed.

Throughout the day I thought of this incident, and the Lord brought to mind the passage in Luke chapter 11 where Jesus used a cup as a metaphor for people.

When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.  But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.  You foolish ones, did not He who make the outside make the inside also? --Luke 11:38-40

I don't want to get into ceremonial cleansing versus actual washing here.  The point is that Jesus likened the Pharisee to a cup, and the place where he dwelt to a platter.  I want to expand the point a bit here, and point out that there could be an entire cupboard full of sparkling clean cups, but if they are not brought out to be used, what good are they?

If we think of the coffee as God's blessing (and my wife would certainly attest to that!), what happens when we pray, "Fill me up, Lord.  Father, fill my cup."?  I believe God prepares His blessing to be poured into us.  But what if we are not in place when the blessing is ready?  What if we have backslidden, or taken up an argument with someone, or placed ourselves on top of the Fountain of Blessing?  "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me." (Psalm 66:18).  I'm not talking here about saying magic words, like if we chant the Lord's Prayer enough times, we somehow unlock the treasure chest of heaven.  What I am saying is that God knows the heart, and He will reward those who diligently seek Him.

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10). He certainly cannot pour into us if we are not still.  We may receive only half of what He intends for us if we keep running around mindlessly, forgetting where we left Him.  For all of our good intentions, we may miss all of what He has in store for us.  But as long as we live, as long as we serve Him, we can come back to him again and again.  The good news is that if we come to ourselves, if we repent, He is willing and able to refill us, to allow His blessing to flow into us.  Chances are good that when we are again attuned to His will, He will reach out to us and bless us again.

If you have not trusted your heart to Christ, if you have not made Him Lord, you have that chance today.  There is a 100% chance that He will be your Savior if you sincerely ask Him.  If you harden your heart toward him, the chances diminish.  Tomorrow there may be another chance.  Or maybe there won't be.

You could die tomorrow.  James 4:14 says, "For what is your life? It is even a mist, that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."  I believe that Jesus is coming for His Church, sooner than we think.  If you are left behind, the chances are slim that you will change your mind about Him.  You may be caught up in the chaos, trying merely to survive when all of the mountains are laid low, and the seas turn to blood, and a third of every living thing on earth dies, and everything that lives in the sea dies.  Read the book of Revelation--it's gonna happen!  And the Book also says that those "Tribulation Saints", those who come to Christ after the Rapture of the Church, they will be martyred.  The Antichrist will try to exercise so much control that he will try to wipe out all who believe.

After death come judgment.

In Luke chapter 16, Jesus told a story about two men, one rich and one poor.

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table.  Even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried hi to Abraham's side.  The rich man also died and was buried.  In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  So he called to him, "Father Abraham, have ipty on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire."  But Abraham replied, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm is fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."  --Luke 16:19-26

Jesus was making the point that when you die, you cannot change your mind.  There is zero chance of changing your heart after life ends.  There is no chance to gain heaven when you reside in hell.

Friend, don't wait until it is too late.  Christian brothers and sisters, the Day of the Lord is at hand.  Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send workers into the field.  Be a fellow-worker with the harvesters, for Jesus said the fields are white unto harvest.  You might be the last chance for a dying soul.

Heavenly homonym "chesed"

So you, by the help of your God, return; observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually.  --Hosea 12:6 (NKJV)

He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?  --Mica 6:8 (NKJV)

When my kids were little, we watched Sesame Street.  At various times in the program, they would show a letter or a number on the screen, and say, "Today our show is brought to you by the letter __." Another children's show that I liked to watch as an adult (this was before I had kids, thankfully) was PeeWee's Playhouse.  Every episode would have a "word of the day."  Whenever they said the word, the viewers were encouraged to "scream real loud."

Well, today, I have a "word of the day."  The word of the day is Chesed. It is a Hebrew word, usually translated Mercy, Kindness, Loving-Kindness.  It is closely aligned with the Greek word Charis found in the New Testament, meaning Grace.  (As you know, I am a big proponent of Grace.  I even wrote a book about it--you can click on the link at the top right corner of this page to see my book.  You can even order it if you like.)

