Tag Archives: heaven

Should We Sin More? June 22, 2020

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

What’s happening around the world reminds me of a situation Paul addressed when he wrote his letter to the church in Rome. As I watch the nation tire of the pandemic, people forget the disease has not been conquered. It is still as contagious and as dangerous as ever. The spread has not stopped.

Federal and state officials gave us some pretty drastic measures to slow the spread, and it worked while we implemented them. We stayed in our homes, and instead of the predicted hundred million infected, we stand at just over two million. Instead of more than a million dead, we are just over 115 million. But we tired of staying at home. We decided we didn’t want to wear masks or keep our distance.

The number of cases across the United States is showing our dislike of being told what to do. Some are saying the increase in numbers is the second wave of the pandemic. Unfortunately, it is not. It is our failure to do what would stop the disease from spreading. The second wave will not come until late fall, October or November, when the virus will again race through the world with another equally virulent strain, just like a flu season. We understand how coronaviruses operate. This virus is just a new one, more contagious, more deadly.

In our haste to get out of our homes, we forgot the rules about what keeps the disease at bay. It’s not that we can’t get out of our homes, but we have to do the things that keep us safe. Masks to stop asymptomatic carriers from spreading the virus to the vulnerable in our population who then take it home to the rest of the family.

Scientists estimate that 85% of those infected, now, are infected by another family member. That happens because someone carelessly goes out without thinking about risks to others and spreads the disease. The unmasked share the virus, and one of them takes it home to their family, and more than half of that family will end up in the hospital. Those are the current statistics.

So why does that careless transmission remind me of Paul’s letter to the Romans? Because there were some, who received God’s grace, his forgiveness, and thought they could just take advantage of it. Here is Paul’s answer to them.

What are we to say, then? Shall we continue in the state of sin, so that grace may increase? ²Certainly not! We died to sin; how can we still live in it? ³Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into the Messiah, Jesus, were baptized into his death? ⁴That means that we were buried with him, through baptism, into death, so that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead through the father’s glory, we too might behave with a new quality of life. ⁵For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.

⁶This is what we know: our old humanity was crucified with the Messiah, so that the bodily solidarity of sin might be abolished, and that we should no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷A person who has died, you see, has been declared free from all charges of sin.

⁸But if we died with the Messiah, we believe that we shall live with him. ⁹We know that the Messiah, having been raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has any authority over him. ¹⁰The death he died, you see, he died to sin, once and only once. But the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹In the same way you, too, must calculate yourselves as being dead to sin, and alive to God in the Messiah, Jesus. (Romans 5:1-11 NTE)

The more I read and study Jesus’ words, the more I understand his kingdom is already here. Jesus’ death and resurrection inaugurated the coming of the kingdom to earth. He is the king of the kingdom of God. God invites us into his kingdom as his children when we believe in Jesus as Messiah, the one sent by him to redeem us from our sins. When we ask for his forgiveness, his grace is abundant and he gives it freely, recreating us for his kingdom.

There will be more to this re-creation to come when he returns. Our physical bodies will be transformed into something we don’t yet understand. We will obtain a physical form like his resurrected form. One that you can see and touch, yet can appear behind locked doors and disappear without warning as Jesus did during those forty days after his resurrection. We don’t understand the physics of how that can happen, but if the early Christians willingly gave their lives for the story of the events, I expect we can believe in their authenticity.

To those who would say, “It’s just not possible.” I would retort, “Neither was flight 150 years ago. Neither was the thought of traveling to the moon 100 years ago. Dark matter was thought a ridiculous hypothesis when posited by Lord Kelvin in 1884. It almost ruined his career as a physicist. It did no better for Henri Poincaré in 1906 or Jacobus Kapteyn in 1922. And the hypothesis wasn’t taken seriously until the 1960’s and 1970’s when nothing else could explain some of the action of subatomic particles physicists saw in cyclotrons.

