Prisoner Of Expectations

Rich Dixon, Author/Speaker
www.relentlessgrace.com

 

You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations. ~ Stevie Wonder

We waste a lot of time and energy trying to conform to the expectations of others. Our desire to meet someone else’s standards diminishes us in at least two ways.

“Their” expectations may direct us to actions that don’t add value to our lives. Sometimes I follow the crowd and act in a manner that contradicts my personal values, or fail to speak up in the face of wrong because of what “they” might say. Perhaps I scramble for excess material possessions because “they” expect a particular appearance.

Whatever form it takes, we waste precious moments whenever we do something because “they” expect it.

“Their” expectations may prevent us from reaching our potential. Society puts me in categories that tell me that certain goals are impossible. When I listen to “their” voices, I also accept their limitations.

This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17: 5-8)

When I try to meet the world’s expectations, I’m a prisoner sentenced to wander endlessly in a desert of subjective standards. I’m isolated from the source of strength and refreshment, searching madly for affirmation and approval. I’m doomed to constant, unquenchable thirst, always seeking but never finding true contentment.

When I trust God, I’m free. Rather than scrambling to meet “their” standards, I can rest by the stream, confident that He’ll meet my needs. By trusting the source of eternal truth instead of trying to hit the world’s arbitrary moving target, I can be assured that my efforts won’t be wasted. Nourished by the stream that never runs dry, I can know that I’ll produce the sort of fruit that will allow me to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

The world wants me to believe that I’ll never be good enough, that my past mistakes and failures imprison me in a barren wasteland of regret and guilt. By “their” standards, I’m destined to hopelessness, isolation, and despair.

That’s not God’s message. The same stream that nourishes and strengthens also washes away the past and offers a fresh, clean beginning. I can rest in His hands and trust Him.

I can be free.

What’s one of “their” expectations that keeps you isolated and trapped?

 Rich Dixon is an author and motivational speaker. His first book is Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance.

Learn more about the story of Relentless Grace at: www.relentlessgrace.com 

Imitate Jesus

Rich Dixon, Author/Speaker
www.relentlessgrace.com

 

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Do I strive to imitate Jesus? Do you?

I say His prayer, occasionally. I write about Him; I attempt to be aware of His presence; I try to ask myself, “What would Jesus do?” when I confront a difficult decision.

I do a lot of stuff that may outwardly appear as attempts to follow His teachings. But do I truly seek to imitate Him?

I harbor no illusions about my limited ability to live as Jesus lived. I can emulate Christ as a light bulb can emulate the sun. But I’m wondering this morning if I really even comprehend the radical nature of the call to imitate Him.

Jesus lived in the present. Because He totally trusted God to lead and provide for Him, He didn’t fuss about the source of His next meal. How many moments do I waste in assuring future security?

Jesus never tried to fit God into His plans. His single goal was to conform to God’s plans. How often do I determine an objective and then solicit God as an ally?

Jesus loved and served unconditionally. How many conditions do I impose on my love? How hesitant am I to serve sacrificially or in inconvenient circumstances?

Jesus refused to compromise eternal truth for worldly expediency. How often do I settle for short-term financial, political, or relational outcomes?

Jesus knew with perfect clarity who He was, where He came from, why He was here, and where He was going. I can’t approach His level of self-awareness, because for now I only “…see but a poor reflection as in a mirror.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Do I truly seek to imitate Jesus, even when His path appears to diverge from my own? Am I really prepared to serve sacrificially? Or have I adopted a Christianity of convenience that superimposes Jesus’ teaching on my pre-conceived plans and then ignores anything that doesn’t appear to fit?

What’s one aspect of your life in which you try to imitate Jesus?

Rich Dixon is an author and motivational speaker. His first book is Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance.

Learn more about the story of Relentless Grace at: www.relentlessgrace.com 

Rose Colored Glasses

Rich Dixon, Author/Speaker
www.relentlessgrace.com

You are what you think about all day long. Dr. Robert Schuller

Ten affirmations are required to balance one criticism.

I don’t know whether ten is exactly the right number, but we all know the principle. A lot of positive feedback is required to counterbalance a negative comment.

I think the same model applies to our thoughts. An entire day of exciting, energizing possibilities can be obscured by a single doubt. No matter how many signs encourage us to move forward with passion, one caution casts a shadow over an entire enterprise.

We cannot manage the words or actions of others. We’ll always encounter people who either intentionally or inadvertently rain on the parade. But we can control the direction of our thoughts and responses to circumstances and events.

SetFreeToday rests on God’s promise that we can choose a new beginning in Christ. God doesn’t want us to live in the mire of fear and regret, and He doesn’t want us enslaved by the chains of our own doubts.