According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the KJV translates the word chesed 149 times as "mercy"; 40 times as "kindness", and 30 times as "goodness".  There are other various words translated from this term, one of 13 words that the Jewish rabbis say are descriptive of God Himself. They are "goodness" (12 times), "kindly" (five times), "merciful" (four times), "favor" (three times), "good" and "goodliness" (one time each).

In both of the verses cited at the beginning of this post, the word is translated "mercy".  In both the verses, however, the term is coupled with "justice".  I think mercy and justice are two sides of the same coin.  I think that those present-day Christians who love the New Testament Jesus, but eschew the Old Testament God (whom they think of as a God of Wrath)--those people, though well-meaning, sell God short.  A God who is defined by goodness and mercy, but who does not show justice and discipline, is more of a butler or personal assistant.  Of course that kind of God is an easy sell in today's PC world.

The Hebrew term chesed is used two different ways in the Bible.  We have already seen the term used in the sense of goodness, kindness, and faithfulness.  But it is also used in the sense of shame and reproach.  Leviticus 20;17 says, "And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a chesed, a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in their people."  Psalm 57:3 says, "He shall send from heaven, and save me from the chesed, the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His chesed, His mercy and His truth."  Proverbs 14:34 says, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a chesed, a reproach to any people."  And Job 6:14 says, "To him that is afflicted, chesed, or pity should be shown him; but he forsakes the fear of the Almighty."

Apparently the term chesed in the Hebrew is a word with two, opposite meanings.  In the title of this post I called it a "homonym".  Technically, it should be called a "contronym."  It is like the English word "cleave", as in "to cling to" or "to split or sever."  Other English examples are "sanction" (as in give approval to, or impose a penalty on); screen (as in to show to a select audience, or to obstruct from one's view); and even left (as in remaining or departed.)

Today I was in a local Whataburger, waiting for my burger and fries, when a young mother of two came in and got in line with her daughter.  Several times she yelled across the dining room to her son, who appeared to be ten or eleven.  He was more interested in peeking around the drink dispenser to try to see what was going on in the kitchen.  Her daughter, who was maybe 15, stayed close-by.  When it came their turn to order, the son was still off by himself.  The mom did what any other mom would do.  She asked the daughter, who had stayed close, what she wanted.  Then she ordered something for her son without asking what he would like to have.  She certainly showed chesed, goodness and loving-kindness to the daughter.  She also showed chesed, I think, to the wayward son.  She had pity on him, and ordered him something to eat anyway, even though he was disobedient.  What he did was a reproach, a kind of chesed, in that he did not respect her enough to come to her (or even to answer her) when she called him.  She would have been well within her rights to refuse to order him anything.  She would have been justified in teaching him a lesson of obedience--if you don't come when I call, you get nothing.  The fact that she did show mercy on him exhibited her kindness and goodness to him.  If he had refused to eat what she ordered for him, that would have been a grievous sin.

I don't know this family, and I certainly don't know whether this boy makes it a habit to disobey.  I also don't know if he has a history of telling his mother, "I don't want the Whataburger Junior that you purchased for me; I want the chicken strip sandwich."  Certainly, if he shows this kind of disdain for his mother, she would have the right to disinherit him.  She could write him right out of her will.  When he turns 18, unless he repents and shows a genuine change of heart, she would be justified in kicking him out of her house and telling him to fend for himself.  To do otherwise would be to cheapen and demean herself in his eyes.  Psychologists call this behavior "enabling", and it is symptomatic of a dysfunctional relationship.

Listen to me, people.  God has a relationship with each one of us.  But that does not mean He will reward everybody.  God is not dysfunctional in any way, shape, or form.  If we have a heart that responds to Him, He will show mercy on us.  When we sin, He will show pity on us, and hide our reproach.  But if we continually reject Him, we cannot expect for Him to reward us eternally.  Justice demands that if we sever our relationship with Him, that He disinherit us.