So what else don’t we know about the universe? For one, we don’t understand how creation happened. Let’s assume for argument’s sake there was a big bang. How did the big bang happen? Where did the material come from? Who compressed into a form that made it bang in the first place? Genesis doesn’t say how. It just says out of nothing, God spoke and there was light. We can find as many arguments as there are people as to how things evolved from there. But it seems few want to argue backward from the bang.

How will God re-create a new heaven and new earth? I don’t know. Will we all “go” to heaven. The more I read, the less I think we will. The more I read, I think heaven will “come” to earth. Remember Jesus’ message? The kingdom of heaven is near. God’s kingdom is near. This is what the kingdom of God is like. He tells us to pray, “Your [God’s] kingdom come, on earth…”

So what does that mean for us? I think it means we need to prepare for his coming when he will reign in his new kingdom here. Will he remake it and restore it? Yes. But maybe, just maybe those who follow him will be left to help re-create it into God’s original design for his kingdom. And what was that original design? Humanity caring for all of his creation – tending the animals; caring for the plants; helping each other; living in harmony with each other and with God; God walking in his kingdom with humanity.

I think it also means the more we mess up this place now, the more we will have to clean up when he comes. I’m not sure he will wave a magic wand and make everything go away. Could he do that? Sure. Will he do that? I’m not so sure about that. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” cannot be found in the Bible, but Solomon and Paul imply it. James almost tells us the same thing. It may be that 1,000-year reign Revelation talks about is the time it will take to put everything back the way it’s supposed to be.

So now that I’ve rattled your theology with some things to contemplate for the next week or month or lifetime, I invite you to read carefully Jesus’ words. Don’t just skim through them the way we usually do because they become so familiar to us, but really read them. I think you’ll find that nowhere does he say his followers will “go” to heaven or his kingdom, but rather the kingdom will “come here.” Think about what difference that makes in how you live day to day.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Permanent vacation?, April 23, 2018

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 31; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 204 through 210

Who doesn’t like vacations, right? Maybe your favorite place is sitting in a boat drowning worms to catch the biggest wide-mouth bass in the lake. Maybe you like to stand knee deep in that cold mountain stream with your favorite fly fishing gear. Maybe you just like to lay on the beach and listen to the waves crash against the sand and enjoy the warmth of the sun on your skin. Maybe you like to get to the mountains when the snow settles on the peaks and test your skills on those thin strips of fiberglass under your feet as you speed down the slopes between the trees. Perhaps your favorite vacation is just getting away from the telephone and email and curling up with a good book knowing you don’t have to face the boss or the constant stream of customers for the next few days.

Whatever your favorite vacation, most of them are for the same reasons. We want to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and live for just a little while in something of a paradise. We ponder what Eden must have been like and our mind and body push away from this polluted, entangled world and we experience that beautiful, peaceful, stress free time away from the norm of everyday existence we call a vacation.

The problem for us, vacation ends and we come back to that same old life. Bills to pay. Co-workers and customers we would like to avoid. The same health issues we ignored for just a moment while we enjoyed our vacation. The neighbor that moved in and you wish they hadn’t. That blissful time ends and we go back to life before vacation. And knowing the vacation is ending always makes vacation dim just a little, no matter how bright it is while we’re there. We always have that little snag in the back of our brain that says this Eden just won’t last, bud. It will all be over soon and you’ll be back in the same old grind. Enjoy it while you can.

But this week we read John’s Revelation on the Isle of Patmos. The risen Lord came to visit and remind John and us that he would return to take us home to live with him forever. John sees a lot of things in his time with the angels and Jesus on Patmos that we don’t understand. He didn’t understand it. Jesus told him to write down everything he saw and was told. And he said everyone who read it would be blessed. Not everyone who understood it would be blessed. And that’s a good thing because I don’t know anyone who fully understands John’s Revelation.

