Dedication to Juanita Lee Henry

Me and My Momma

This book is dedicated to my mom, Juanita Lee Henry. I honestly, truly could not ask for a better mother or a better friend. You are my defender, my encourager, and my greatest influence. Through you, I see the love of Jesus, first-hand.   Just being near you makes me happy. I could write oceans of words and still never convey how remarkable, beautiful, fun, loyal, devoted, and loving you are. May the Godly influence that you lavished on me flow through these pages and wash the hearts of all who read them with God’s unfailing Love.  You enrich my life and the life of all those who know you. Your loving choices will ring for all eternity in the halls of Heaven, as sweet smelling perfume poured upon the King.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my beautiful and loving wife, Rebecca Marie, who above all others has encouraged me to pursue the publication of Embers of a Burning Heart. She’s encouraged me without fail towards the fruition of this book. Without her influence this book may never have reached your hands. Thanks for being there honey, and holding me a lot lately. I would gladly sail into your arms and be lost there forever. Your smile captures my heart and your eyes take my breath away.

Rebecca Marie Henry

Thanks to you as well, dear reader, who have invested your time in an unknown author. Thanks for taking the time to hear what’s rattling around in my head and burning in my heart. I pray that the time spent within these pages will encourage your heart to believe in more than you ever expected, hoped or dreamed imaginable, and give you the courage to pursue Him until you find Him and continue to find Him all your days. May the Wildfire spread until the glory of the Lord covers the Earth and our God reigns.

Contents

Chapter 1: I Love Spaghetti!

Chapter 2: Incomplete Pictures

Chapter 3: Anywhere Else but God

Chapter 4: The Beckoning

Chapter 5: Eternal Isolation from all that is Good

Chapter 6: Pleasures Forevermore

Chapter 7: Knowing God

Chapter 8: The Art of Conversation

Chapter 9: Where is the Lord God of Elijah?!

Chapter 10: Feel God’s Pleasure

Chapter 11: Growing Down

Chapter 12: True Leadership

Chapter 13: One Thing

Chapter 14: Wrestling with God

Chapter 15: The Power of Choice and Influence

Chapter 16: God’s Romance

Introduction

“Did not our heart burn within us…?” (Luke 24:32)

                There are desires that burn with us. There are burning questions that need to be answered. The following chapters are designed to fuel your desires and address those burning questions. If we are not consumed by holy hunger then we are not truly living. We should be the burning bush, one that blazes with holy heat and Biblical light yet is not devoured, because our fuel is not of this world. Our lives should be a sign and wonder to those around us. This book will pour lighter fluid all over your heart…but it’s up to you to light the match!

I Love Spaghetti!!! – Chapter 1

I love spaghetti! I love my dog, Comet! I love science! I love daffodils! I love the Smokey Mountains in the fall! I love popcorn and a movie! I love parties! I love butterflies! I love books! I love fast cars! I love roller coasters! I love flannel pajamas! I love licorice! I love the color blue! I love the sound of rushing water! I love the smell of the coast! I love to walk barefoot! I love scary stories! I love Frank Sinatra! I love to fly! I love cola! I love to play football! I love my wife! I love my husband! I love my kids!

                See any reason we might be confused on the whole subject of love? 

                Several years ago I discovered that the Greek language (the language the New Testament was written in) had several words for love. The language contained one for unconditional love, one for affection, one for friendship, and one for sexual and erotic love. In English we have one whole word for love and we use it for just about anything we feel good about. If you ask people what love is, most give some kind of vague definition. Some describe it as a feeling of care or concern for someone. Others describe it as heart pounding life changing experience. Some describe it as a fickle feeling that cannot be trusted. I believe all these things and more. I believe in our language we should have at least 4 words for love. Unconditional love, Affection, Romance, and Passion.

                1 Corinthians 13 describes the first kind of love, unconditional love (or charity in the King James).  “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NIV).

                Unconditional love is the God-kind of love.  He loves us unconditionally. There are no strings attached. We don’t have to earn it or acquire it. It just is. Remember a time when you were just putting on a tantrum or being selfish and someone still remained patient and kind to you. Have you ever been rude to someone and they were kind anyway? How about the times someone else has put you first and themselves second? They were showing you unconditional love, the kind of love that is necessary and vital to our hearts. 

                One of the most important aspects of this kind of love is that it is an action. The other kinds of love are feelings or emotions, but unconditional love is a choice. We choose to be patient, kind, glad of another’s good fortune, humble, polite, giving, slow tempered, and so on … Now the only person who demonstrates unconditional love all the time is Jesus. He is Love. He’s the only one, who without fail, shows us 1 Corinthians 13 love. He consistently and eternally chooses to love us. The rest of us should be growing in love. It should be our #1 goal in life. We should seek every opportunity to love. First, we should be demonstrating ever increasing unconditional love to Jesus.  We as humans do get impatient and even unkind with God when He doesn’t do everything as we think that He should. We don’t bear all and believe all that He is (I Corinthians 13:7). Sometimes we act downright rude to Him. So we should be constantly seeking to unconditionally love God more and more. The good news is that even though we don’t always walk in unconditional love with God, He always chooses to unconditionally love us. He is always patient, kind, considerate, humble, generous, encouraging, slow tempered, remembering our acts of righteousness in Him, protecting, hopeful, trusting, persevering and confident in the good He is working in us.

                I believe the more we see how much God loves us in these ways, then the more we will reciprocate. The Bible says that we love God because He first loved us (I John 4:10). I think we often see God as being so impatient with us. “You did that again!”, “Shouldn‘t you be doing more for me“, “Can’t you learn” “I died for you and this is the best you got” “Aghhhh!!!” NO. Even though God doesn’t in the least condone sin He is the father on the Hill waiting for us with joyful, vibrant expectation any time we come home to Him. While we are beating ourselves for our disobedience, He is rejoicing, singing and dancing, for our repentance.

                Now before we get to unconditionally loving others, we should refresh our memory of the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave. “

                “And Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all they strength, this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. “(Mark 12:30, 31).

                Did you catch it? Let’s read it one more time. “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. How about that time? I thought so. God told us to love ourselves. Maybe it seems redundant to say it all again but I think it will be helpful. God said to be patient with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be joyful of the place Yahweh has brought you. Be generous with yourself. Don’t be harsh or cruel to yourself. Give yourself some space. Don’t get so mad with yourself, When you make a mistake don’t start calling yourself names, that’s not patient and kind. Don’t sell yourself short, that’s not believing that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Be full of hope of the wonderful works that God is doing in your life, in your heart. Don’t keep a record of all your wrongs. Seek God’s good in your life and not what you think is best for you. Don’t be rude to yourself. Protect yourself and allow God to protect you. Trust God’s heart for you. Be hopeful. Persevere. Don’t give up. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

                I think it’s pretty clear that we should unconditionally love others. The Bible says “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35). He didn’t say that the world would recognize us by how we praise God in Church, or how well we can move people with our sermons, or even our denomination that we belong to. He said “Hey those guys who are just so full of love, those are mine.” So moving out in the confidence of the great infallible inerrant, everlasting, never ending, unconditional love that God has, had and will always have for us, and the love we possess for ourselves and the unique glorious person whom God created us to be (Psalm 139:14), let us demonstrate and grow in the unconditional love we show for others. Let us make the choice to be kind to those who are kind and unkind. Let us be patient, always remembering that God is always patient with us. Let us build others up, encourage, and help them see the unique person that God created for them to be. Let’s not brag and boast and draw attention to ourselves but to God and others. Let’s believe the best in others and look for the good. Let’s be glad of the blessings that God has given others and not become envious.

                And let’s definitely drop the record of wrongs. Sometimes we have a list a mile long of the wrong we have received. Your husband asks, “Why don’t we have Jill and Rodney over tonight?” then you access your list of wrongs. Jill was rude that one time… and Rodney has been impatient with me when I had misplaced his video he loaned me. “No honey, I don’t think that would be a good idea. I checked my list of wrongs and they are on there” “How about Chris and Julie?” “Let me see” Julie called my sister Karen a cheat when we were in grade school and stole my first boyfriend in middle school. Chris…no, I think he’s not on my list. But still I’d be stuck with Julie all evening. “No, Julie’s on my list as well. Sorry, dear.”

                My wife, Rebecca, and I, kept a physical lists of rights a few years ago. It was nothing fancy but each time we did something nice or considerate for the other, we would right it on the board, as a constant reminder of love given. It’s really a good idea for all our relationships. If someone acts inconsiderate it’s so easy to amplify the mistake till sometimes it’s all we can see. We need reminders of all the nice things that others have done. The Word says that love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, so would there be an implication that it does keep a record of rights? Plus, it just feels good to look over a list of all kinds of wonderful and loving actions that others have done to you.

                As I mentioned earlier, the following loves we will discuss are feelings, not choices. Unconditional love is the only one that is entirely up to us. The others come as go as circumstances change and people’s choices change.

                Another of the loves is affection. We can show affection for just about anything. As I joked at in the first paragraph, we love (have affection for) our dog, Comet. He loves to nuzzle me. He lies beside me when I’m sick. He even protects me if someone tries to harm me. I just love Comet. But just let Comet poop on our new carpet or chew up our best dress and the feelings run short. A perfect example of this is our cat Gizmo.  My wife and I have had Gizmo since she was a kitten. She is a really pretty animal. She has long gray hair and cute little white feet. We even have developed an affectionate “pet” name for her, Gizzy. Lately, however she has got into the habit of peeing on any towel that we leave lying around. My affection runs empty quick when I go to dry off with a towel reeking of cat pee. As long as Gizmo makes us happy we affectionately love her, but when she doesn’t then she is just an irritating animal.

                We love our car. It’s got the perfect coat of paint that just catches everyone’s attention. It can go from 0 to 60 in under 30 seconds. And the seats are so plush and cozy. But wait till that car starts to wear. Nothing works right anymore. It takes forever to start up. There go those feelings, out with the exhaust.

                Affection is based on good things that someone or something brings to you. When people or objects make us happy then we are filled accordingly with affection. You could have affection for a caring Uncle who always takes you out every Friday just to hear about your week. Or you could love a pair of pants that just feels so good and maybe you scored your first big job while wearing them. You have affection for mementos and souvenirs that remind you of an enjoyable time or place. You can even have affection for someone who doesn’t have affection for you. Maybe that person is just pretty to look at or has a good sense of humor. There are a lot of movie stars and writers that I have affection for yet they don’t even know that I exist. I have affection for dead people. I am filled with good feelings for Martin Luther King Jr., My grandfather, King David, John the Beloved, and so on. Heck I even have affection for imaginary people. Haven’t you ever read a book or watched a movie and became sad when a character dies. Have you ever felt elated due to their heroism? Affection is a good and wonderful feeling. It should be enjoyed. It should even be pursued. Pursue the things that make you happy, as long as they are in God’s guidelines.