Thankfully, He knows our hearts.  None of us will be surprised at the final Day of Judgment.  We will know His works, and they will be righteous.  He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.  The folks that know this and put it into practice in this life will inherit eternal life with Him forever.  Those who reject Him will spend eternity without Him.  Jesus said "I will draw all men unto me," and it is not His will that any should perish.  So each of us makes a choice, and our eternity depends on it.  To those who say they can't believe in a God who would send people to hell, I say it was not God's choice.  God is ever-faithful to His word.  He is also ever-faithful to His people.

God's loving-kindness is that sure love which will not let Israel go. Not all Israel's persistent waywardness could ever destroy it. Though Israel be faithless, yet God remains faithful still. This steady, persistent refusal of God to wash his hands of wayward Israel is the essential meaning of the Hebrew word which is translated loving-kindness. In Jeremiah 2:2 the word chesed is rendered 'kindness,' the reference being to 'the kindness of thy youth,' and this phrase is paralleled by 'the love of thine espousals.' The meaning is not that Israel was more tender in her attitude towards God or in her affections, but that in the first days after the rescue from Egypt she was faithful to the marriage-covenant with God. The charge of the prophets is that Israel's loyalty to her covenant with God (Hosea 6:4, 'goodness' in the English versions) is 'as the morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away,' a regular feature of the Palestinian climate when once the spring rains are past.

The widening of the meaning of the Hebrew chesed, used as the covenant word and especially of the covenant between God and Israel, is due to the history of God's dealings with his covenant-people. The continual waywardness of Israel has made it inevitable that, if God is never going to let Israel go, then his relation to his people must in the main be one of loving-kindness, mercy, and goodness, all of it entirely undeserved. For this reason the predominant use of the word comes to include mercy and forgiveness as a main constituent in God's determined faithfulness to his part of the bargain. It is obvious, time and again, from the context that if God is to maintain the covenant he must exercise mercy to an unexampled degree. For this reason the Greek translators of the Old Testament (third century BC onwards) used the Greekeleos (mercy, pity) as their regular rendering, and Jerome (end of fourth century AD and beginning of fifth) followed with the Latin misericordia.

The loving-kindness of God towards Israel is therefore wholly undeserved on Israel's part. If Israel received the proper treatment for her stubborn refusal to walk in God's way, there would be no prospect for her of anything but destruction, since God's demand for right action never wavers one whit. Strict, however, as the demands for righteousness are, the prophets were sure that God's yearnings for the people of his choice are stronger still. Here is the great dilemma of the prophets, and indeed the dilemma of us all to this day. Which comes first, mercy or justice? Rashi (eleventh-century AD Jewish commentator) said that God gave 'precedence to the rule of mercy' and joined it 'with the rule of justice.' But this much is clear: when we try to estimate the depth and the persistence of God's loving-kindness and mercy, we must first remember his passion for righteousness. His passion for righteousness is so strong that he could not be more insistent in his demand for it, but God's persistent love for his people is more insistent still. The story of God's people throughout the centuries is that her waywardness has been so persistent that, if even a remnant is to be preserved, God has had to show mercy more than anything else. It is important to realize that though the Hebrew chesed can be translated by loving-kindness and mercy without doing violence to the context, yet we must always beware lest we think that God is content with less than righteousness. There is no reference to any sentimental kindness, and no suggestion of mercy apart from repentance, in any case where the Hebrew original is chesed. His demand for righteousness is insistent, and it is always at the maximum intensity. The loving-kindness of God means that his mercy is greater even than that. The word stands for the wonder of his unfailing love for the people of his choice, and the solving of the problem of the relation between his righteousness and his loving-kindness passes beyond human comprehension.

Bibliography: N.H. Snaith, Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament, London (1944).

Choose right.  Choose life.  Choose God.  Jesus died so you would not have to endure the penalty of sin.  We can choose to be grafted in to the olive branch that is Israel, God's chosen people. That is the meaning of our word of the day.