Once we stand in front of Jesus at the end of time, we will look back at each verse and we will say, “Oh, yeah! That’s what that means.” But until then, the book is clouded in mysticism and symbolism and vague references that we just can’t understand because we are not meant to know the time or the day of his coming. We are just to be ready for it. But the revelation also gives us some clues about that last movement of God’s word. Remember, we started in Genesis with God enjoying a face to face relationship with Adam and Eve. He walked in the Garden of Eden with his highest creation and talked with them. There was an intimacy in their relationship that was lost when Adam and Eve decided they knew better than God and launched out on their own path, disobeying his command to avoid that tree in the middle of the garden.

We saw in the second movement of God’s word how he raised a nation from Abraham to show us how to maintain relationships with each other in community and with him in worship. Israel is that nation. But they failed in the mission God gave Abraham to spread the news of that relationship and showing the other nations how to embrace him in as God.

So he came to earth in human flesh. God incarnate. Jesus. The third movement. The cross. He came to show us grace and truth in perfect harmony. He demonstrated through his perfect son, Jesus, how to live in harmony with the Father. He taught us to worship. He taught us to prayer. He gave himself as the perfect sacrifice so we can have life in him.

The fourth movement began in an upper room in Jerusalem at Pentecost. God returned in the form of his holy spirit to live not just among us, but in us. The movement of the church began. Those 120 who gathered in that upper room reached out to complete the task Jesus gave them as he ascended into heaven. Go. Make disciple. Teach them everything I taught you. Baptize them in names of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

We still live in the movement of the church. We still have the same task Jesus gave those gathered around him on that day he was seen rising in the clouds. We still have the command to Go. Make disciples. Teach what we have been taught about him. Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The task hasn’t changed. We’re still in the church movement expected to use the power of his spirit to do the work he told us to do.

But there is a final movement in God’s word. That revelation that is so hard to understand…except for the end of the story. Those last two chapters are pretty clear. We might not know what the new heaven and new earth will look like. We might not understand how a new Jerusalem can appear. We might not be able to comprehend how all of this golden streets and gates of pearl and unfathomable beauty can take place. But we can all agree that whatever John saw when he got a glimpse of heaven was beyond description.

There is coming a time and everyone who listens to God’s spirit knows the time, whether individually or collectively, is not far away, when we will be ushered into his presence. Those who believe in him will spend eternity in a place more beautiful that the most wonderful place you have ever been or imagined. We will live in a land without pain or sorrow or misery or evil or anger or any of those negative things that plague us on this side of the grave.

Everyone who believes in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins knows from those last two chapters in John that Jesus is coming back to sweep us away. Paul tells us it will be in the blink of an eye. He will suddenly appear. Time will be no more. It will all be over. We will be with him forever. How fast do you blink? That’s the speed in which his coming will happen. Will you have time to make things right when he comes? In the blink of an eye? Maybe a little preparation is in order.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Did you ever wonder where Jesus and the thief on the cross went when they died that day? Jesus said they were headed to paradise that day. Well then, what is paradise anyway?
Scripture
1. Luke 23:43
2. Jesus: I promise you that this very day you will be with Me in paradise.
Devotional
1. Have you thought much about Jesus’ comment to the thief hanging next to Him at Golgotha?
  1. Criminal
  2. Evil enough for crucifixion
  3. Cruelest form of execution
  4. Today join Jesus in paradise
2. Paradise
  1. Wikipedia – Paradise is the term for a place of timeless harmony. The Abrahamic faiths associate paradise with the Garden of Eden, that is, the perfect state of the world prior to the fall from grace, and the perfect state that will be restored in the World to Come. in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, a land of luxury and fulfillment.
  2. Is it heaven?
  3. Has the thief already faced judgment and entered into eternity with the triune Godhead around the throne?
  4. Does John’s Revelation and other eschatological writings agree with or refute what Jesus says to the thief?
3. Arguments by believers and non-believers alike
  1. Does everyone go here awaiting judgment or just believers?
  2. Is this like the lobby to heaven where you get the appetizers before dinner?
  3. If Jesus talks about a judgment day, then what is paradise? A place between death and heaven?
  4. Will good people, but non-believers stay here instead of hell?
  5. Is this the opposite of purgatory for those who earn a better place than the flames or eternal separation from God?
4. No one knows this side of heaven. We do know some things.
  1. Death is not the final victor, there is something after that – Jesus talks about that
  2. There is a heaven and hell – Jesus talks about both
  3. There will be a judgment day – Jesus talks about that
  4. We determine by our faith and actions now whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell – Jesus talks about that
5. What is paradise? We don’t really know this side of the curtain we call death. But for believers, whether we are ushered into an anteroom of heaven with Jesus awaiting the judgment that He called paradise when He talked to the thief, or whether we face judgment immediately, or whether time just stops and doesn’t matter anymore once we pace from this life to the next, does it really matter? As long as we are with Him, who cares? We don’t need to be concerned about what paradise is or when it is or what it looks like or if it’s part of heaven or not. Who cares? Just be ready when He comes and you’ll hear Him say, “this very day you will be with Me in paradise.”
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Which side of the glass are you on? (Luke 13:24-30) November 27, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 John 1-3

