I’m willing to give up my truck to go to heaven…

Hey friend,

I've been thinking about what I might be willing to give up to go to heaven.  I thought about giving up my dog, but I don't have a dog.  I thought about giving up my savings account, but I don't have one of those either.  So, I think I am willing to give up my truck for a ticket to heaven.  Mostly 'cause it has 198,000 miles on it and I figure God can afford the overhaul.  

It's interesting that the original price Jesus quoted to the rich young ruler was: he had to give it all.  He had to sell it all and give it to the poor.  The ticket price was too high for the ruler.  Then, Christ died on the cross and now we have access to eternal life at no cost to us.  Jesus prepaid for us with His life.  

Wonder if the rich young ruler heard about the new deal? Sounds crazy right?  But think about this…  

If you "exchange" your life for the life of Christ, you are saying you are willing to die that others might live.  Are you really?  It seems to me, many people make the exchange and get through the gate, but never walk the path.  It's these people that took advantage of the new deal, but never sold their goods and gave to the poor.  I don't think God will honor the new deal unless you "sell out".  

I don't think He is interested in entertaining those that hedge their bets…

Peace

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“EPIC” – Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich, Connective.

Leonard Sweet speaking on the most important features of a postmodern community of faith. “EPIC” – Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich, Connective.

 

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Jesus is coming again!

To some, when they hear the thought "Jesus is coming again", they think it ranks right up there with Chicken Little screaming, "The Sky is Falling!"  I suppose to someone who has not experienced the love of Jesus or chooses to deny His love, the thoughts seem about as equally ridiculous.  But to the ones who have been touched by the hand of God, it is an incredibly encouraging thought.

Just think.  There is a day when Jesus is coming again.  No more sorrow.  No more pain.  Just unlimited love and a world in service to the one true God.  I wonder what it will be like?  Whatever is waiting, it has to be good.  

Unfortunately for many when Jesus comes, it won't be so good.  If that thought scares you, drop me an email.  37stories at gmail dot com.  

‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away’ (Revelation 21:4)

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I’m thinking about joining a gang!

Seriously now.  I'm thinking about joining a gang.  I understand the gang to be family.  Each member covers each other's back.  You don't have to wonder where you stand.  You are family.  You have a problem, you take it to the family. 

 

A cool thing about being a gang member, is you can hang out 24/7.  You don't have to wait and get together once a week.  You get together all the time.  If you have 6-pack, you share it with the family.  What's yours is theirs.  You are happy to share.  You just wish you had more to share for the less fortunate. 

 

Gangs even mark their territory.  I will know where it is safe to hang out.  I'll always have friends to hang with.  A gang could really be a good thing.  A gang has colors so I can spot a family member, even if they are from "out of state".  I don't have to wonder if we are friends even though strangers.  We are family.

 

Oddly, this sounds a lot like the early church described in God's book.  I wonder if a gang will ever evolve into meeting on Sunday and flipping a quarter in the offering plate?

 

Just thinkin…

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Don’t forget. Thank your angel. Huh?

I don't think I have ever thanked an angel.  Have you?  I wonder if we should.  Check this verse out.

"Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven? ~Jesus

It seems people new to the faith have a personal angel which is constantly in touch with God.  The caution is given by Jesus, you best not treat them badly.  It seems likely, your personal angel might be pleased with a simple, "Thank you".  I don't know.  Just thinking…

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Focus of my Delight

If it were God's desire to gather a body of believers together in the form of a local church, where might God have the focus?  It might be good to focus on the poor.  God tells us to care for those less fortunate.  It might be good to focus on the widowed, they also are less fortunate.  It might be good to focus on deep Bible study.  God wants us to gain wisdom,  It might be good to focus on prayer.  God tells us to pray.  There are an unlimited number of good causes to focus on.  But where does God want us to focus?

"While he(Peter) was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him." ~Jesus

The cool thing about a focus on Jesus is that obedience in all the other activities become a natural result.  Focus on Jesus and you will feed the poor, help the widows, read His Word, pray and more! 

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You’re outta here!

"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. 

What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. 

I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'" ~Jesus

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How do I focus on Jesus?

I asked this question on Facebook.  The thoughtfulness and depth of answers is wonderful.  Want to share with my blog readers.  Maybe you will choose to help in my search for understanding…

Archie Rhines I have a question. It is important to me. Maybe you can help. Maybe not. Here goes… What does it mean to "Focus on Jesus"? How will I know if I have succeeded?

Jennifer Rutledge

Focus On Jesus — living in His Truth each and every moment and knowing that He is the way to success in the first place. Doing what God says, even in the difficult choices, is how you can feel a measurement of that success, I would think.

Kimberly Guerra Mauldin

PRAYER. i'm pretty simple, and i'm sure there is some great theological answer out there, but for me it is simply keeping Him in the center (sometimes not so easily done for me), how do i measure success, honestly i dont think of it as "am i successful" i just look at where i was, where i am and where i am going, and know that He is working miracles, so i must be doing something right.

Ana Graves

I don't know if we ever succeed at this, until heaven, of course. I was thinking about something similar to "focus on Jesus" last night. I read a part of Psalm 119 that talked about pondering the statutes of God…I thought, what does that look like? I'm so easily distracted from his purposes, from him. The distractions of the world tend to make my eyes towards other things. So, to "focus on Jesus," as I read the Psalms, I'm learning to ask him to help me focus on him and his purposes and his statutes. The more I ask, the more I tend to be looking his way and not towards other things. Interesting question to ponder…

Archie Rhines

I will go back and think on your responses throughout the day. I'm open to more insight from friends….
So far… Truth, Prayer, Ask and Ponder encourages a focus on Jesus. 
I'm Truthfully Asking in Prayer as I Ponder on what it means to focus on Jesus.
Thank you!

David L Mauldin

ill know success when i get to heaven. focus on jesus is hard sometimes self will and all. if living in salvation was easy the bible would be two pages it would say you are saved now go live your life any way you want. the end. keeping god the head of your house and life and decisons is focus for me

Darla Carter

I think Jesus will be truly the focus and in focus when we see Him in the others around us and treat the others around us as if they were Him. I think that would be the ultimate test on if we are loving the Lord our God w/ all our Heart and soul and mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourself. Am I there and living it-no. Is it a worthy goal-yes. It would be extremely interesting to see all of us focused on Jesus in that manner–can you imaging the change that could occur. That was a very thought prevoking question for me to see-Thanks Archie

Archie Rhines

Great thoughts David and Darla. I think I'll repost on my blog. I am still trying to figure it out. FOCUS on Jesus. How do I do that? hmmm.

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Do your part.

"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part." ~Matthew

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Simply, Pray…

I woke up yesterday with a simple word on my mind, pray.  That was all.  Just the word, pray.  

I said, "God.  For what shall I pray?" 

God said, "Pray."

So I prayed…

God says in His Word to keep your prayers simple.  Let your yes be yes and your no be no.  Pray something like this…

Our Father in heaven, 
Reveal who you are. 
Set the world right; 
Do what's best— as above, so below. 
Keep us alive with three square meals. 
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. 
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. 
You're in charge! 
You can do anything you want! 
You're ablaze in beauty! 
Yes. Yes. Yes.

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