Manifest Destiny

None so deaf as those who will not hear.  None so blind as those who will not see.            --Matthew Henry

manifest  [man-uh-fest]
adjective
1.  Readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; apparent; plain:
a manifest error.2.  Psychoanalysis. of or relating to conscious feelings, ideas, and impulses that contain repressed psychic material:
the manifest content of a dream as opposed to the latent content that it conceals.

verb (used with object)
3.  To make clear or evident to the eye or the understanding; show plainly:
He manifested his approval with a hearty laugh.4.  To prove; put beyond doubt or question:
The evidence manifests the guilt of the defendant.5.  To record in a ship's manifest.
noun
6.  A list of the cargo carried by a ship, made for the use of various agents and officials at the ports of destination.
7.  A list or invoice of goods transported by truck or train.
8.  A list of the cargo or passengers carried on an airplane.

 A student of American History will recall the phrase "Manifest Destiny" as the realization by early settlers that there was a great deal of land west of the original thirteen colonies.  There was incentive to settle further and further west, as there was a great deal of land to be claimed, and there was gold on the west coast.  This land was uncharted, and (to the minds of the European settlers) uninhabited, as the indigenous peoples were nomadic.  As "civilized" people migrated further west, they organized into new Territories of the United States of America, which would eventually become states themselves.  Westward expansion was self-evident; it was obvious to all but the Indian tribes that white settlers should possess the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

"Manifest" is not a word we use much any more in our everyday vocabulary.  It is a good word, though; one that is used in older versions of Scripture.  John 14:21 says, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me.  And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."  I don't know about you, but I would like very much for Jesus to manifest Himself to me.  Through the Scriptures, Christ has in fact been made manifest to us.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. (Romans 1:18-19)

I truly believe that we are in what has been called the End Times.  I trust that Jesus is coming back very soon.  For students of Scripture, the signs are manifest to us.  For those who don't take the Bible literally, or who scoff at it's stories as so much mythology--well, I've probably lost them as readers by now.  Unfortunately, I think the scoffers of society have influenced the Church more than the Church has influenced society.  But that is another rant for another time.

Let's look at the evidence.  In Matthew 24, the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked Him, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming?" (Matthew 24;3).  Jesus gives the disciples a long discourse, describing things that will come in the short-term, mid-term, and long-term.

Wars, rumors of wars, and deceipt
Jesus predicts deceivers will come after Him, declaring that they are Him, or at least speak for Him.  "And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Take heed that no one deceive you.  For many will come in My Name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many.' " (Matthew 24:5).  In the History of the Church, what started with Apostles and Elders like Peter and Paul evolved into a hierarchy, replete with politics and power.  There arose a church leader who called himself "Papa", what we would now call the Pope, who hailed himself not just the head of the church, but "the Vicar of Christ".  That is, the papacy claimed to be the Viceroy, the stand-in, for Christ until His return to Earth.

"And  you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." (Matthew 24:6).  After the establishment of the papacy, there were the Crusades, a series of religion inspired wars designed to re-take Jerusalem from Muslim hands.  Jesus predicted these conflicts, and warned us not to be worked up about the possible end of the world at that time.  And we know now that it was not to be, just as He said.

The Beginning of Sorrows
Jesus predicted geo-political realignment, and natural disasters.  "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:7-8).  Many will argue that there have been wars fought between peoples as long as there have been people.  But none could argue that modern technology has allowed the possibility of mass destruction on a scale never seen before.  Those same people will argue that the world has always had seasons of drought, periods of widespread disease, and earthquakes.  There are two new developments, however, that are pertinent here.  First is the development of mass communication.  Whenever there is a natural disaster anywhere in the world, CNN announces it as it occurs.  So we know more quickly about the event, and of the toll it takes.  So I don't know whether there are more earthquakes or famines now than there ever were, but I do know that more people are aware of them now than ever before.  And I also know that more people are affected by natural disasters than ever before.  With a global population of 6.5 billion people (and rising), more and more people are affected by drought, disease, and dynamic shifts in the earths crust.  If you have a heart, you must feel for all the people who are affected by these things.  We want to help them.