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 13:24-30
Jesus: Strive to enter through the narrow door now, because many people—hear Me on this—will try to enter later on and will not be able to. Imagine you want to enter someone’s home, but you wait until after the homeowner has shut the door. Then you stand outside and bang on the door, and you say, “Sir, please open the door for us!” But he will answer, “I don’t know where you’re from.”
Then you’ll say, “Just a minute. We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” But he’ll say, “Sorry, I have no idea where you’re from. Leave me, all of you evildoers.” Then you’ll see something that will make you cry and grind your teeth together—you’ll see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves will be on the outside looking in.
And then you’ll see people streaming in from east and west, from north and south, gathering around the table in the kingdom of God, but you’ll be on the outside looking in. That’s how it will be; some are last now who will be first then, and some are first now who will be last then.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

As these words came from the Master’s mouth those centuries ago, the people around Him would not have received them very well at all. These were radical, brutal, vicious words coming from Jesus’ mouth. Why would I think that? Look at the end of the message. “You’ll see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you will be on the outside looking in. [and oh, by the way,] all the people you call outsiders now, those living in the east and west and north and south, all those Gentiles, will be gathered around the table with God, but you’ll still be on the outside looking in.”

Those were fighting words to the crowd gathered around Jesus.

We talk about racism and bigotry in our country, but despite a few pockets of radical racism, our nation really is one of the most diverse and tolerant in the world, if not the most diverse and tolerant on this planet. We cry about intolerance and we bemoan the slavery that happened in the early part of our country’s history, but today, for the most part, our citizens view humans as humans, not by the color of their skin or their nationality or gender or religion. We are fairly tolerant.

If you don’t believe that, buy a ticket to some of our sister countries around the world and make a few observations. First, you’ll find that no other country has as lenient an immigration policy as ours. Second, you’ll discover that as a whole we are not racist. Yes, there are some racists. Yes, there are some bigots. Yes, there are some extremists in just about every community. But frankly, I think that makes up a relatively small percentage of our nation.

Third, most other countries do have an intolerance problem. Whatever group is in power has little tolerance for the other groups in the nation, whoever they might be or whatever agenda they might have. Few other nations around the world have peaceful transfers of power from one party to the next. Although, this year, I’m beginning to wonder if we can talk about our peaceful transition of power anymore. But other countries openly practice genocide. Human rights are rights only for those that look and act and think the way those do that hold the seats of power in the nation. Everyone else is considered less than human and give few if any rights.

And it was the same in Jesus’ day. Racism abounded. The Jews believed they were better than anyone else. And here Jesus was telling them that all these other people would be sitting at the banquet table in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their patriarchs, while that looked in with their mouths watering and their eyes bulging. How could this be? They were the chosen? What was this radical preaching that Jesus gave? How could God let outsiders into His kingdom and exclude His chosen people, those with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob’s blood flowing through their veins?