I think our enemy understands this. He whispers constantly that we need to focus on problems. He tells us that life is tough and urges us to seek revenge and retribution. The enemy wants us to believe that we are responsible for others’ words and deeds. He desperately wants us to equate a positive attitude with an immature, “rose colored glasses” approach to life’s realities.

I’m not a Pollyanna. Difficulties are part of life. We can’t always simply ignore them, but they don’t have to become the center of our thoughts. We can choose to face challenges and then move on, refusing to allow them to dominate our attention.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4: 8-9)

Beauty and joy surround us. Generosity and good are abundant. We can contemplate the glory of a sunrise or we can turn our backs on splendor and worry about the clouds on the opposite horizon. One choice leads to anxiety about a future beyond our control. The other directs us to awareness of God’s majesty, to a sense of new beginning, to peace.

What’s a negative thought you’d like to move away from the center of your thoughts today?

Rich Dixon is an author and motivational speaker. His first book is Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance.

Learn more about the story of Relentless Grace at: www.relentlessgrace.com

Isaías 55:9

Kathi Macias, Author/Speaker
www.KathiMacias.com

 

“Como son más altos los cielos que la tierra,

Así son mis caminos más altos que vuestros caminos,

y mis pensamientos más que vuestros pensamientos dijo Jehová.”

(Isaías 55:9 RV)

 

 

Nosotros los seres humanos fuimos hechos en la imagen de Dios, no al revés, aunque nosotros a menudo nos olvidamos de esa gran verdad. Como resultado,  tenemos una vista sesgada de Dios, del mundo, de la vida, y de nosotros mismos. La única manera de corregirlo es poner a Dios en una perspectiva apropiada. Eso significa que no Lo podemos examinar bajo el microscopio de nuestro razonamiento finito, sino que  Lo debemos de percibir por el telescopio de Su Palabra.

Nuestro pastor ha estado enseñando sobre la soberanía de Dios, inclusive el hecho que por virtud de Su soberanía es que tenemos sólo una elección para vivir en la perspectiva apropiada como aquellos que son hechos en la imagen del Soberano—debemos adoptar una actitud de siervos. Porque vivimos en un país maravilloso que nos ha permitido  tomar parte en el gobierno, a nosotros a menudo se nos olvida  lo que significa vivir bajo regla soberana. Los que viven bajo un rey o un dictador o bajo alguna otra forma de liderazgo soberano comprenden mejor que nosotros. La diferencia es que nuestro Soberano  no es humano y por lo tanto no está limitado por capacidades humanas o manchado por el pecado humano. Pero nuestra llamada al servicio  es no menos real; más bien es aún más real, porque nuestra relación al Soberano del Universo es eterna, en vez que temporal.

Verdaderamente, Jesús dijo que Él ya no nos llama “siervos” a aquellos que Lo seguimos, sino que nos llama “amigos.”¡Y que gran privilegio es ese! Pero no anula el hecho que nosotros todavía debemos de andar en la sumisión y la obediencia al que ha numerado nuestros días y ordenado nuestros pasos.

Los Estados Unidos de América son una República, basada en reglas democráticas que nos permite decir cómo debemos de ser gobernados. Pero no es así en el Reino de Dios. Nosotros no votamos en leyes pendientes, no protestamos en las leyes que existen,  o elegimos a un nuevo gobernante. Dios está encargado, punto. Él siempre ha sido y siempre será, a pesar de cómo humanos puedan quejarse o puedan delirar, o puedan sacudir los puños al cielo, o negar Su existencia.

Dios está más allá de nuestra comprensión porque Él es perfecto y nosotros no lo  somos. Él está más allá de nuestra comprensión porque Él es omnisciente, omnipresente, y omnipotente; nosotros no lo somos. Él toma TODAS las decisiones, no solamente algunas de ellas, y Él no tiene necesidad de consultarnos antes o de disculparse si no nos gusta el resultado de lo que decidió.  Y Él no estuvo bajo ninguna obligación de enviar a Su Hijo a pagar por nuestros pecados para que podamos tener una vez más una relación con Él.

Pero así lo  hizo Él. Y ese es un aspecto asombroso de Su personalidad que es casi imposible de entender. Un Dios perfecto y todopoderoso, que no necesitó nada de nosotros y no nos debía nada, se humilló para entrar en nuestra presencia y revelarse a nosotros lo suficiente para que pudiéramos  comprender mejor a nuestro Creador, lo más que pudiéramos saber para reconocerlo  como Señor Soberano y darnos alegremente y de buena gana nuestras vidas para dedicarlas  a Su servicio. Y porque así lo  hizo Él, estamos sin excusa si no respondemos.

