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Will I
Stay or Will I Go? |
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By Pastor Ray
Stark© 2003
My thoughts can get a little edgy at night.
Possibly, even deep. I’ve been reflecting on almost a
half century of life. Some of it better than I would have imagined
in my youth- some not.
All in all I am glad that this present life is not all I
have been given from the hand of God. At night I tend to
wonder what it will be like to be on the other side of death's door.
According to the Reverend Gary Davis "Death don't have
no mercy in this land." Thank God, Jesus does. Two or
three mild strokes and a minor heart attack over the last
6 years could well have something to do with the way the
stream of my consciousness flows.
Not melancholy thoughts. Thoughts of a hope and future God has prepared for me “beyond the
valley of the shadow of death”. Makes me want to do right and be appreciative
of what He has given me on this side of the valley and yet
not to pin all my hopes and dreams on family and friends
and the things that make life enjoyable in the present.
There is a day of reckoning and a day of rewards coming
which will fit all of us out for eternal life. James, the
brother of Jesus says it much better than I could hope to.
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James 4:13-15 Weymouth NT
(Jam 4:13) Come, you who say, "To-day or to-morrow we
will go to this or that city, and spend a year there and carry
on a successful business,"
(Jam 4:14) when, all the while, you do not even know what
will happen to-morrow. For what is the nature of your life?
Why, it is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then is seen no more.
(Jam 4:15) Instead of that you ought to say, "If it
is the Lord's will, we shall live and do this or that."
I need to learn humility. I wrote "we need" first
but decided that was a cop out. This isn't a lecture; it's
me sitting here in a nice warm quiet room, comfortably reflecting
on the nature of human life.
What is the nature of human life? Nothing truly substantial,
whether it's you, me or Michael Jackson. We live our lives
from day to day and at any moment our breath could be terminated
and our next conscious thought would occur before the presence
of almighty God.
This life which seems so concrete to us is no more solid
than a mist or vapor, a fog we walk through while heading
towards God's light. That doesn't mean it is unimportant,
but it is impermanent and insubstantial compared to the life
waiting beyond the confines of incorporation.
Instead we set our faces towards our own plans and purposes
(there I go with that "we" business again). You
have to figure this out for yourself; you can't ride on my
revelation of impermanence.
Anyhow, here's my thought:
I have some things I want to do and accomplish while still
in the body, but I need to learn to temper my desires with
the fact that, "If it is the Lord's will, I shall live
and do this or that." If it is not His will then I will
be moving on to bigger and better things in the presence of the Lord.
Peace.
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==============<><><><><><><><>=================
Ray Stark is the pastor of Celebration Christian Church. Visit
them on the web at www.celebratingjesus.org.
email: ray
blog: www.celebratingjesus.blogspot.com
==============<><><><><><><><>=================
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout
the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved. |
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ACTS 1:4
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On one occasion, while he was
eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not
leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,
which you have heard me speak about."
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(NIV)
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