Widespread Hate
Jesus predicted persecution on an unprecedented scale.  We have all heard of the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were killed.  The upcoming persecution of the Church will make the Holocaust pale in comparison.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My Name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  --Matthew 24:9-12

We have already begun to see the rise of ISIL and their brutal treatment of Christians.  They have beheaded some, drowned some, killed some by fire, and others they have buried alive.  Their watchword is "Death to America".  There are currently 330 million Americans.  When they get access to nuclear warheads--and they will get access to nuclear warheads (see the current headlines about the "deal" struck between the US and Iran to allow development of nuclear material) they will most certainly develop a nuclear bomb within 10 years--maybe sooner.

The false prophets have already infiltrated our culture.  They have come stealthily, preaching half-truths about the nature of God.  "God is love," they preach (which is true).  "We need not worry about God's wrath.  The God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament" (which is NOT true.)  The current pope was recently quoted as saying that the god of Islam is the same as the Christian and Jewish God, that He is just known by a different name.  This is a LIE.

Jesus described the culture of the end times later in Matthew 24 as being comparable to the pre-flood world.  "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24: 37).  The point He was making was the suddenness of the event, because He goes on to say that people were going about their daily routines, "eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark."  But a close look at the culture of the days of Noah reveals something telling.  Genesis 5:6 says, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the hearts of the human heart was only evil all of the time."  How descriptive.  How very much like today.  (Witness the majority of Christians who support the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding gay marriage, while at the very same time believing that homosexual behavior is wrong--the "inclination of the human heart" bending toward evil.)

Genesis 6 speaks of the violence present during the time of the flood.  The Hebrew word for violence and lawlessness is "hamas."  Genesis 6:11 and 13 says, "The earth was also corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (hamas).  And God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh is before me; for the earth is filled with violence (hamas); and behold, I will destroy them with the earth."  Any student of today's situation in the Middle East knows that the Palestinian Liberation Organization, a terrorist group, is supported by Hamas.  I know that in the Palestinian language, "hamas" has a different meaning.  It supposedly means "enthusiasm".  But in their "enthusiasm", they declare a holy "jihad", which means a violent war or struggle against unbelievers.

The End
Jesus describes only one prerequisite to His Glorious Appearing.  It is not the rebuilding of the Temple, although that is described in Revelation as a physical structure which will be rebuilt just before or during the Tribulation.  It is not the appearance of the Antichrist.  It is global evangelism.  "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:13-14).  With the current state of global communications, can anyone tell me a nation or language or tribe that has not heard the gospel message?

The book of Revelation describes a one-world government or one-world economy (Revelation 17:13).  I have already quoted the current pope about his identification with Islam.  I have read more than one story about the pope being a Jesuit, and the fact that most Jesuits are embracing Liberation Theology.  This line of thinking says that the style of government that most closely aligns to the teachings of Jesus is Marxism.  In fact, the line in the Communist Manifesto "from each according to his ability to each according to his need" is a direct quote from the book of Acts, where Luke described the actions and attitudes of the early Church.  The difference between the early Church and the tenet of Marxism is Free Will.  God gave men free will, and delights when they choose to share with the needy.  Marxism denies people free will, such that anyone who does not fall in behind the Party line is arrested or killed.

As for the economy, historically every seven years there is a "correction" to the world markets.  This is due to occur again, possibly this coming September.  There is some concern among economists that the correction of 2015 could be very devastating.  Could this usher in Marxism into the US economy?  We already know that the sitting president attended a church that preached Liberation Theology.

There is an extra-biblical source of prophecy that indicates the current pope may be the last one ever.  The writings of the Catholic cleric Malachy in the twelfth century are interesting, to say the least.  Is this the moral and religious Antichrist spoken of in Revelation 19:20 and elsewhere (Revelation 17 speaks of a woman arrayed in purple and scarlet, whom many theologians identify with a false religion).  Many Christians look forward to the Rapture of the Church, in which all Christians are taken to heaven suddenly, leaving a moral and religious vacuum behind that will be filled by Satan and his followers.  Many Muslims look forward to a violent overthrow of Christianity in the last days.  Could it be that Islam becomes the one world religion after the Rapture of the Church?