                Then there is romance, the feeling of being in love. Just the thought of someone raises you to another realm. As the Owl said in “Bambi” ‘you’re twitterpated‘. You’re floating lighter than air. You feel like for the first time in your life you are so alive. All your thoughts eventually drift right back to her smile or his voice. Everyone has at some time felt the elation of romance. Even if you’re single, as you walk along a moonlit beach your heart wonders who God has waiting for you out there. You watch a movie and the man and woman finally realize that they’re in love and their lips are drawn to one another like magnets. Romance so pure and beautiful, so mesmerizing and alluring!

                Romance too is a wonderful feeling. It is a love that a man and woman can share between each other. It is exclusive. I find it to be a love that is best when it is equally shared. If you romantically love someone who doesn’t romantically love you or even not at the same depth, then your love will naturally adjust (unless you’re just obsessed, and that isn’t a love at all, that’s selfishness). Unlike affection, it’s a love that must be shared. I’ve had affection for people who didn’t even like me, but I liked qualities about them. Romantic love cannot survive without that love being returned. You must know that you produce similar feelings in the one you romantically love. You must know that you make their heart swoon. You must know that you tantalize their senses and dance in their thoughts.

                Then there is passion, which is really closely related to romance. You can have emotional passion for someone you love. You can be passionate about being with them. You can be passionate about thinking about them. You can be passionate about protecting them. If someone hurt my wife, mother, or father, I would be passionate about defending them. You possess some passionate love for all those you deeply care about. Most passionate love flows to your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend. There is sexual love between a man and wife. Making love is passionate. If not, then something is out of synch. You are so passionate for their body that you feel you would passionately love somehow to consume it and to be one being. When you give yourself to this kind of love, you are consumed by passion for your spouse. Everything about this kind of love is electric. One gaze sets your senses on fire. One touch melts your whole world. You ride the wave of passion, and you crash on the shores of ecstasy. 

                                The three feelings of love can be compared somewhat to sunlight. Affection is more like the warmth of the sun. You bask in its comforting rays. Your heart is nourished by the warmth of love. Romance is similar to the light of the sun. When someone romances you, all their brilliance shines forth. All their goodness, beauty and strength radiate and stand out. Passion is like the energy from the sun. It’s electrifying! Every part of you tingles from this love. You are driven and invigorated

                Feelings are wonderful! The loves that are feelings are created by God and they are part of our being made in his image! God experiences these same feelings. Let’s look at our image of God in all the 4 loves.

“The Lord has appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31:3) (Unconditional Love)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) (Unconditional Love)

“Then Jesus beholding him loved him…” (Mark10:21a) (Affection)

“And lo a voice from heaven, saying This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) (Affection)

“For the Father loveth the Son…” (John 5:20) (Affection)

“Behold thou art fair my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast dove’s eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.” (Song of Solomon 4:1) (Romance).

“You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners. Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me.” (Song of Solomon 6:4, 5) (Romance)

“Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah (My delight is in her), and thy land Beulah (Married): for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. (Isaiah 62:3-5)” (Affection, Romance, and Passion)

“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17 Amplified) (Unconditional, Affection, Passion)

“And He said to them, I have earnestly and intensely desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; (Luke 22:15 Amplified)” (Passion)

“And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. (Luke 19:45-46) (Passion)

“How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince’s daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman’s hands. Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies. Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking towards Damascus. Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights! Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like the clusters of fruit. I said “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine. (Song of Solomon 7:1-9 NIV) (Passion)

                Have you ever heard of someone declaring, “I just don’t love you anymore”? These people connect all love with feelings. If someone does something to stop the good feelings from coming to them, then they determine that they must not love the other person anymore. Feelings are not meant to be the basis on which we judge life. Even when we don’t have passionate, romantic or even affectionate feelings for someone we still must always love them unconditionally. All relationships are to be built on unconditional love. The feeling kinds of love come and go, but it’s the choices we make that determine the outcome of our marriage and relationships. I’ve found out in my marriage even when the feeling go, if we continue to “walk” in unconditional love for each other, the feelings come back. But even if the feelings don’t come back I am to love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, and she likewise. As Jesus said about loving those who love you, what reward is there? Even the heathen do the same (Matthew 5:26). Life is built on unconditionally loving, even if the other is not walking in unconditional love towards you.  Unconditional love is the stuff that trust is built on. Great trust is embedded in your heart as you see someone else laying down their life for you and even other’s.

                Oh! To be like Jesus. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We didn’t, indeed couldn’t, love him back, until His grace and mercy changed our hearts of stone. Until we saw His love for us we could not love Him in return. Yet He has loved us anyway. He will love us always. He loves all, even those who will never choose to love Him. His love is the strongest thing in existence. His love will never be tattered or torn. His love is strong and vibrant. His love is rich and luxuriant. It never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8) His love never weakens or lessens. Its purity is never tainted. It’s immeasurable. It’s flawless. Nothing is more perfect or brilliant. No form of darkness withstands its reach. No perversion can daunt it. No human can reach its farthest limit, for there is none. It is greater than the universe itself. It is massive and beyond the deepest most detailed description.  His love is never exhausted or empty. It is not drained in the least or strained of its vitality. Pride bows its knees…no, falls lifeless before it. There is no obstacle that can hinder it. There is no lasting domain that does not owe its total allegiance to His love. His Love conquers all. He conquers all, for He is Love (1 John 4:8) and He is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24) that devours every hindrance to Himself. His love is fiery and unpredictably good.

Incomplete Pictures – Chapter 2

“Let us make man in our image” Genesis 1:26

                We are created in the image of God, physically, spiritually, and even our souls (emotions, mind, and will). In God’s perfect plan, we were meant to be like God, but different, just as a photograph and the actual thing differ. Yes, a photo of the Smokey Mountains is beautiful, but to be there is breathtaking! So we are. We were meant to convey Him on many fields, but ultimately make the onlooker want the real thing. “Wow, you are beautiful and so strong, I just got to see Him.”

                Now on that day in the Garden, you know the day, we all remember the day. Adam and Eve sinned.  The horrific day our once celestial lives took the turn away from our Beloved, our Creator. It was as if our image, or our photograph if you will, fell from the lofty mantle of reality and crashed on the cold hard floor of distortion. It wasn’t the fruit, but the lie, that corrupted our race. It was the lie that there is anything desirable outside of Yahweh. It’s the lie that has corrupted our worldview ever since. Like a poison that snakes its way through our once eternal veins, bringing death, the lethal venom distorted our grasp of reality until we think evil to be good and good to be evil. We were placed in a dark wood with only a faint memory of what once was.  The memory haunts us.

                But we were not abandoned. Nay, the One in whose image we were and are created sought us diligently. He sought relentlessly. He found us. We did not find Him as some may think, but He found us. He redeemed, purchased or bought us. He paid the price that none could pay except He. He ransomed us. Just when we thought the darkness had won, just when the collector came to repossess, just when the last man standing began to fall, He rescued us.  He saved us because He delighted in us (Psalm 18:19). He bought us back because He was crazy about us. We don’t understand why the handsome dashing prince purchased a beat up, scarred, shamed hag to be His wife, but He did. He picked the one that everyone else shunned with putrid revulsion. He picked the one that even the dogs wouldn’t lick. And He transformed us into a gloriously beautiful wife! “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17).”

                Now that He saved us, the image of God that we carry has been restored…partially. When we were still in our sins there was no spiritual image of our Designer. Our spirits were completely different than His. Now, the image has been restored but it’s still marred. There are still traces of greed, unbelief, prejudice, lust, bitterness, pride and so on. So till Kingdom come the image is continually being restored. That is, if we allow Him to. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1Corinthians 13:12 NIV)

                I said all that to say, that even at our best we are still only an image. Just as a picture may be comforting when you’re away from the one you love, it still isn’t the real thing.  To top it off, our pictures we have (ourselves and those around us) are marred.

                We were made for God. There is no way around it. All the need of our hearts can only truly be met in Him. The picture He sent us is so great! Our wife or husband resembles our creator in so many ways. They capture our attention, but still all their best qualities are only road signs to Jesus.

                Often, however, we try so hard to make them fit, and be what they were only meant to resemble. We even try to change them. It will never work because even if we were unmarred pictures and perfectly complete we would be only pictures. Not to in the least degrade the glory of the pictures. God is beautiful, strong, faithful, wild, good, exuberant, and all truly good things and His pictures have those qualities as well, only on a lesser scale. Like I said earlier a picture of the Smokey Mountains (or wherever) is beautiful but to be there is breathtaking.

                We can’t look at our spouses and expect them to fill our every heart’s desire, because that’s not what they are made for. It’s as if we are looking at a photo of our wife while we are away on a business trip and asking, “Why don’t we talk anymore?” or “Why don’t you encourage me?”. There are things in our spouses we would all like more. We would like them to be more generous, more thoughtful, a better listener, more romantic, more sexual, more spontaneous, more exciting, and so on. It’s not that these things are bad and it’s not even that these aren’t things that God would like our husband or wife to become. Remember though, we are all marred and in the process of becoming more like Jesus.  So when you see the parts of the picture that are marred, give your spouse grace because none of us have it all together. We are all marred.

                Enjoy and relish the parts of the picture that are clear. Don’t expect the picture to be perfect. Know that whatever the picture, Jesus is what all our hearts truly long for. So let your spouse off the hook.  They were not intended to meet all your needs.  Jesus is! “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being. (Acts 17:28a) ”

                I love romantic movies! I’m a sucker for those “chick flicks”.  I love it when the couple finally realizes that they are in love. I love the scenes when they are slowly drawn together until at last their lips meet. My heart leaps and melts at the same time. Some of my favorites are “While You Were Sleeping” , “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”,” Two Weeks Notice”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Little Mermaid”,  “The City of Angels”, “The Sound of Music”, and I could go on. Now I know you’re thinking, “The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast?” I know, I know those are just cartoons, but I love the stories and characters. I love the whole scene in “’the Little Mermaid” when Ariel and Eric are out on the boat together in the lagoon type setting. All the animals were trying to get them to kiss. My heart swells as they get closer and closer and closer and then…those doggone eels turn the boat over. I mean goodness grief they almost had it. And I love in “Beauty and the Beast” when she descends the staircase in her beautiful yellow gown while he is taken aback. I love the song and the whole ballroom dance scene. “Tale as old as time, Song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast.” I love, of course, when she finally kisses him at the end and his lifeless form is magically transformed back to the very much alive handsome prince. I love the magic. I love it! Or in “While You Were Sleeping” as Lucy and Jack slowly fall in love.  I love how she even falls in love with the family. She finally finds the place where she is accepted and belongs.  I love the movie “City of Angels” as he gives up his angelic life for the woman he loves. I love the longings that permeate the entire movie. In “What a Girl Wants” I love the kissing scene in the boat, where it seems that all that exists is the two lovers. 