But then and now, entrance into the kingdom of God has never been about pedigree. God doesn’t care who gave birth to you. He doesn’t care about your lineage. Then and now, God doesn’t care what church you belong to. These were temple goers. They partook in all the right rituals. They brought their sacrifices and put money in the offering plates. They sang their songs and prayed their prayers. These were not bad people, but for God, these men and women had become the outsiders looking in.

Why? Because they failed to build a relationship with God. They failed to understand He gave His Son out of love for them. They failed to understand the very heart of the message God wanted them to share with the world. The message that the kingdom of God is near and all the commandments can be boiled down to two, love God and love your neighbor. Just do those two things. But in their selfishness, they couldn’t. They couldn’t give up their selfish desires.

So which side of the glass will you be on? Will you sit at the banquet table or be staring through the glass on the outside looking in? Only you and God know the answer to that question.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The wisdom of heaven (Luke 10:21-24) October 27, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ecclesiastes 1-2

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 10:21-24
Jesus: Thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Thank You for hiding Your mysteries from the wise and intellectual, instead revealing them to little children. Your ways are truly gracious. My Father has given Me everything. No one knows the full identity of the Son except the Father, and nobody knows the full identity of the Father except the Son, and the Son fully reveals the Father to whomever He wishes. (then almost in a whisper to the disciples) How blessed are your eyes to see what you see! Many prophets and kings dreamed of seeing what you see, but they never got a glimpse. They dreamed of hearing what you hear, but they never heard it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth saying again. Children and the elderly are too often, the throwaways in society, especially in ours. We have a tendency to think our parents don’t know anything. Because technology keeps advancing so quickly and each generation has so much technology at their fingertips, each successive generation begins to discard the older generations because they don’t use the latest game platforms or want to know information instead of looking it up on their smartphone – if they even have one. We forget Solomon’s words really are true, there is nothing new under the sun. Things come in different packaging, but because we haven’t changed in how we think, what we desire, how we relate to one another, there is really nothing new under heaven.

We would do well to listen to the wisdom of our elders and learn from their lessons so we don’t make the same mistakes they made. We could make it through like a lot better if we would pay attention to the simple rules our parents learned through their experiences and then applied them to our lives so we would succeed in some of the areas in which they failed. But because we too often believe our parents just don’t know anything, we end up making the same mistakes and we seem to never learn the life lessons that would help us if we would just pay attention and learn from them.

But what I really want to point out today is what we do with children. We could really learn a lot from them if we would. It isn’t until we start training them with our bad habits that they learn to distrust and hate and assume others are lesser or greater than they are. Just watch a room full of young children. They will usually play well together at a young age. Yes, they show tendencies of selfishness, they aren’t good at sharing their favorite toy and they often want their way. But it doesn’t take long for a group to figure out how to play together and none of the things that seem to bother adults get in the way of children.

Children don’t care about race. The color of a person’s skin doesn’t matter to them. They will ask questions of each other about why one is brown and one is tan and one is yellow, but they all play together without prejudice. To them, color of skin is about as important as color of hair. They just don’t care until we adults teach them something different.

They don’t care about socioeconomic status. How much money is in a banking account or what size house you live in or what kind of car they arrived in just doesn’t matter. They just see each other as someone to enjoy playing with on the playground. None of that material stuff matters to them. Until we adults teach them that stuff is important and they need to pay attention to it.

Physical therapists will tell you that if you moved like a child does when you bend or squat or lift things, the way they just do things naturally, you’d never be overweight and you’d never hurt yourself by lifting or moving the wrong way. But we learn bad habits early and move in ways our bodies were not intended to move and do things our bodies weren’t supposed to do. We can learn a lot from children.