The Bible says that no one knows the day or the hour of His coming, but that the seasons will be made manifest.  I believe in my heart that something earth-shaking will happen with the coming Jewish New Year in September.  Traditionally, it is marked by the blowing of the trumpet 100 times.  Some predictions of the Second Coming of Jesus include a description of "the last trumpet".  I don't know for certain that the Lord is coming for His Church on September 15, some 60 days from now.  But I do expect something big to occur with the advent of the 70th Year of Jubilee since Joshua led the Sons of Israel into the Promised Land.  And I do know that we are closer now to the end of the world than we have ever been before.

Are you ready?

Go With God

   

When I was a kid, I had a motley collection of die cast metal toy cars.  Sold under the brand names "Hot Wheels" or "Matchbox Cars", they looked just like a miniature replica of hot rods and cool cars on the road at the time.  The only thing that worked on them was that the wheels would roll--it would not steer, and you had to push it to make it go on a flat surface.

Soon after I started collecting small replicas of fast cars, I got a package of orange, interlocking tracks.  The plastic "roadways" would connect end-to-end, and their raised edges would keep the cars from veering off under the bed or dresser, where I couldn't reach them.  This made the cars more enjoyable to play with, but it still took a lot of imagination, because they would not propel themselves.  I discovered that if I elevated the first part of the track a little bit, the car would zip down the ramp and roll on until it hit something or it ran out of momentum.  The gravity that propelled it downhill would also be the force which slowed it to a stop when the road leveled out.

When I outgrew the tiny cars and their ugly burnt orange tracks, I noticed that they had invented accessories that would propel the cars automatically.  No longer did the kids need to engineer downhill tracks.  Instead, they could buy curved tracks that made the cars travel in an oval pattern.  The motorized thrust-er would give the toy cars enough momentum to zip around the curved track and back to the motor again.  The cars could go and go, without having to pick them up and start over again. As long as the power remained on, the little cars would go round and round the track.

In a way, this progression parallels my spiritual journey.  After I grew up and set out on my own, I was directionless and unmotivated.  God had to literally pick me up and place me on track in order to keep me going straight.  From time to time He would lift me up to a spiritual high point.  From there I could zip down into the real world, with enough momentum to jump the chasm life set before me, or even loop-the-loop if given the chance.  But eventually the gravity inherent in every day living would slow me down.  I would grind to a halt, and need the hand of God to propel me forward again.

As I grew older, with more responsibilities (like a job, and a wife, and then children), my life began more and more to resemble an oval track.  I would go round the first bend and receive wages for my work; just round the second turn, however, were the bills.  Round the first bend was friends and relatives.  Round the second turn were arguments with the wife, or friends' betrayals.  I became very familiar with the treadmill I was running.

Over time I have discovered that I need energizing as I go round life's racetrack.  At first I thought church and God were like a pit stop--somewhere to get the engine serviced, check the tires, and get help when I needed an overhaul.  The older I get, however, the more I think of worship among fellow Christians as being just like that electric motor the kids play with.  The one that shoots their cars round the track and back again.  Each week I look forward to that thrust of spiritual momentum that gets me through to the next time.  If I miss going through the wheelhouse of the church, I lose momentum, and am in danger of coming to a complete stop.

Just like the die-cast toys are made in the image of actual automobiles, so I am made in the image of Almighty God.  However, I do not have an internal combustion engine; I cannot self-propel.  I need outside motivation, and a track or surface free of obstacles and debris.  The motivation I receive can come from natural sources, like gravity, or a strong wind.  But gravity slows you down.  The wind makes you go, well, whichever way the wind blows.  That may not be the direction God wants to take you.  "He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.  No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner to they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff." (Isaiah 40:23-24).