                My heart soars and breathes deeply as I watch those kinds of movies. They just capture me. They fill my heart with longing and desires, hopes, even joyful expectation. Not to in the least diminish the feelings that are aroused in my heart as I watch those movies, but to increase them by pointing them in the right direction. If you watch those movies and expect to have all that they awaken in your heart then you will be disappointed if not just downright heartbroken. Because the fullness to what these movies and all such stories allude to is not of this earth. They are pictures as well. They are pictures of a beautiful romance that began in Yahweh’s heart before the foundation of our world was laid. There is a romance that even the most heartfelt moment in movies can only allude to. We have to direct our hope of this heart pounding, enthralling, cloud 9, earth moving romance to the one that is developing between us and our Redeemer, Jesus. He is the One and only One that can fill the all the wildest, most beautiful, most breathtaking, most consuming desires that we have.  C.S. Lewis said in the Weight of Glory, “The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things — the beauty, the memory of our own past –are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”(1)

                The Bible calls us the Bride of Christ (Revelation 21:9) Have you ever read the song of Solomon? Many believe it to be some real romance between a man and woman, and it very well could be. But either way I believe it to be from the Lover of our souls to his Beloved, us. Would we actually believe that the grandest things that our heart can desire to be filled by another mortal? It’s like people that watch “Matthew”, the visual Bible series, and have a hard time believing that Jesus could be a happy and playful person. Hello? He’s the one that created us. Laughter is part of His image. So are all these desires that we see as parts of our “humanity”, they are all part of our being His image bearers. Even our sexual side I believe that whatever kind of relationship we have with Jesus in the end will consume us infinity more than our wildest most passionate lovemaking. If we can look back on it I believe we would see ourselves as infants who were enthralled by a hearty game of pick-a-boo., when we get the real thing with Jesus.  So all the romance, desire, intimacy and just hearty fun and adventure that we so desperately long for are and will only be met in Christ.

                You may say, “I’ve been a Christian 10 years and I’ve never experienced something with God like you’re talking about”. Well I’ve been a Christian about 16 years and I’m still waiting, but I know it’s out there. I know that there is so much more to my romance with God than I’ve experience or even yet dreamed off. I know that there are such hungry desires in my heart and I know that He is the only one who can fill me. He is my bread, my sustenance. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst (John 8:35)” As I consume who He is, He goes through my whole being. I tell you that I’m hungry. I am so thirsty for Him. I don’t want another good church service. I don’t want a better Bible study book. I don’t want more money or a better home. I don’t want to preach better or communicate better. I don’t want a better job. I don’t want more influence. I don’t want more stuff. I want Him!!! I want God! Everything else is nothing compared to Him. I want the One that awakens my heart. I want the One who loves me with no boundaries. I want the God who redeemed me. I want the One who laid aside His divinity so he could walk amongst the sinners who He loved. I want the One who looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.  I want the One who changed me from a wicked wretch into a Beautiful Bride. I want the One who wants me. I long for the One who longs for me. I love the One who has always loved me. I have no idea how to find him but I’m not giving up. I will seek until I find. I will knock until the door flies wide open and there is my Beloved waiting for me. I will ask until my Answer comes. 

                I love all the pictures He has given me. I love my wife. She’s beautiful and charming. She’s talented. She’s kind. She’s a great cook (not that that is “a woman’s place”, but she likes to do it and is extremely good at it). She’s forgiving. She forgave me what some would consider an irreconcilable mistake. I called our wedding off on the day of the wedding. We had planned and prepared for almost a year. Then on the day of the wedding, someone called whom I have respected my whole life. She calls me up crying the day of my wedding. She tells me of how her children’s marriages haven’t worked out well and to make sure I don’t have any doubts and anyway I called me wife up and ruined our beautiful wedding. My wife and I took a month away from one another and I knew I didn’t want anyone else and we got married about 2 months later. But our wedding wasn’t anything like the one we had prepared. It still cuts my heart every time I think about it. Like your virginity the wedding is a one time thing. I can’t really make it up to her. I can never give her the perfect wedding like we had planned. Every girl would love to have her dream wedding and I ruined it for her…but she forgave me and now we have a happy marriage. (If only we could do things over, again) But back to the point, you can see how she is a beautiful picture of God’s forgiveness.  She has taken care of me while I’ve been sick and nursed me while I was recovering from a surgery. She’s a beautiful picture.

                I love my mother. She has been my encouragement and support all my life. She’s is the best example of unconditional love that I know. She has always tried to make me feel good about myself. She always makes sure to tell me how special I am to her. She loves spending time with me. When my brother and I were children, and school started she was always sad to see her children go. She wasn’t anxious to get rid of us. She’s not impatient with me and doesn’t cut me down. She always seeks to build me up. She listens when I talk. She doesn’t just be quiet and wait for her chance to speak. When I mess up she’s not there asking how could I do such a thing or telling me that I should know better. She’s extremely thoughtful. Once as a child at a church Christmas gift exchange, a boy who drew my name didn’t come to church that often. My mom bought me a gift and put it under the church tree without my knowing so that I wouldn’t be there without a gift while everyone else had one. I still have that gift, a remote controlled car. By the way the kid never showed up at the Christmas party. She’s done stuff like that my whole life. She is the most generous person I know. I’ve watched her give and give. It’s not like my parents have a bunch of money, but she’s always making sure people are taken care of. My wife and I still struggle financially, but my mom always makes sure we have plenty of groceries. She has been faithful to God, her husband and kids, and her parents. She taught me about Jesus. She never pushed Jesus on me, but He is her life source. All my life she has been totally committed to Him. You meet some folk that are dedicated Christians but they don’t have that extra step of being in love with Him. When Jesus comes they are going with Him, but they aren’t consumed by passion for Him. Then you meet others who are totally enamored with Him. That’s my mom. Her whole life is Jesus and pleasing Him. She’s a beautiful picture.

                            I have been surrounded by great and good pictures of Christ, besides the beauty of a sunrise, or skyscrapers outlined against a night sky, the call of a whippoorwill, the smell of dianthus, the tickly feeling when you smell Coke fizz (I just love that). There are so many songs that arouse my heart and touch my soul. Stories lift me out of my dilemmas for a while and call to me to another place. Pictures of Christ are everywhere. I do so love the pictures. I thank God so much for them, but now I just want to see the real thing. It doesn’t diminish the pictures but only make them more real. Don’t let cynicism steal your joy enjoy the pictures for what they are worth. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Love, and truly appreciate, the pictures. But place your deepest and truest desires on the real thing, Jesus.     

1. C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1949), p.30-31.

Anywhere Else but God – Chapter 3

What is sin? Sin is everywhere where God’s presence is not. This chapter is my theory on what happens when we sin or even backslide.

                First, let’s look at what happens when we become Christians?

                II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

                Ezekiel 36:26 says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”

                According to these verses we are completely changed. We were one creature and now we have become a new and different creation altogether. He didn’t say we were modified or molded differently. We are totally different beings. Stone and Flesh are altogether different; one hard and unbending, the other soft and pliable, most importantly, one is lifeless and the other is full of life. As a Christian we are imbued with the very life of God. His presence is our habitation. Everywhere God is there is life and everywhere He is not there is death. When God withdraws His presence from anything it withers and dies (Jesus and the fig tree).

                The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”  For many years I had a picture of Yahweh being utterly sick of me when I sinned. I thought that He shunned me like a snotty rag. I don’t believe this at all anymore. God loves us unconditionally. He is bananas about us. Do you realize all human history is about His pursuit of our hearts? He didn’t create this world for any other reason except He desperately wanted to be with us. I believe that Song of Solomon is one of God’s favorite books. Why? Because it’s His love letter to us and how he longs for us to respond to Him. Have you read Psalm 139? “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake I am still with thee”   Zechariah 2:8 “…for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.” Psalm 16:3 NASB “ As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight”  Revelation 4:11 “and for thy pleasure they are and were created” Being a Christian I’m sure you’ve heard, or even said the phrase  “I’m so unworthy” which means “I’m not worth it”. How many times in scripture has Jesus ever said that? …0. That is a phrase from satan’s mouth to us. God paid the price for our redemption. Would you consider the Most Holy to be unwise? Would He pay for something that was not worth it? Is God foolish? He paid His very life for us. By doing so He said that we are worth it. Why would we agree with the enemy? Why would we say what God, the wisest being in the universe, has never said?  Or would we think the very life of God to not be worth much? That is what we are actually saying when we say “I’m so unworthy”. Enough, God deems us worthy. Nothing else matters.

                I don’t care if anyone else in this whole world finds me attractive except my wife. Why would anyone else matter (now as a sub note here, If you have a spouse that doesn‘t find you attractive in some physical way, their vision is tainted by lies of Satan. So don‘t you dare feel bad about yourself. You are a creation of Yahweh. Anyone who sees a creation of Him as unattractive has their vision distorted from the truth) So it is with God. Ultimately it only matters what He sees in us in every aspect of our lives. It only matters that the lover of our souls finds us irresistible. Even what we see through our own eyes should not matter because His vision is perfect. Ours is severely tainted. Ours was tainted the first time Adam believed what Satan said over what God had said. “For we walk by faith, not by sight: (II Corinthians 5:7)” We walk in Jesus’ words and not by anything else. To us there should be nothing else. Everything is as He says it is. It cannot be any other way. Nothing is different from what God says it is. God loves us. God finds us irresistible. “You have stolen my heart my sister my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. (Song of Songs 4:9 NIV) “ 

                Hello?! We must be pretty doggone special to make the Son of God want to give His life for us. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, that would have been the place for Jesus to say that we were not worth it. He didn’t. He could’ve called legions of angels to whisk Him back to Heaven, but He didn’t. My point in all this is to make sure you know that God does not finds us in the least repugnant, even when we sin. So what does happen when we sin?

                Let’s look at our best example, the prodigal son. He left home to find life elsewhere. That is what we do when we sin. We believe a lie…the lie. It’s the same lie that Satan told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It’s the lie that there is life outside of God, that He‘s somehow holding out on us. John Eldridge said in the Sacred Romance, “Satan gets us to side with him by sowing the seed of doubt in our first parents’ minds: ‘God’s heart really isn’t good. He’s holding out on you. You’ve got to take things into your own hands.’” (1)It’s in no way, shape, or form true. That is the lie of sin. I don’t see any other lie of sin. Every sin ever committed is based on life outside of Him. We are tempted to look elsewhere, because we don’t like what God told us to do. It doesn’t matter to us at the moment, that God always has our best at heart. We think that we know best.  We believe that somewhere there is life outside of Him. He’s just not letting us in on the secret. He’d rather have us miserable.