If you listen to children, they will also tell you some pretty incredible things about God. They will tell you about His love and about trust and grace and forgiveness. They will show you many of His characteristics before we teach them how to cover up the better qualities He help them display as children. We can learn to laugh from them. We can learn to cry from children. We can learn to care about other people. We can even love them for no reason except they are people.

God hides His mysteries from the wise and intellectuals and reveals them to little children. Be careful that you don’t discard those children next door or down the street or in your house. God might be wanting to teach you His mysteries through them. If you think you are wise, you can bet He won’t entrust His wisdom to you. So keep your eyes on those kids out there. You might just learn something about the wisdom of the heaven from them.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

A miracle to behold (Luke 10:18-20) October 26, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 122-124

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 10:18-20
Jesus: I know. I saw Satan falling from above like a lightning bolt. I’ve given you true authority. You can smash vipers and scorpions under your feet. You can walk all over the power of the enemy. You can’t be harmed. But listen—that’s not the point. Don’t be elated that evil spirits leave when you say to leave. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We often talk a lot about the things we can do if we have God’s spirit living in us. He gives us His resurrection power to carry out the tasks He gives us. We can face incredible obstacles in accomplishing His will and they just seem to melt away because He is in the plan. We see the evidence of God at work when we carry out His will. It seems nothing can stop His work from going on to completion. The best Satan puts up in defense crumbles when God comes on the scene.

I’ve had the privilege of watching God at work on many occasions. I’ve watched Him melt hearts with sermons I thought were not so good, but He propelled them to someone’s heart to help them see His truth. I’ve watched Him heal in what could only be called miracles. I’ve watched Him change the financial situation of individuals and churches and organizations in ways that baffled financial wizards who said the financial resolution of that particular problem was impossible.

God can and does do the impossible sometimes and we can relish those times. We can point to those events and remember them as the stories in our own lives that point to God’s intervention and His power over this world and Satan’s attempts to frustrate us and keep us from Him. We use those times to remind us of His power and we can rejoice over the fact that He does give us the power to stay victorious as we journey on the path He lays out before us in this life.

But how often do you just stop and remember the good news that your sins have been forgiven? When is the last time that you just stopped and thanked God for His mercy and grace in placing your name in His book of life? Do you look for the miraculous and wonder where God is when you don’t see miracles happening around you? Can you just bask in the wonder of forgiveness?

We forget that the real miracle comes in God’s willingness to take us back despite our disobedience. We forget that God performed a huge miracle in wrapping Himself in human flesh and living among us for over 30 years. Can you imagine what it must have been like to give up heaven to live like us? But He did that so that we could be forgiven. Sometimes I think we take that so lightly. We look for the miraculous when it stares us in the face.

Because He came and lived with us, died for us, and rose from the dead, we can be forgiven. We can be assured He has power over sin and death and the grave. We can know that when He forgives our sins and casts them as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered against us again, our sins really are forgiven. He really does bring us into His kingdom as His children. He adopts us into His family and gives us so much more than we deserve.

We deserve death as the penalty for our disobedience. We deserve eternal separation from God since we acted as His enemies. But instead He gives us opportunities to find repentance and forgiveness. He gives us the opportunity to find acceptance in His love and grace. He lets us make the choice to worship Him and make Him our God and Lord of life. He give us the opportunity to right the wrongs we have committed against Him and He makes us new. He transforms us into the person He created us to be in the first place.

We can still marvel at the miracles He performs for us and around us. We can still be awed by the wonder we see in this world as we see His handiwork in creation and in His answers to prayer on our behalf. But spend some time thinking about the real miracle that takes place when His Spirit comes to us and convicts us of our sin and draws us to Him. Then the miracle that continues when we seek Him with a repentant heart and ask for His forgiveness. And the even greater miracle that comes when in His mercy He forgives us and wipes away our sins. And the incredible miracle that occurs when He writes our name in His book of life that allows us to know we will join Him in heaven through all eternity when this present age comes to a close.

What a God we serve, that He would allow us to join Him for eternity just for the asking. Now that is a miracle to behold.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.