Access Untold

A discussion with a friend today reminded me of a truth in a way I've never before considered.  Recently having been married to an officer in the Navy, he showed me his identification which allows him access to military bases, medical care, the commissary, and other areas restricted to military personnel.  He told me about what it's like to drive through the gate with the decal of an officer on the windshield.  "The guards really snap to attention," he said.  I had seen this before when I golf with my father-in-law, who retired from naval service as a chief warrant officer.  Like my friend, I was afforded privileges and access because of my affiliation with a man who earned those benefits through years of service.  The treatment of the driver of my father-in-law's vehicle and my truck without a decal is very different!

As great as it is to receive benefits on earth due to birth or marital status, how much greater are the blessings we receive when we join with Christ in faith.  When we repent and trust in Jesus as Savior and LORD, we are given something far more valuable than a military identification card, a sticker on the windshield, a salute, respect, or access to a golf course:  we obtain a glorious entrance into eternal rest where we will rule and reign with Jesus Christ.  My granddad on my dad's side died several years ago and was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Pt. Loma.  A Pearl Harbor survivor and salty sailor to the end, the playing of taps was accompanied with a three volley salute over his casket.  It was a very moving, sober, and filled with respect.  Yet as honorable as the military treated my granddad in death, I assure you a far greater blessing is an eternity of life in God's presence!  The honor afforded my granddad is hardly worth mentioning over the glory he was ushered into by God's grace in the heavenlies.

It is good to consider who Jesus is and what He has granted us by His mercy, grace, love, and faithfulness.  How we can easily say, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."  What a wonder it is that we can be partakers of Christ's heavenly glory though we are undeserving of any favor or benefit.  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Another beautiful aspect is we need not wait for heaven to enter into His holy presence, for He has granted the Holy Spirit to all who are born again through faith.  We have access into His throne room of grace and He intercedes on our behalf continually before the Father.  What a Savior!  What a KING!  Have you considered His goodness today?  Access to heaven and God!  What can compare with that?

Praise God for His faithfulness!

I have been working at Farwest Insulation for almost 10 months while waiting for a door to open for ministry in Australia on a full-time basis with my family.  In addition to saving money for moving expenses, working in the construction field has given me opportunities to share my faith with others.  I am very excited to report that one of my co-workers I have shared with prayed with my brother to receive Christ last week!  It is nothing that I have done, but God has answered the prayers of His people to save the lost.  Since I have started working at this shop our superintendent has made a decision for Christ and the LORD has begun a great work in him and his family.

God is amazing, doing more than we can imagine at all times.  He has redeemed and made fruitful the sowing of seed for His glory here when I would have chosen to be elsewhere.  This again proves the wisdom and providential hand of God.  God's care for the salvation of souls on every continent is great, and He allows us by His grace to make a difference wherever we are.  You need not travel a mile before you pass great needs in your own family and neighborhood.  Wherever you are and whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.  God's desire is that all would be saved.  May our lives be a force for God as His plan for our lives unfolds.  Instead of longing for the future to come, a loose quotation from "Kung Fu Panda" is appropriate to set our perspective right:  "Today is a gift from God - that is why it is called the present."  May every day be lived to the full for God's honor, glory, and praise for He is worthy.

Hung on Nothing

"There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord."

Proverbs 21:30

The Bible says "He who glories, let Him glory in the LORD" (1 Cor. 1:31).  It is no fault for a man to boast in the Living God.  We are shamed when we do not do so.  For a moment, consider the inestimable wisdom and knowledge of God.  Job says in Job 26:7, "He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing."  How God suspends the earth in the vacuum of space with a unique atmosphere which supports humans, animals, plant life, gasses, minerals, and elements all working together...it is too much for the mind to take in.  A man comes home from work and hangs his jacket on a hook - a jacket he could likely not sew together even if all the fabric was already woven for him and he had a month to practice!  A metal hook is employed which he could not cast, shape, or beat into a useful form even if all the tools were provided.  The jacket hangs because of gravity, a means devised by God to illustrate His perfection and unchanging glory in natural law.  Gravity itself screams, "Fall down before your Creator, mortal man!"

Man, though finite in wisdom, is seemingly infinite in foolishness.  He explains away the glory of God in nature and the testimony of our conscience through "natural process."  The worldwide secular erosion of belief in God, much less the Biblical view of Him, is more pronounced every day.  There is no "nature" without God and no absolute law; there is nothing solid, stable, or constant without Him.  Men wish to be their own god, yet they cannot hang their store-bought coats on nothing.  They may implement countless atheistic, hedonistic, and worldly philosophies of men and women in schools and universities.  People may rage against God with marches, editorials, speeches, and rallies.  But no matter how the world may rebel against God, He remains the same.  He wisdom is infinite, and His ways and thoughts past finding out.

God is real and His Word is true.  Even if  every copy of the Bible was burned it will not change the unalterable truth which it contains.  Rage against God if you dare, o man - but know you only add to your guilt.  Is not His wisdom beyond human understanding?  He gives man a choice:  salvation or damnation, faith or denial, submission or rebellion.  Man is allowed to take the path he chooses.  I have heard it said the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but it would be better said that it is paved with wicked intentions which seem good to a man.  Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."  Man cannot travel to the moon unassisted, nor can he dive to the bottom of the ocean - so what would possess him to think he can get to heaven on his own merit?  May we come to our senses!  There is no wisdom, understanding, or counsel against the LORD.  Repent and follow Jesus Christ, for He speaks the words of life.  His love, mercy, and goodness are from everlasting to everlasting.  The One who hung the earth on nothing can also walk on water.  Let's follow Him!

Where's my truck?

I've been working late the last couple nights.  Laura walked into the den this morning and said, "Where's your truck?"  I'm thinking it should be right where I left it.  It did not take me long to realize that my truck was indeed NOT where I left it.  Instead of my truck there were trash cans waiting to be picked up.  I called the police and reported my truck stolen.  While I was contacting the police department, I asked Laura to drive around our neighborhood to see if she could find it.  I just filled up with a full tank of gas and the odds were against us finding it.

With God, there are no such thing as odds.  Within five minutes Laura was calling me to say she had found the truck three blocks away.  The tool box looked intact (my chief concern!) and it looked like the interior had been rifled through.  After a policeman arrived to file a report and looked things over, nothing appears to have been stolen.  The thieves jammed something in the ignition but the doors look fine.  Amazingly, within three hours of reporting the truck stolen, it had been towed to a mechanic for repairs.  God willing I shall have my wheels and tools back for work tomorrow!  The policeman said I was very lucky, but I give God the credit.  He does things not for our convenience, but that He might receive the glory.

I suppose what I draw from this experience is God remains in control whether thieves break in and steal or if we dwell in relative safety.  Would God be a bad God if my truck had been cut stripped of parts, every tool stolen, and found two months from now in Mexico?  No.  God would still be the great, awesome, all-powerful, gracious, and loving God He has always been.  Though I don't know why, God has chosen to knit this experience in the fabric of my life on earth.  It's an opportunity to be tested and for God to prove Himself faithful again.  We can lose everything of monetary value on this earth but God still remains.  His love fails not, and His mercies are new every morning.  "Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him."