                So the prodigal leaves home. He looks off over the horizon just anticipating the great life he will find. A smile creases his foolish face. His father hugs him one last time. Finally, the son worms out of his father’s warm embrace. The father looks at him with love, tears streams from his eyes. The son turns to go away. The father stands there, hoping at any moment the son might turn back. The son walks on. The father doesn’t stop his son, because the father knows that that would not be love. If you love someone then you have to let them go. If they stay or if they return after they leave then they love in return. The father’s heart breaks as his son passes out of sight. The father calls “You’ll always be welcome home my son!”

                I believe God and sin are different locations, if you will. Anywhere outside of God is sin. Sin is everywhere that God is not. Just like the prodigal son left home to become the prodigal son. It’s not God that kicks us from His sweet presence. It’s we who choose to leave. We choose to travel somewhere outside of Him. We say “God you’re really great and all, but I think I saw something out there that will make me happier.” The Bible says that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)” ‘Every’ is pretty definite. It doesn’t say most, or a good many. It says every. So if every good and perfect gift comes from God, then what other good and perfect gifts are out there?…None! Not a one! There is nothing good or perfect outside of God. So don’t believe the lie. Save yourself lots of trouble. Don’t go to see for yourself, just believe. Just believe that what God says is true and infallible. Be a child in the ways of God; just believe everything that He says. Because “For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). “

                You may be tempted to look for life outside of your marriage. Don’t! Be a man or a woman of God and look for life in the only place it is found, in Jesus. The husband or wife that you are with is not the one who is supposed to give you the life that you are looking for. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus said He is ‘the’ life, not ‘a’ life. “A” would mean one of many; “The” means the only one. If you eat a pizza from the freezer then there could be more up there. If you eat the pizza from the freezer then it was the only one.

                Instead of turning anywhere else to scrape and try to find life, turn to Jesus. Anything else is a fruitless search, an investment doomed to fail. Michael Yaconelli says, “Sin is more than turning our backs on God, it is turning our backs on life! Immorality is much more than adultery and dishonesty; it is living drab colorless, dreary, stale, unimaginative lives.”(2) Why is any sin committed? It’s people desperately looking for life. Why did the child molester become the hideous creature that it is? Why does the prostitute or rapist become who they are? Why do people murder and steal? Because they are looking under every rock and in every garbage can to find life, when Jesus is standing right there with arms wide open. We can try and search our hardest. We can look in every religion. We can look in every person. But the only place to find all that we are searching for is in El-Shaddai, The All-Sufficient One. There is no hope, no joy, no peace, and no love outside of Him. All good and perfect things descend from the Father. So let’s stop wasting our time! Let’s just stop and look to Jesus!

                Back to the prodigal son. So he spends all his money. He wastes all that he had. He diligently searched for that promise of life outside the Father. He ended up in a pig pen. I’m no farmer, but I have been close enough to a pig pen to know that they are putrid. The Bible says that he was so hungry he would have eaten the pig’s food. Have you ever been near slop before? It’s generally the refuse of the farm. It’s not a pretty sight or smell. He had sunk pretty low. That’s exactly where sin is. Low and filthy. Places you never thought that you would go, you went. Things you never thought that you would do, you did.  You end up in the sewage. You end up covered in filth. Feces all over you. Pretty nasty, huh?

                I love the next line in the text though, “He came to his senses”.  Anytime we choose to sin, we are just bonkers.  What kind of life is sin? We create an ugly past. We live in a lifeless present. We have no hope for a future. It just doesn’t make any sense.  The Bible does mention the pleasures of sin. It says that they are only for a short time. While we are searching so hard in sin, we don’t notice. If you are having an affair you may not notice at first. You are so busy with the short thrill. You don’t see. If we steal, we are so caught up in the rush that we don’t pay attention. When all is settled down, or when our house has fallen down around our ears, then it hits home. We are empty. We are just a husk.

                 I like to garden. I love plants and working in the soil. It’s what I do for a living. I went to school for it. Right now, it’s September and it’s time to plant various bulbs. Matter of fact, I just got some in the mail today. They are ornamental onions, Star of Persia. Anyway, I got six in, but one looked a little funny. At first glance they all looked the same, but one just stood out. It was rotten. The husk or skin looked okay but there was some dark spots in places. Inside it is all rank. Have you ever smelled rotten bulbs before? Not very appealing. If you find them in the ground they are usually stinky and filled with rotten muck. Insects just crawling around. That’s the life of sin. All may seem okay on the outside, but it’s the inside that matters.

                So the prodigal son realized what a fool he’d been. He finally came to his senses. His father’s servants had food enough to spare and he was envying pigs. It finally hit home that there was no life outside of his Father. Just because he didn’t want to do everything his Father’s way, he looked elsewhere. Even though he truly had the perfect father, he thought that surely He was holding out on him. His Father always knew and did what was best for him, even if he didn’t understand. He mistrusted his Father’s heart. Look where it had gotten him. When he was at home, he always had food in abundance; steak cooked just right, and fresh vegetables whenever he wanted.  Oh he remembered the feasts. He remembered the joy and celebrations of his Father’s dances that He would throw. He remembered the mirth in his Father’s home, in his Father’s smile.

                A voice from somewhere whispered. He recognized that voice. It had been speaking to him for some while now. “You left it all. You gave it all up. You took, very ungratefully I might add, your share of your Father’s inheritance. He’s glad you’re gone. What a son you turned out to be. “It was the same voice that pointed at the shadows in the horizon as he stood on his Father’s property. “Your Father’s not letting you in on all the glories that are out there. Did you see that?! That looked interesting? What do you mean you didn’t see anything? Are you stupid as well as ugly? Oh… I thought you’d seen it. Your Father want you boys all to himself, he doesn’t care if you are happy or not. Imagine the wonders that are over that horizon. Yes of course the horizon is off your Father’s properties. But, if He truly cared for you then he would give you all you wanted and not just what He sees fit you should have. “You believed that voice long ago, and look where it had gotten you. It continued, “Sure you’re in a pig sty now, but it’s not my fault. You should have made better friends and not just those fair weather ones. You should have made more friends like me. Now if you keep trying you’ll see the glories that we’ve talked about. You’ll never see them at your Father’s. Besides, I bet that He dreads looking at the horizon every day. He’s dreads the thought of you ever coming back. He’d much rather invest in someone like your brother. Now let’s think up some more ideas of getting you out of this mess. “

                But finally the prodigal remembers his Father’s heart. Finally he concludes that his Father has always been the most generous, compassionate one he’s ever known. “Maybe He would at least make me a servant, so I’ll be fed properly. I’ll work hard. I’ll repay Him. I’ll be the best servant ever.” He took his bucket of hog scraps and threw them at the voice. “If I were you I’d…bluh…yuck…gurgle” “That’s what I thought “ said the enlightened son. He marched his way back towards his Fathers, pig slime and all.

                The Father looked out over the horizon. Everyone had been telling Him how silly He was, thinking that His son would come home. Yet He scanned every day. He never gave up hope. Finally one day He saw something. It sure looked like a person. He scrunched His eyes. It was His boy, his heart. The Father’s heart exploded. He shouted, “He’s come home. He’s come home. Slaughter the fattest cow. Call all our friends. Hurry, decorations, music, dancing.” And with that He ran. He didn’t leisurely stroll. He didn’t saunter. He definitely didn’t turn and go the other way. He ran for all His might. Right as the moment of embrace drew near His son stopped, dropped and kneeled. “Forgive me Father, I have sinned against you and am not worthy to have the noble title of ‘Your Son’, but please have mercy and make me a servant. I’ll work hard and make you …” But before He could finished, He was totally engulfed in His Father’s warm embrace. Strong arms wrapped around his tired soul, pig slime and all. “I am already proud of you my son. I love you. I have waited for you every day since you left. I was not going to force my will on you, but my will has always been to have you with me. You bring joy to my heart!” “How could you possibly be proud of me Father? How could you still love me?” “Nothing could ever diminish, taint or tarnish my love for you my son. I’m so proud of you, because you came home. “

                A major tool of Satan’s is shame. It is not of God. God didn’t invent it and He definitely doesn’t use it. Have you ever read in the Bible where God says “Shame on you”? Shame is what Satan uses to make us run from God. If you feel ashamed of something, you hide. God never wants you to hide. He always wants you to run to Him, because His arms are always wide open. When I read the God Chasers by Tommy Tenney, It definitely changed my life. I don’t say that with exaggeration either. One of the remarks in there basically said, What would have happened if Adam and Eve ran to God when they had sinned instead of away from God?” What would have happened if they would not have hid in shame? When we hide from God we are hiding from the only source of life. Logically, why would we ever do that?  It’s often the same way when you disappoint someone you love. You feel ashamed and want to hide from them. You might not call them as much or you might not spend time with them. Why? Because shame hides you. In earthly relationships there are all sorts of variables. Maybe the person you disappointed makes you feel ashamed. Maybe they don’t want anything else to do with you. Maybe they totally forgive you and wish you’d come back to them. With God though, He’s always wants you near Him.

                Remember, God and Sin are separate places. If you run to God it means that you repent of your sin and you run into His embrace. You decide to obey Him no matter what. Repenting doesn’t mean putting yourself through the cycles of guilt and shame; it just means that you acknowledge that you have sinned. You left God and you realize that it was wrong. You leave sin and come back to Him. If you are in sin you can’t be in God and if you are in God then you can’t be in sin. They are totally different places. You can’t be in both at the same time. I’d like to talk about that concept in just a minute.

                So remember if you feel ashamed it’s not God making you feel that way. It is Satan trying to convince you to stay away from God. Shame is an awful lie and always is. Remember how the Father acted towards the prodigal son. Always remember that when you repent. Don’t see God the Father with a disapproving look on His face waiting to cover you with shame. That’s not biblical, that’ demonic. See Him as the Word says in this story. See Him running to embrace you. See His smile and intense pleasure at your homecoming. Feel as He throws His own robe over you. He clothes you with His righteousness (II Corinthians 5:21, Revelation 19:8) You are seen righteous as He is righteous.  Feel as He puts the ring of Sonship back on your finger. Hear the music and enjoy the dancing as the Father’s celebration begins. Remember the story of the sheep that went astray (Luke 15:4-7)? He rejoices over you. That is the truth. God’s Word is always true. Choose to not believe anything else except what God says. Everything else is just a lie. Haven’t we believed them long enough? So cut a rug and let the Father enjoy having you home. Stop hiding. Stop running. Unless you’re hiding in Him or running to Him. He’s so delighted and exuberant to have you home. Words don’t describe His joy. His son that was lost has come home. Let’s all remember that there is nothing good outside of God and let’s stay home with the Father.

