His Glory Awaits

My brother's wife Fran passed away last week. She was 63 years young and left a husband, 3 married children and seven grandchildren. She was a believer.

Today an anonymous commenter left the following at a friends blog who is facing a painful death at the hands of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). I found it to be an uplifting message, especially in light of Fran's passing, and wanted to share it with you.

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There is no death! This does not seem as though Reality to you right now.

Our Lord Jesus conquered death for us. When our temporary flesh becomes no more, the most alive you have ever known greets you and encompasses you. It is like being in Christ Jesus our Lord in a most profound living, indescribable joy.

Love and Life of our Father is so beyond magnificent; you will not want to even consider going back to the clay of yesterday. I tell you, an abounding Glory of Life and Love await you! An incredible warmth of Holy Love of our most awesome Father is nothing to fear, dear sweet one.

You will never trade it to go back into the clay. Fear not, for His Glory awaits those in Christ Jesus, with the death of the temporary body comes Life as you have never believed it could be. A Life that is truly living; you will thrive in Him, who is Life, Love, and Light-Christ. You most certainly will not be alone, nor cold; Glory and you become as one, you live; He lives. You live eternal, just not in the current clay.

Inhaling and Exhaling God

Heard a great sermon from a young preacher yesterday on the breath of God. Here are the three scriptures that he used in his message:

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. [Genesis 2:7]

This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. [Ezekiel 37:5]

Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit". [John 20:22]

Love the imagery of how we inhale God's Spirit into our lives - that is the first half of the message. The second half was how we exhale God's breath in the things that we say and do. I think that the world is longing for the breath of God.. even if it comes from us. Reminds me of this great scripture in the seventh chapter of John's gospel:

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Again we see the another symbiotic relationship - when we are thirsty we come to God for a drink that others might drink from that same living water as it flows from our innermost beings. Amazing!

Building Inner Strength

Riding down the road today I began thinking about these two passages from Galatians that deal with the way that believers build inner strength:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (5:22-23)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (6:7-9)

In the first passage we get a peek into the character of God in the Christians life. The second passage tells us how we can develop those inner qualities.

To be patient we must sow seeds of patience when we are tempted to be impatient. To be strong in love we must defy the gravity of hate when we lift the barbell of love. When we exercise self-control we sow seeds that will make us spiritually stronger. It is true with each aspect of God's fruit.. we reap what we sow.

It is not a matter of fleshly works that we figure out with our heads - it is simply responding to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our heart. We are growing spiritual fruit with each seed that we sow.. we are growing in the ways of the Spirit as we, in faith, plant spiritual seeds. It is a kingdom thing.