No, it is much better to be propelled by His power, in the direction He wants me to go.  And if I make a habit of going through the church house each week, like the die cast toy cars going through the wheelhouse every time around the track, then I can run forever. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:25).  I must make sure, however, that my "wheelhouse", my motorized motivation, is connected to the Source.  If not, then the wheels stop turning, and I come to a screeching halt.

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.  A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.  "They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession.  I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him." --Malachi 3:16-17

Think about that, my friends.  We are God's treasured possessions.  At the end of the Day, when He picks up His toys and goes Home, we will be with Him.  We will no longer have to go around in circles.  We will no longer be buffeted by the winds or slowed down by gravity.  We will be with Him forever.  How much more do we long for His touch, His energy, His momentum even now?

Go Deep!

Inch by inch, row by row, I'm gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row, Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below 'til the rain comes tumbling down

Early this spring I built a garden box for my wife.  She put fresh, clean garden soil in it, free of rocks and sand.  She put just the right amount of fertilizer in it.  Then she planted seeds for tomatoes, squash, bell peppers and okra.  She carefully watered the young plants, and put mulch over the soil to keep the moisture in.

Well, the tomatoes are coming in nicely.  The squash a little less.  The okra plants are there, but there is no fruit.  And we don't know what happened to the peppers--they didn't come up at all.  Our neighbor, who has had a garden box for years, told us that the squash plants are too crowded, that they need to be thinned out.  He also said something about picking off the "male" buds and letting the "female" buds grow, because they are the ones that produce fruit.

I thought of our little garden box today when I heard a sermon on The Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13.  You are probably familiar with the story:

A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.  He who has ears, let him hear. --Matthew 13:3-9

In this parable, the four types of ground are compared to the hearts of the hearers of the word. Some are better prepared than others to receive the seed of the Word of God.  The farmer cannot discriminate, as he does not know where their hearts are at any given time--only God knows.  And when the harvest comes, he may be tempted to call himself a failure: only 25% of the seed yields a return.  From God's economy, however, that 25% that fell among the good soil yields between 3000%  (30 times the investment) and 10,000% (100 times the investment).

That's a pretty good return, even if 75% of the time the Word goes unheeded.  Think about it.  Who led you to Christ?  Was it a parent, or a pastor, or a person you knew?  Someone led that person to Christ, and that person was led to Christ by someone, and on and on.  Somewhere deep in your spiritual roots (your spiritual great-great-great-grandparent) had no idea you would be saved as a result of their sharing Christ with someone else.  Somebody led Billy Sunday to Jesus.  Billy Sunday became an evangelist, and his message was heard by a young man named Billy Graham.  Billy Graham became an evangelist, and his message has been heard by millions.

The farmer was faithful to sow the seed.  He did not hold back, but spread the seed everywhere.  As evangelists who sow the seed of the gospel, we are called to spread the Word to all, and not pick and choose who hears it.  The more farmers who go and spread the seed, the greater the harvest. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth." (1 Corinthians 3:6).  In this analogy, the "seed" is more aligned with the soul that is saved.

None of us really understands how a seed grows.  It is placed underground and covered up.  Unless it is buried, it will not do anything.  Nothing happens to it unless it is cut off from light and air. "I tell you the truth," Jesus said, "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24).  Similarly, we don't know how a person comes to know the Lord.  Not really.  "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8, emphasis added).

Somehow the Holy Spirit brings us to the place where we are willing to die to self, and come alive in Christ Jesus.  God made us all with that longing within us, the longing to know Him.  Like that seedling, we are only able to spring forth into new life if we are covered up and buried, cut off from any other source.

I found this chart while looking for something else.

I don't know if you can see it clearly, but the deeper the Word of God penetrates the surface, the better chance you have of responding positively to it.  You have to go beyond the birds, the rocks, and the thorns.  Only then can you bear much fruit.  Fruitful Christians are sorely needed in this world, especially now.  Especially where you are right now.

Let me encourage you to go a little deeper in your study of the Scriptures.  Go a little further to help someone in need.  Get beyond surface speech, and get into deeper discussions with people.  Sow the seed, and God will make it bear fruit, as only He can.