                Now there is somewhat of a disagreement about eternal security and I’d like to address that. Some believe that if you are a child of God and you start living in sin or backsliding that you are still going to heaven if you died or the rapture happened.  I don’t believe that. The reason why is from this story.  I believe that God and sin are different places, as I’ve talked about. Say that the prodigal died while he was away from home. He’s in a separate place from God. He died apart from his Father. He’s forever separated from Him. Or let’s say the rapture happens while we’ve been backsliding. Say that there is a certain day when the Father and His entire household move to a much better place. Sort of like the elves at the end of Lord of the Rings. The son takes that chance when he’s out in sin. He knows that one day the Father and all His children will move to this better place. When the Father leaves and the son is still a prodigal he’s forever lost. The Father is not coming back, He can’t He’s on an altogether different playing field now. He desperately wishes that the son would have come home, but he didn’t. That is one of the features of the free will that God has given us. We choose our fate. We can’t always choose our circumstances but we choose our actions and what we believe and adhere to. Let’s just make sure that our actions and beliefs line up with the Word.

                Now I don’t believe that when someone backslides that they are not a child of God anymore. You are a child of God forever. Even if you burn in Hell (Eternal Separation from God). Son and Daughters can rebel against their Father. The Bible says that He who is not for us is against us (Matthew 12:30). If we, as children of the most high God, side with satan, then we will share his punishment. We are creatures of free will. God never forces us to love Him. But if we obey Him we love Him in return (John 14:21).

                II Corinthians says that we are new creations. Ezekiel says we are given a heart of flesh. That is why a backslider is so extremely miserable. When they had a heart of stone they weren’t happy but they didn’t know the good they were missing out on either. When a vile creature does vile things it’s miserable as it’s always been but it has never known the joys of the being God’s son/daughter. When a heart of flesh starts subjecting itself to sin then it feels all the pain it causes itself and others. It poisons itself. Each pump of their heart spreads more venom of sin though the new creation of God. This new creation that knew the joy of the Father has turned away from the only source of life. The Bible says that the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) And Jesus said He is the life (John 14:6) So if we replace our blood, our life source, with something that causes death, we become very miserable and eventually die apart from the life of Yahweh.

                So sinners come to Jesus and backslidden children of God come home to Him. Let God’s children be not deceived. All life and every good and perfect gift is from our Father and can be found nowhere else.

1. Brent Curtis and John Eldridge, The Sacred Romance (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), p.78.

2. Michael Yaconelli, Dangerous Wonder (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1998) p. 25.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beckoning – Chapter 4

                You walk through the woods. Ferns brush against your legs. The subtle scent of earth rises with each step.  The rich greens of the forest calm your soul. A soft rush is heard in the distance. Shouts, Giggles, and Squeals are interspersed amongst the upcoming trees. Your curiosity is peaked. Skinks scurry out of the way as you disturb their leisure. You pass a cabin, rustic and very old, that has hidden among the woods, out of sight and out of mind for many long years. A family still lives there, a couple that sought the seclusion of the wood. They rock on their front porch as you pass. As always, they smile and wave. Twigs crack underfoot. The rush amplifies. The giggling and shouts grow louder. You look ahead hoping to catch a glimpse of what’s going on. What’s making so many people happy?  You push low branches out of your way as you wind your way through the shrubs and low tree branches. Light is piercing the dense trees overhead as slowly the trees make room make room for … a river. Adults and kids alike are tubing, wading and swimming. Many are seen just briefly as they careen down the rushing river. A father and his daughter are splashing each other. Another boy just dove underwater only to reemerge moments later behind a screaming girl. She looks at him sternly and then her face softens as she reaches over and just kisses him. You who are so mesmerized by the unexpected joyful romp in the river that you lose your footing and slide down the somewhat steep embankment. You crash into the cool running water. After you regain your composure, a couple kids nearby just start laughing. You’re wet now so you might as well just enjoy it.

                Same scenario, different circumstances.  You walk through the woods. Ferns brush against you legs. Your footsteps are filled with water as you leave them. The ground is soggy and somewhat sour. The greens of the forest soothe your soul. A rush is heard, growing louder and louder with each step. Screams and cries suddenly pierce your ears. Your heart races as you rush ahead. You sink up to your knees in mud. Your eyes scan around. Something is missing. . . The cabin. It’s been here so long, what happened. Then you notice what looks like a roof amongst the bushes. As you climb out of the mud you see a rushing stream flowing right where the cabin once was. The roof is struggling against the current, but slowly is giving way. You look downstream and see the rest of the once peaceful cabin as it is swept away in what must be some sort of flashflood. What about the couple? You run down the stream in disbelief as you notice not one but several streams. They violently rip the forest apart. Many trees have lost their footing against the surge of the waters. Bushes are being uprooted as you run past. Desperately you look for the couple who called that cabin their home for at least 40 years. Finally you see the bent figure of a woman as she holds onto a piece of her home. Her husband is trying to pull her away, and she’s letting him, but very slowly as her home, food, and possessions are swept away. They see you and are making their way to you, when the man loses his footing and is captured by the ever growing stream. You look in horror as he disappears with the remnants of his home. The woman darts after him and is soon lost to sight. You are about to follow, when you hear more bloodcurdling screams and cries. You crawl across a fallen tree that is bridging the deadly stream. Just as you cross, the tree is taken. Wide-eyed you follow the screams until you come to a raging river, widening by the second. People who were tubing are being dragged downstream as they scream. Trees are falling and some even take the tubers down with them. A boy and girl are holding one another as they fight against the current, but at last they are taken under. You stand frozen. You are helpless to all these people. The river is strong and out of control. The boundaries that once contained it have been overthrown. A father lays prostate on the ever decreasing ground as he lost his grip on a treasure he called his daughter. He doesn’t care as the river takes him under. The screams subside for the moment. As your mind races what to do, you turn to run back the way you came, but the way is no more. You are on an island. All that surrounds you now are the icy fingers of death, as they grasp the ground to take you. The beautiful, strong river has ran out of control. Now what brought you such joy many times before brings you fear and darkness.

                Such is desire. Desire is a powerful and beautiful river. Desire is good. In the Journey of Desire, John Eldridge said, “At its core Christianity begins with an invitation to desire.”(1) Desire is begun in God (Psalm 37:4), and it should end in God (Song of Solomon). Desire out of God’s perfect boundaries causes devastation and destruction. If not corrected it will bring our demise.

                Desire is good. Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.” When I first read that, I thought that God would give me things I wanted. As the years have gone by I’ve come to realize that there is another way that the verse could be taken. It could be taken to mean that God puts the desires in our hearts that pleases Him.

                Then you could say “Well if God puts desire in people’s hearts, then why do people do wicked things?” Simply, God put the desire there, but we try to fill those desires with the wrong things. Someone with the desire for intimacy may direct that desire to an extra marital affair. Someone with a desire to provide for his family may take to dishonest gain. So it’s not the desire for intimacy or provision that are evil, but the way desire is directed. At the heart of all sins is a perverted desire.

                God gave us His desires as part of His image. His image runs all the way through us. We don’t realize how deep His image courses through our whole being. The desire for intimacy or provision are good things. God longs and desires intimacy (Song of Solomon) and God desires to give His Children good things (Luke 11:11-13, Matthew 7:9-11).

                How we direct our desires is the key. If we look at God’s word and see that we should only have sexual intimacy with our spouse, then we direct our desire’s his/her way. Even if our desires are unmet in our spouse, our desire for intimacy will always be met in Christ. Even if our relationship with our spouse is perfect, still we should always turn to Christ to meet our desires, ultimately. Remember our spouse is just a beautiful picture of Christ anyway. 

                If we direct our desires with God’s Word then they will bring life to us and those around us. If we choose to allow them to flow outside of His Word, then they bring destruction to ourselves and those around us. Just as in the story that I started with, people near us can be enriched by our desire or they can be destroyed by our desires. It all goes back to the crazy notion God had of giving us free will. Our actions not only affect us but also those around us. If we listen to Jesus and let our desire not only begin in Him but also flow to Him, then beautiful things will happen.

                Consider Martin Luther King Jr., he had desire to see African-Americans treated better. Of course, this is a

Godly desire. God’s will is for everyone to be treated with respect and dignity. Now Reverend King could have took this godly desire and allowed it to be fueled with bitterness and directed it against those people who treated African-Americans very cruelly. It would have been easy for him to do this. I know it would have been for me. Instead he chose to be fueled by love. He promoted a no violence policy. He chose to love His enemies. He led a powerful revolution fueled by love. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8) His desire originated in God and flowed to God. Multitudes of lives were enriched and nourished by his strong desire. If he would have led a violent revolution fueled by hate and bitterness his desire would have destroyed many lives. Not only those of his enemies but those of his followers. His hatred would have run abroad and poisoned those who followed him. The desire was beautiful and strong and he directed it correctly and an untold many lives were enriched.

                How about the life of King David? We all know the story of David’s adultery (II Samuel 11-12). He was sitting on his rooftop, and then a woman caught his eye. Bathsheba, the wife of his loyal soldier, Uriah, was bathing.

‘Now the desire to have sexual intimacy with your wife is of course Godly. (May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. [Proverbs 5:18-19 NIV]) David took his Godly desire and directed it towards a woman that wasn’t his wife. He chose to let his river run out of God’s banks. Devastation followed. First, he defiled another man’s wife. Then to cover up his sin, he had Uriah, one of his most loyal subjects, placed on the front line of battle where he was sure to be killed. He was. Then Bathsheba became pregnant and the baby died at God’s righteous judgment.

                In addition, to the devastation in his own life, his desires which were directed toward sin, was an evil example for his children. Amnon decided to direct his desire for intimacy to his own sister (II Samuel 13:1-21). He pretended to be sick and he then insisted that his sister Tamar tend to him. When she came in he raped her. Absalom, another of David’s sons, directed his desire for worth towards building a kingdom for himself (II Samuel 15-18). His misdirected desires resulted in betrayal, pride, and murder. Finally, Solomon directed his desires for intimacy toward idolatrous woman who drew his heart away from the One who really cared for it (I Kings 11:1-9).

