Seed for Spiritual Growth
As Christians in the world our perspective is to be on the heavenly and not of the earthly. Now I will admit this is a very difficult thing to do considering all of the distractions we daily face in our lives, but still our perspective, if we are going to come to the end and purpose God has planned for our lives must be on He who is eternal and on the eternal projections of God. For this to happen we again must consider ourselves eternal beings. Now if we are truthful with ourselves (Christians) our concepts of life dwells on the here and now of our walk with the Lord. What are we doing at church, who is doing what to whom at church, maybe some folks are planning a trip abroad for ministry, but all of this has little to do with our eternal perspective in God. Doing today for God never assures us of a reward tomorrow. Jesus shared this thought with the disciples, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26) These verses have not been written to sinners, but also to Christians as a warning (take heed) not to get wrapped up in the things of this world and all of the good works so much that we forget about being a eternal being. The folks in the world really never consider themselves to be eternal beings if so they would change their lifestyles to align with what God’s word says. We all are like a school of fish caught up in this huge net called life to the point we miss our purpose and function in life – to learn the lessons in this life so that we will be able to function correctly with God in our next life to come. There is a “knowing” we learn and are “known” by God in what we “know” that will project us in to our countless ages to come. Paul tells us, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”(1 Corinthians 13:12) Where does this knowing take place? In our next life. In our eternal age to come, and then in our next age to come, and the next age to come, and then on and on.
I see this so strong in my life not from the ability to know the future, but from the ability to know the past. I do not travel abroad as I use to, make no mistake God has His ways of stopping things and starting other things, now in retrospect I see times where I missed opportunities that I cannot get back. Missed opportunities in God have a greater impact in the lives of people because we are dealing with things of the Spirit and with eternal things. Let us take heed to ourselves to maximise every opportunity God gives us. I think back to the millions of faces I have met in the past (their names never introduced to me) and the opportunities to share the Gospel message with them. Let us have no regrets knowing we have done our very best for Him when we stand before the Lord, but more importantly let us stand before the Lord knowing we have learned the lessons that will enable us to be useful to God in our next life to come. Witten by David Stahl
AN EDITITORIAL NOTE:
Next month the “Dear Friends” section will be replaced (for a time) with some outstanding articles on the “Seven Spirit of God” by Mike Olufemi who is the Program Director of our maturity clinic in Aveile, Nigeria. I know this should give everyone some perspective to his words, revelation, and his heart.