It's hard for me to compehend that it has been 10 years since some fanatical, brain washed lunatics in the name of their god allah, hijacked 4 planes in a war declared on America by a name that became synonymous with terrorism--Osama Bin Laden. I remember seeing an interview done by one of the major networks in1996 in which he declared war on America. I frankly didn't think much of it at that time, confidently thinking "he's too distant from this part of the world to carry our his declaration." How naive of me to have such thoughts, for the world has become smaller each day and distance only hindered by one's ability to garner the time and be able to afford a trip around the world. And there's the internet that connects you instantly across the globe.
We all remember where we were that new day of infamy when the planes kamikazed into those 2 imposing towers of steel. Taking the lives of all those on board and in the towers, and coming to the rescue. We watched helplessly as those buildings burned and crumbled to the ground. And we stared in disbelief and horror as we saw occupants of those towers of steel jump to their deaths. Choosing a 10 second fall into eternity rather than being consumed in a conflagration of fire and flames. Ordinary people who woke up that day thinking it would be just like any other day. People just like you and me who probably never thought their lives would be cut short in such a terrifying and public way. One moment getting ready to conquer the world of commerce and trade. The next standing and staring into the precipice that would be their doorway into eternity.
I am sure these people assumed they had many more years to make their mark on the world. They would retire to a good old age and life,surrounded by their families, secure in a future made possible by what they did in the now. Never a thought that forever would beckon in a wall of fire or a jump into the abyss.
Truth is none of us knows the hour of our death. We avoid the topic. The topic of death just isn't discussed. We avoid it like the plague. But it is appointed once for man to die....(man referring to mankind... male and female.) Then judgement. Another topic that will end a conversation. JUDGEMENT. That we might be held accountable for what we do, how we live, the decisions we make in this life.
I am a Christian by the grace of an almighty,Sovereign, and very patience and gracious God. Twenty one years ago I was going my own way, living a perverse, ungodly, self-consumed and sinful life. By the grace and mercy of God the Father, I was drawn to God the Son, and quickened or made alive through God the Spirit. I passed from death to life. I was like the tax collector who beat his chest and said,"Have mercy on me a sinner" and God did. And nothing has been the same since.
Oh, I must deal with the pull of past temptations. And like the Apostle cry out "take this away" but like He said to Paul, God says, "My grace is sufficent for you. For my strenght is made perfect in weakness. I am still in this dieing rotting body of flesh, blood and bones. And what I want to do I do not do but what I hate to do. The flesh wars aganist the Spirit and the Spirit aganist the flesh. And yes, it is a war, and there are many battles every day. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.
All God's people have hope. The hope of a new heavens and earth in which righteousness dwells. There's a time coming when he will transform this body to be like His glorious body. And this suffering is nothing compared to that glory.
Jesus spoke in a parable to those gathered around him of a rich fool saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ (Luke 12:16-20)
James an Apostle of Jesus the Christ penned "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:13-14) In Lord of the rings Gandalf said, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." And time is short indeed.
One day we all will face our own 911. Oh, it probably won't be as dramatic and public, but it will come none the less. We only get one chance in this life. One chance to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the death. One chance to come to the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. The Way, the Truth and the Life. One chance because No One comes to the Father except through Jesus the Christ. There is one body and one Spirit.... one Lord, one faith, one baptism; (Eph 4)There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things.... and one Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 8)
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. ALL OTHER gods ARE IDOLS. 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6)and when you worship idols you partake of the table of demons.
There's a belief that when people, all people die, except the really bad ones who murder, fly planes into buildings, go to heaven. It's a justification by death. Jesus said something different. MUCH DIFFERENT! 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt 7) Are you one of the few. Have you been born again, born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1)
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling—
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading—
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing—
Shadows are gathering, death-beds are coming—
Coming for you and for me!
Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised—
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon—
Pardon for you and for me!
Have you repented , confessed and believed? Behold now is the day of salvation. For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For our God is a consuming fire.
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