                On the flip side, David most consistently directed his desire correctly. He is the only one known in scripture as a man after God’s own heart. He had the ark of God’s presence brought back to Jerusalem (I Chronicles 13:3). He built a tent of praise to Yahweh, which is the only tabernacle that God says He will rebuild (I Chronicles 15:1, Acts 15:6). He stood up for Yahweh against countless armies. God breathed on him to write many psalms, which have enlightened, encouraged, and transformed many people. He repented sincerely for his sins (Psalm 51, II Samuel 12).

                We have all been truly enriched and nourished by the Psalms. Psalm 23 is a well known favorite. Psalm 139 is a personal favorite of mine. The life of David has encouraged many, from his stand against Goliath to his desire to please God. Israel was blessed by David’s victories against God’s enemies. Solomon was deeply inspired by his father. He, like his father, allowed God to speak through his hands and write 3 books of the Bible.

                There are different rivers in the earth. They run different courses. They bring life to different lands. There are major rivers. There are minor rivers. There are tributaries.  There are different desires among us. There is different directions that our desires flow. There are different people that are nourished by different desires.

                One desires to have a spouse. One desires to remain single. Some desire to become architects. Others desire to have a career in demolition. One desires to preach God’s Word. Another desires to sing. The One that wants a spouse may treat them as the child of God that they are. Another may abuse and stifle the gift that God has given them. The single person may have rejected the one God had prepared for them or they may be using their singleness as a gift to God. A contractor may build a beautiful house that brings comfort to the owners, or through his lack of knowledge and integrity may cause the new owner’s demise. Swimming may cause a person to be filled with joy and inspire others to jump in or they could swim foolishly and drown themselves or others. Someone preaches the Word of God with a message and lifestyle for God to effect change. Another preaches for his pride and lives a hypocritical lifestyle that causes many to stumble. The voice of one who sings may strengthen the souls of its hearers or it may glorify sinful living.

                Take all the wonderful desires God has given you and guide them with God’s Word. The man who desires a wife should love her as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25). He should love her as his own flesh (Ephesians 5:28). He should love her unconditionally (1 Corinthians 13). The single person should take their singleness and use it for Godly endeavors (I Corinthians 7:32). The builder should be guided with integrity (Romans 12:17). Someone who loves to swim should make sure he works hard also (II Thessalonians 3:10). The person who preaches the Word should also live the Word (James 1:22). The one who sings should make sure that God has given them a voice for others to be blessed by or one that blesses Him only (Psalm 98:4). Maybe vanity or pride makes them want to sing in front of others instead of love, or maybe like myself we haven’t had any instruction and just need some education.

                There is a third scenario with the river of desire. We can dam the river. We may be so afraid of this beautiful river. Maybe, we don’t trust God who gave us the desire or maybe we are so afraid of aiming desire incorrectly. The man who longs for intimacy may be tempted to have an affair. So instead of directing his desire for intimacy toward God (Song of Solomon) then to his wife, he dams it up.  He assumes that the desire itself is evil. Instead of being nourished by his desire and nourishing his wife he plays the coward and blocks its flow. Instead of directing his desire God’s way he stagnates. He becomes a pool of putrid water that doesn’t support life; indeed anyone who drinks it becomes sick. Just like stagnant water doesn’t flow so his life goes nowhere. It doesn’t cause admiration. It doesn’t even really invoke any response. No one’s desire is directed toward it. It’s sort of like the Story of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). He plays it “safe”, he hides his desire. The desire is still there, but it’s buried. It does the bearer of the desire no good, and it definitely does no one else any good.

                Oh, I’m sure you remember that story about that guy…yea he really desired adventure…and he read the newspaper a lot and watched a lot of TV…yep everybody remembers him…well maybe not everyone….He desired to do a lot of good things…yea you have to remember him…don’t you?…well…you have to know his wife she loved to sing…no? Well no she never sung for anyone because she…I don’t really know why…but oh! Remember their son? I heard from Aunt Louise that heard it from Bill Pine, that was told by Martha who heard it from that one kid who read his essays, that he was a really good writer! …no…no, I don’t think he ever worked at it or got anything published, because he just told himself that he wasn’t even good, so he didn’t’ even try…you don’t remember any of them?…well, no I don’t know them either, but they could have done a lot of good and exciting things…Got the point? I thought so.

                I tried to think of an example of a known person who dammed their desire, but I couldn’t think of anyone. Maybe there’s a point to that too.

                In the Journey of Desire, John Eldridge says, “Dare we awaken our hearts to their true desires? Dare we come alive? Is it better, as the saying goes, to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all? We’re not so sure…Our dilemma is this: we can’t seem to live with desire, and we can’t live without it. In the face of this quandary most people decide to bury the whole question and put as much distance as they can between themselves and their desires. It is a logical and tragic act. The tragedy is increased tenfold when this suicide of soul is committed under the conviction that this is precisely what Christianity recommends. We have never been more mistaken.”(2)

                Guided by God’s Word (the banks of the river) the mighty river of Desire will lead you home. Don’t kill or bury your desire.  In the Bible God never tells us to do so, it just tells us what to desire.  Trust God with your desires. Continually invite Him to direct those desires to Himself. Don’t let others convince you to abandon desire, or to follow it out of the banks of God’s boundaries. Mike Bickle says in Passion for Jesus, “The cure for abuse is proper use not disuse.”(3) Desire is meant to be the heart’s road map home. It is the place where God beckons us near. Desire is the place where God whispers your name.

1. John Eldridge, The Journey of Desire (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), p. 35.

2. Ibid., p.30.

3. Mike Bickle, Passion for Jesus (Orlando, FL: Creation House, 1993), p. 152

Eternal Isolation from All that is Good – Chapter 5

2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9 (KJV, Amplified, NIV)

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.

To deal out retribution (chastisement and vengeance) upon those who do not know or perceive or become acquainted with God, and [upon those] who ignore and refuse to obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such people will pay the penalty and suffer the punishment of everlasting ruin (destruction and perdition) and eternal exclusion and banishment from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus; They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

                We’ve heard all kinds of things about the place called Hell. Many of them are true and many are not. The one thing it all boils down to is this; Hell is the place of eternal withdrawal from the very presence and life of Yahweh. Everything that God is, is not there. Yes, it is a lake of fire (Revelation 19:20), it’s a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12), its outer darkness (Matthew 8:12) (it’s hard to imagine a place of fire but no light, but of course God is light), but worst of all it’s a place of eternal separation from God. Maybe being away from God may not bother you that bad, maybe you don’t know Him. But remember friend, God is Good (Matthew 19:17). The Word says, “That every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17). So there won’t be any good thing in hell, because Hell is the exclusion of Him.

                I know you’ve heard people say, “When I get to hell I’m going to party!” That’s not so. Laughter and Happiness are all good things that flow forth from a loving God. They are parts of being made in Yahweh’s image. If any of us choose (because everyone who goes to hell will have chose their destination) to go to hell, to forever leave the presence of God then we’ll never laugh again, joy will never swell in our hearts. You will never hear the laughter of the ones you love. Nothing will ever stir up a smile upon your face, for God is not there.

                You may ask, “Well I know some pretty mean people and they laugh. I know they aren’t Christians. So how come they laugh and have fun?” I believe that everyone on this earth, Believer and Unbelievers live in God’s presence.  We just have pictures of hell in life because our life has never been completely out of God’s presence. This world is full of God’s presence. That is why sinners can love and be loved. They have not completely rejected God. As long as you live you will live in God’s presence. I believe that if you are a Christian then your body and soul not only live in God’s presence but also you’re spirit (the truest part of you). When Adam sinned his body didn’t keel over, but His spirit did. His mind, will, and emotions (his soul) didn’t die, but His spirit did. That is why even the most evil people still receive good. God loves us. He gives us chance after chance to choose Him. We must be saved (accept Jesus as our Savior from sin) or eventually we will be lost from His presence in every way, forever.

                I believe the story of Noah (Genesis 6-8) is a good example of God’s presence. God preached through Noah to the world for like 120 years. That’s a long time for anybody to have a chance. The Ark symbolized God’s presence.  For 120 years Noah pleaded with his fellow man to come to God’s presence, but no one except his family came with him. Finally, the time was up. God told them to go into the ark and then God himself shut the door. Although I’m sure those near the ark beat on it and pounded and cried for entrance. It was too late. There was no other chance for them. They had 120 years worth of chances but now their choice was sealed. Only those whose spirits are cradled in the presence of God will live forever. Everyone else will be shut out of God’s Beautiful and Delightful presence for eternity.

                “…God is love” (I John 4:8). There is absolutely no love in hell. If you could recognize a family member or friend in hell, you would utterly hate each other. There is no love anywhere to be found outside of God’s presence. In hell you’ll never be warmed by love again. You will never draw strength from a hug from your mother or father. You will never smile when someone you love says they love you, for no human will nor even can love you in hell. You will never feel the trust of an old friend.  You will not even see friendly faces to brighten your day. There will be no friendship because friendship is founded on love. There will be no trust because trust is founded on love. A kind word will never grace your ear because love is kind (1 Corinthians 13:4) You will never hear a compliment again for you have turned your back on all that is good so absolutely that no good thing is left in you. You will be an utterly vile and hideous creature.

                Your spouse or boy/girl friend will not even have an ounce of love for you.  By turning your back on God, you turn your back on love. No one can love in hell. You’ll never feel the warmth and joy of romance or the passion and ecstasy of sex. You will never feel the warmth and softness of your lover’s lips. The thought of their body will bring you no delight, only vile hatred. If you do have their company at some time then you will find no delight or comfort in it. You will never feel the softness of their skin or the strength of their hands. You will not revel in their delight of you.

           There will be no peace in Hell. God is the God of Peace (Romans 15:33, Ephesians 2:14). Peace is definitely one of the many good and perfect gifts that come to us from God. You will never have a moments rest again. Hell is a place of torment (Revelation 14:11). Personally, I have suffered from panic attacks in my life. For almost 10 years of my life I was almost always under constant fear, torment and anxiety. I have a grasp of what it means to be tormented. I can’t even begin to think about never-ending torment; Fear without hope of relief. Think of your most awful moment on this earth and imagine it multiplied and without end, that is a glimpse of hell. There will be no peace as you stroll along a path in the woods. The sight of a sunrise will never again calm your soul even if you could see one.  You will never rest in the arms of the one you love. You will never again feel the peace of God that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7).

                All the things that are in God’s presence are nowhere to be found in Hell. There is no love, joy, peace, acceptance, forgiveness, hope, faith, dreams, desires, encouragement, happiness, ecstasy, pleasure or any good or kind thing. There will be no comfort in hell for God is the God of all comfort (II Corinthians 1:3) You’ll never feel the warmth from the sunlight again. You’ll never feel a cool autumn wind caress your face. There will be no water to swim in. You’ll never be refreshed by a cool drink of water. You’ll never splash around in a pool or spring on a hot summer day. There will never be an unexpected gift to cheer you. You’ll never have the reassurance of hope. You’ll never see anything beautiful to comfort and delight you. There will be no strength only weakness and confusion.

                As always Satan’s tactic is deception. Jesus called him the father of lies (John 8:44). That is what he used in the garden of Eden and that is the same tactic he uses today.  Have you seen cartoons where the devil and the angel appear on the shoulder of the character? Yes, it’s usually a funny scene. Yes, I watch cartoons that have those scenes in them. But, do you notice Satan’s subtle deception. Now I’m not saying that those cartoons are evil. As a matter of fact my favorite cartoon has one of those angel/devil scenes. My favorite is The Emperor’s New Groove. It’s hilarious to me. I love the humor! My best friend and I for several years after we saw the cartoon would randomly quote lines from it. Kronk is my favorite character even though they’re all quite funny. I actually love the scene where Kronk is supposed to be getting rid Kuzco (the selfish emperor). His shoulder devil and angel appear. I think the whole scene is hilarious. Yet there is deception afoot. The angel (as always) is the character who appears to always point the way to the right, yet boring,  while the devil leads the way to the wrong, yet exciting. Kronk’s shoulder devil even says “I’m gonna lead you down the path that rocks!” Unfortunately we have bought into the lie. Righteousness is seen as unappealing and boring. Heaven is pretty much always seen in the movies as this boring place in the clouds. We play our harps and everything is calm and uneventful. As Christians we have even added the notion that all we’ll be doing is praising God (not that I don’t absolutely love worship). Hell is often on reverse viewed or thought of as a place of partying and fun. All these deceptions are far from the truth. Yes, there is somewhat of pleasure in sin (pleasures for a season, Hebrews 11:25), but far more and abundantly so in righteousness (pleasures for evermore, Psalm 16:11). Just like getting drunk, sin always has a hangover. Dr. Michael Brown says in Go and Sin No More, “But there is no lasting satisfaction in sin! After the drugs wear off, after the high fades, after the sexual ecstasy is reached, we are left with an empty feeling, a feeling of being unclean, ungratified, discontent. It’s hollow!”(1) Whatever little fun you may have while sinning is by far outweighed by the aftereffects. While the fun and pleasure of doing and being righteous is amplified throughout eternity. Just to feel God’s pleasure is worth anything and everything. There is no greater fun or excitement than being loved and enjoyed by Jesus. Sure you may get off with lying for the moment but it always catches up to you. Sure having sex with someone other than your spouse may be a thrill for a moment until your marriage is hacked to pieces, or the one woman who really loves you is gone, until shame engulfs you like a drowning man, or your children view you as a coward. Sure you may have a little fun from drugs, but wait till your brain is fried and all you can accomplish is to pee on yourself. Abortion may be a way that seems to make your life easier but wait till you find out that you killed your own child. Did they kill it with scissors or just suck the life out of your son or daughter, all for your convenience. Sin sucks and so does the aftermath. Now there is forgiveness and mercy abundant from Jesus, so don’t despair. Run to Jesus. His arms are wide open.

                Sin doesn’t give life it only sucks it from you until you have nothing left except eternal isolation from all that is good. Hell is a real place. Don’t choose to make that your destination. Heaven rocks! Satan just doesn’t want you to know that it does. He should know. For pride’s sake he gave up Yahweh. Now he wants to drag as many people down with him. He’s like a vacuum. A vacuum is emptiness that sucks everything around it inside. Steer far from sin. Don’t even get close. When I was younger I acted foolishly. I thought that I could heavily make out with my girlfriend and not wind up having sex. I would stay over at her house even. It only took a week before we had sinned. I am the most guilty being the leader in the relationship. I still regret it to this day. Don’t even stray close to sin, it’s not worth it. Maybe there is a small chance of not falling in, but why chance it? What fool would gamble with like, a 1/1000 chance. Run from sin if you have too (Genesis 39:12, II Timothy 2:22). Be like Joseph who fled temptation. Don’t try to sneak away and still be cool’. Make an abrupt end of sin. Cut it clean off (Matthew 18:8, 9). I know someone who recently was tempted to have an affair. They were on a team together and she noticed that she was getting attracted to this man. He was even starting to call her. She realized her foolishness and called him and abruptly ended it. She did great!!! Sin is never worth it. Not under a single circumstance is sin worth it.          

There will never be a shred of happiness in hell. There will be no glimmer of joy. There will be no hint of delight. There will only be utter despair and torment away from the presence of the One who loves you. You will never get to enjoy and dance around with your favorite song. You won’t ever hear something that makes you smile. You’ll never enjoy the scent of a rose or the fragrance of an orange. You won’t have your favorite hobby to enjoy. Writing songs will bring you no joy. There will be no car or truck to fix up. There will be no craft time. There will be no soil to plant flowers in. There will be no stars to study, no ocean to sail, no fish to catch, no meals to cook, no movies to watch, no books to read. And not for just one day or some amount of time but forever with no hope of positive change. There will be absolutely no fun, only pain. There will be no aspirin for headaches, no Pepto-Bismol for an upset stomach, no morphine to relieve the gnawing cancer. There will be nothing to ever look forward too. There will be only dread. There will be no doctor to turn to. There will be no friends at all, so no one to run to when you are troubled (which will be all the time).  There will no mercy to ever grace you again. Pleas for help or relief will go forever unheeded. Darkness, pain, despair, agony, torment will possess you forever and ever.

                This is not a fun chapter to write, but a necessary one. Don’t make hell you’re home. Don’t turn your back on Jesus. Don’t run anywhere but to Him. Maybe you are so hungry and starved for love that you turn to homosexuality, Don’t! Turn to Jesus. Don’t believe that anyone can truly make you happy other that Jesus. People are not meant to truly complete you, only Jesus. Trying to put anything into the emptiness in your soul other than Jesus is futile. That is another tactic of Satan. Instead of turning to Jesus people constantly turn everywhere else to fill their empty hearts. The main strategy about this tactic is that Satan will keep you looking everywhere but to Jesus until it’s too late. That is why we sin. We look somewhere else for true fulfillment. It’s not out there. It’s only in Him. The wise see their error and repent, while the foolish spend their entire life looking under every rock and in every trash can to find wholeness. Even good things can be used by Satan to tempt you to turn to them instead of God. You can fill your whole life with the Peace Corps and never find true peace in your heart. You can feed the hungry. You can give your last dollar to the needy yet if you don’t have Jesus you’ll still be just as empty. Don’t be tricked, working for God and Being with God are two very different things. You can work for God your whole life and still wind up in hell. Remember the verse “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23)”. It’s all about knowing Jesus. If you love Him then you’ll obey Him. If you obey Him with all your heart then you truly love Him. Don’t be fooled! It’s only if you’ve been saved. It’s only by accepting Jesus as Savior. It’s only by abstaining from sin and running to Jesus. It’s only by truly knowing Him that we will get to spend eternity with Him.

                Don’t spend your whole life looking in all the wrong places. Don’t be prideful and stubborn, thinking that you know better than God. Don’t pretend to know Him. Don’t confess Him and then keep secret sins. Don’t waste your time. Don’t trust anything else beside what the Lord Jesus Christ says in His word. Don’t trust some person or prophet (I Kings 13, Galatians 1:8). Look to the Word of God. Look to Jesus. It doesn’t matter if they speak in tongues and cast out devils if what they say isn’t in the Bible, don’t do it. How many dead ends must you walk to? How many times do you have to crash?  God loves you with an everlasting love! Don’t throw that away. Don’t be one who spits in His face. Don’t think that just because you don’t hold satanic rituals and sacrifice children that you don’t follow Satan. Jesus said that those who aren’t with Him are against Him (Luke 11:23). There are no neutral sides. You are either wholeheartedly following Jesus or else you are following Satan. There are no in betweens. Choose you this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15). Don’t be wishy-washy. Don’t be hypocritical; you are only doing yourself and the Kingdom of God damage. I think that being a hypocrite is one of the worst positions to be. When it’s all said and done both sides are going to turn on you. Jesus said in Revelation 3:15, 16, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” If your lifestyle makes God puke that’s pretty awful because He’s seen some hideous things. Either be a Non-believer or a true believer. I’m not advocating that if you are not going to live for God then go all the way and be a killer, rapist or satanist, but if you are not going to live for Him don’t profess to know or to love Him. Love is a whole lot more than a good feeling about someone. I can have good feelings for my dog or my tattered ole sweatshirt I’ve had since 5^th grade. Don’t try to fool others because they’ll know and if they don’t know and follow your lead then woe is you (Matthew 23:13).  And don’t deceive yourself. That is a horrible deception to rid yourself off. Don’t explain away the Bible to appease your conscience.  “Well Jesus didn’t mean it like that, what He was meaning was…”  That is a bunch of baloney! Jesus said what He meant and meant what He said. If Jesus said don’t have sex (fornication) before marriage, then don’t. Don’t make excuses and deceive yourself and others. It doesn’t matter if you’re engaged or not. It doesn’t matter if it’s moments before the wedding. It doesn’t matter if God spoke to you and told you that you were the ones He had prepared for each other. It’s still sin to have sex (oral, vaginal or otherwise) before marriage (Acts 15:20, I Corinthians 6:13, I Corinthians 10:8, I Thessalonians 4:3). Remember sin is a place that is away from God; don’t even take the chance of being stranded in that place for eternity. Hell is eternal isolation and separation from God and all good things. I choose to go to Heaven and I hope with all my heart that we shall meet on those outrageously joyous shores. I choose to live life God’s way, abstaining from sin and enjoying Him forevermore. “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”(Psalm 16:11).

1. Dr. Michael Brown, Go and Sin No More (Venture, CA: Regal Books, 1999), p. 25.

Pleasures Forevermore – Chapter 6

Can you picture Rolling Hills? Streams winding and bubbling this way and that way? Thunderous Waterfalls surge with velocity and strength. Cheetahs race across the horizon. Swans grace the surface of lakes. Frogs croaks merrily. Dolphins leap forth from the oceans comforting grasp. Whispers of fir tease your nostrils. Joyous Celebration reverberates throughout every essence of your body. Everyone dances without fear, but with glorious fury and wild abandon. Canyons echo the laughter of a race without sorrow. Lush grasses swell to meet each footstep. Orchids burst forth to join the dance of life. An eagle soars through the azure skies. Leaves flicker to applaud the never-ending dawn.  Horses play on the wide open plains. Mountains crested with snow arise to kiss the sky. Redwoods stand after thousands and thousands of years because decay does not exist.  Deer drink from gentle pools near rivers edge. Rapids splash and play as the river tumbles with stone. Jessamine perfumes the air with seduction. Foxes play along the forest floor. Horny Toads sun upon the hot desert sands. Cactus blooms dot the terra cotta landscape. Anacondas glide through the water as fish swim alongside. Sloths, well they…they just sort of sit there and do… think about doing…stuff. Toucans salute the sky as they enjoy fresh fruit. A guitar is played by a master of music. Gardens are tended without weeds. Vegetables and fruit, full and ripe, are always in abundance. Delicious drinks flow with no end. The freshest and creamiest milk is always available. Sumptuous cheeses are available in plenty. Falling Stars jut across the glimmering night sky. Black-Eyed Susan’s gleam along hillsides. Gingers and Freesia entice the breeze with aroma. Oaks grow strong and tall. Birches and Maples light up the world in autumn. Bobcats tousle with rabbits as they play.  Coyotes call to the night. Sickness is unheard of. The world is full of all precious stones. Polar Bears sleep surrounded by a company of penguins. Thunder booms from beautiful cumulonimbus clouds. Lightning etches across the expanse of the heavens. Dew rests upon rose petals. Bees busy themselves with their honey-making. Butterflies of all colors compete for attention with the prettiest flowers. Love is never-ending. Snow falls gently as people sled down white slopes. The waters welcome the divers to her realm. Sea anemones glow with no threat. Pain is forgotten and replaced with pleasures forevermore.

                That’s a piece of what I believe to be Heaven. I don’t know what Heaven is like now, but I imagine it similar to that. One day according to Revelation 21-22, Heaven will be here on Earth. The world will be recreated so to speak. It will be purged from all things that cannot abide His fiery presence. There will be no sin, no more suffering. The blind man you know will never have seen so clearly. The man with panic disorder will never again fear. The woman who hurts so bad inside that she cuts herself, will never again know sadness. The sweet little lady in her 70’s will not be riddled with cancer. The man with leprosy will have a new body.  There will be no more children who fear the coming home of their fathers. No more bruises, no more whelps will exist. There will be no more pain. The boy who was suffered third degrees burns will no longer be scarred. The woman who lost her husband to another woman will never fear abandonment again. The boy who grew up with rejection will know only acceptance.  The inmate in prison will never know sorrow only forgiveness. The little girl will no longer be violated by her school teacher’s touch. The woman who was raped will be confident and unafraid forever. A smile of joy will never cease to crease her face. Peace will be granted forever to the schizophrenic. The depressed will never know anything but utter happiness. The souls tortured for their faith will experience the embrace of the Father. The elderly man will never have to reach for his nitroglycerin tablets. A joint will never ache. A body will never be plagued by arthritis. The weak will forever be made strong in the presence of their Creator. No one will ever cry because of murder. The land will never be marked with war. The crying woman will no longer be beaten by her husband. Disease will never even visit a person, plant or animal again.

                The Song by Mercy Me says it well, “I can only imagine”. All things bad will forever be over and all things good will never end. Isn’t that the part we all hope for “And they lived happily ever after”. We’ll never be stranded, hungry, uncomfortable, sad, neglected, uncared for, abused, stolen from, used, taken for granted, looked down on, abandoned, hurt, separated from the ones we love and who love us, worried, afraid or anything bad again. We’ll never have to worry whether the bills will be paid, or what will happen if we lose our health insurance. We’ll never have to cope with loneliness or grief. There will never again be a sin committed. We’ll never have an enemy again. No one will ever be rejected or “out of place”.

                I long for this kind of place. I long for heaven. It’s not that I have a morbid fixation on death. Quite, the contrary, I’m fascinated with life, eternal life. I’m fascinated with living in eternal bliss and unending pleasures. Most of all I’m fascinated with Life, Himself. I’m fascinated with Jesus. I’m fascinated with being with the One I love more than anything else. I’m intrigued by the thought of never-ending fellowship with Yeshua. I’m overjoyed at the thought of beholding His smile. I’m humbled to meet the One who never gave up on me, the One who was always cheering me on. Even those times when it seemed that I had disappointed everyone else, He always was with me, reassuring me, embracing me. He has never treated me as anything but priceless. He has never spoken a hurtful word to me. He has never even misunderstood me for He knows all things. I have never been far from Him.

                I am thrilled at the conclusion of Jesus. He has been my beginning, and I am thrilled that He is my End. He is the Prize that I am racing towards. He is the hope that carries me when all else has failed. He is my Light that illuminates my days. He is Jesus, my all. He is El-Shaddai, my all-sufficient One. Of course I utterly look forward to being forever in His arms. I look forward to the place where I shall never even have a slight chance of being separated from Him. I look forward to the sight of Him. There will no more veils to protect us, only His glory to behold, to embrace. I look forward to seeing Beauty that will make everything lovely that I have seen, hideous by comparison. I look forward to beholding Strength so awesome that it will make every lofty and magnificent thing I have seen, utterly fragile by contrast. And not only to see Strength and Beauty but to be one with Him. I can’t wait till every fiber of my being is infused with Jesus.  So don’t be confused, my longing for heaven has nothing to do with death. If death is the carriage by which I am released from this world then in God’s time and way it will occur. I don’t long for death. I long for life everlasting.

                I don’t believe when we get to heaven we are going to be in chorus robes and sing praise songs for all eternity either. Fun and Pleasure are definitely good gifts from God. Heaven will be the ultimate thrill ride. I know how it is to just long for peace, yet we will have so much more than only peace. I believe that the music concerts in heaven will blow anything this world has ever dreamed into oblivion. Whatever music that you like will truly be out of this world. The instruments, the sound will be flawless. I believe that songs will occur spontaneously. I believe that the food tasted there will be “heavenly”…sorry just couldn’t help myself with all these puns. It will be the best of all things plus so much more. The landscape will be flawless. There will be no pollution, no litter. The land will not be marked by wars. I believe we will be able to explore planets and galaxies. All limitations will be forever removed. We will ride comets and delve deep into the caverns of wild planets. We will be fully able to explore the depths of the oceans. We will see all the magnificent and wondrous creatures that lurk in the abyssal plains. We will swim with sharks and dolphins. We will play with seals and sea lions. All animals will be our friends and fear us no more. We will ride whales and communicate with octopuses. We will find the most beautiful pearls from all kinds of oysters. Can you imagine living anywhere in the world you want with no fear of anything? Imagine sunning on tropical beaches. How about sports? I can’t wait to surf and wide waves. What about skiing the best slopes with perfect mastery? How about playing football with Jesus? I guess if you have to get beat, who better right? I bet we’ll be able to run faster than superman. How about flying? Most all of us dream of being magically able to fly. Imagine soaring from place to place. Imagine the freedom. Imagine skimming the ocean. Imagine riding the most beautiful horses across vast plains. Imagine being able to explore underwater without scuba tanks. Whatever thrills that you do or want to do on this earth it will be available in abundance there. There will be jewels to find and a multitude to wear. Imagine having pools lined with emerald instead of concrete. Imagine windows built of diamond. Imagine the streets paved with pure gold. Imagine a tub made of tanzanite. Imagine. Dream. Imagine the most beautiful architecture. If you love to build then your materials will be quite impressive in heaven. If you love to landscape like I do, your palette of plants will be huge and perfect. Imagine the lush gardens. Imagine the most beautiful and fragrant flowers blooming. Imagine waterfalls in your front yard. Imagine a world where nothing is yours yet everything is yours. Hey for all us outdoorsy folk imagine never swatting another gnat or mosquito. Imagine no fleas or ticks to bite. There will be an influx of the most beautiful menagerie of poetry and songs. Imagine the mirth and delight. Imagine beauty with no flaw and strength with no weak point. Imagine laughter with no hint of sorrow. Imagine freedom uninhibited. Imagine getting up close with any animal that you want. Imagine petting tigers and riding bears. Imagine communicating with animals and having kinship with them. Envision playing with elephants. Visualize sunning with alligators. Picture yourself laughing with loved ones who have gone ahead.  Can you feel their embrace, their welcome? Can you see their smile? Everyone who has died in Christ we shall meet again. They are not lost or truly dead. In fact they are more alive than we are.

                The best part of all is doing all those thing with Jesus. I assure you He won’t just be sitting on His throne for all eternity. He’s shared in sorrow and pain. He will be having a blast right there with us, for we are what He has long waited for. We are His Bride. We are His Treasure. We are the One that He has longed for. It’s our company that He died for. It’s our presence that He created us for. He just wants to be with us. Just like lovers, He just wants to be with the One He loves. He just wants to be near us. He longs for our touch. He says that one look from us has stolen His heart (Song of Songs 4:9 NIV). We are the pearl of great price to Him. We are what He has sold all to retrieve. We are His precious possession. His best friend. His intimate ally. God longs for our embrace. He waits for our never-ending smile. He revels in our laughter. Don’t think for one moment that you are unimportant to Him. You are His magnificent obsession. He created all good gifts just for your enjoyment. He just loves to see your smile. He is waiting to explore, design, rest, converse, orchestrate, run, laugh, and play with us. Even though we are on this side of heaven. He is there earnestly seeking us. He is here encouraging us onward. He is our exceedingly great reward (Genesis 15:1). He is our prize and we are His prize. “I am my beloveds and my Beloved is mine (Song of Solomon 6:3).” He is waiting for His precious fruits (James 5:7).

                 “For now, our life is a journey of high stakes and frequent danger. But we have turned the corner; the long years in exile are winding down and we are approaching home…One day soon we will round a bend in the road and our dreams will come true. We really will live happily ever after. The long years in exile will be swept away in the joyful tears of our arrival home. Every day when we rise, we can tell ourselves, My journey today will bring me closer to home; it may be just around the bend. All we long for we shall have; all we long to be, we will be. All that has hurt us so deeply…will all be swept away. And then real life begins.”(1) -John Eldridge

Don’t be discouraged the best is by far yet to come. Our journey is not over but our happily ever after is waiting. The kingdom is here but not yet. Be comforted. Be delighted. Be mesmerized. Fantasize. Be romanced. Be enjoyed. Dance with all your heart. Abandon yourself to the One who has abandoned all for you. Dance with the One who bought you. Believe in Fairy Tales once again. Believe in Happy Endings. Dare to Desire. Become fascinated with Love, Himself. With Life, Himself. Though darkness is nigh the Light is not far off. The eternal dawn is soon approaching. The darkness has no choice but to give way to day. Smile. Be overjoyed. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). Sing with all your soul. Play in the rain. Tumble down a hill. Be captivated, spellbound, enraptured. Be enchanted by Jesus and never let anyone break the spell. Heaven is waiting. He is calling. Run with all your might.

1. Brent Curtis and John Eldridge, The Sacred Romance (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), pp. 192-193.