Un viejo episodio humorístico de Dennis La Amenaza  representa propensamente nuestra postura necesaria ante un Dios soberano, como muestra el pequeño niño que se arrodilla a la cabecera de su cama, con sombrero de vaquero puesto, un fusil plástico a su cintura mientras él dobla las manos en  súplica y dice, “estoy aquí para entregarme”.

Nosotros con nuestros sombreros torcidos de vaquero y fusiles plásticos podemos pensar que estamos encargados de nuestras vidas, pero es únicamente porque no hemos comprendido que somos nosotros los que hemos sido hechos en la imagen de Dios, no El en la nuestra. Tire ese microscopio que minimiza al Soberano del Universo a Uno que existe para servir nuestras necesidades, y comience a estudiar a Dios por el telescopio de las Escrituras. Yo le prometo que muy pronto su vista aumentada de Dios le dará el corazón de un sirvo que no desea nada más que cumplir el propósito para cual Él lo ha creado.

Grace Has Found Me

Rich Dixon, Author/Speaker
www.relentlessgrace.com

Grace has found me. Grace will lead me home. ~ Sarah Kelly

Sometimes I feel like a slow learner.

Do you ever feel like you just don’t quite grasp a concept? You read about it, talk, write, and pray about it, and you think you’ve got it all figured out, but then you look at your actions and thoughts and realize you just don’t really get it?

That’s how I feel right now about “grace.”

I’ve even written a book titled Relentless Grace, but I’m still not sure I truly have my mind around the notion of grace. I wonder if anyone does.

I listened recently as a wonderful singer, Sarah Kelly, offered her stylized version of “Amazing Grace” in worship. At one point in a quiet acoustic passage she sang, “Grace has found me. Grace will lead me home.”

Grace has found me. As she repeated the words, I suddenly realized that grace is much more than an abstract theological concept. I thought of these familiar passages from John 1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

He was in the world, and … the world did not recognize him.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Then later, Jesus proclaims, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14)

In that moment I understood a bit more fully that grace isn’t a thing or an idea. Grace IS Jesus, and Jesus IS grace.

I don’t receive grace like a wrapped gift—open the package and try it on, and now you’ve got grace. Grace doesn’t come to me like a spiritual pat on the head from God—here you go (tap-tap), now you’ve got grace.

Grace is a person who lives in my heart each moment. Grace comes to me in a personal, intimate relationship with Christ. I can’t talk and write and think my way to grace any more than I can talk and think and write my way to friendship. It’s a relationship thing.

And the amazing part of grace is that I don’t have to seek it or earn it. It’s a gift, freely given. I accept Jesus, I get grace. I think that’s what Sarah means when she sings, “Grace has found me.” We don’t find Jesus; He finds us, and He’ll never stop reaching out Him hands in love and grace.

Grace has found me.

Once you get the significance of that line, you can truly rest in the next one:

Grace will lead me home.

Do you struggle to live in the assurance that grace has found you and will lead you home?

Rich Dixon is an author and motivational speaker. His first book is Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance.

Learn more about the story of Relentless Grace at: www.relentlessgrace.com

Study God Through the Telescope of the Scriptures

Kathi Macias, Author/Speaker
www.KathiMacias.com

  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

            We humans were made in God’s image, not the other way around, though we often forget that great truth. As a result, we have a skewed view of God, of the world, of life, and of ourselves. The only way to make it right is to put God back in proper perspective. That means we can no longer examine Him under the microscope of our finite reasoning, but rather behold Him through the telescope of His Word.

            Our pastor has been teaching on God’s sovereignty, including the fact that by virtue of His sovereignty we have only one choice if we are to live in proper perspective as those made in the Sovereign’s image—we must adopt a servant attitude. Because we live in a wonderful country that has allowed us to participate in government, we often lack the understanding of what it means to live under sovereign rule. Those who live under a king or dictator or some other form of sovereign leadership understand much better than we. The difference is that our Sovereign is not human and therefore not limited by human abilities or tainted by human sin. But our call to servanthood is no less a reality; rather, it is more so, as our relationship to the Sovereign of the Universe is eternal, rather than temporal.

            True, Jesus said that He no longer calls those of us who follow Him “servants” but “friends.” And what a great privilege that is! But it does not negate the fact that we are still to walk in submission and obedience to the One who has numbered our days and ordered our steps.

            America is a Republic, based on democratic rule that allows us a say in how we are governed. Not so in the Kingdom of God. We don’t get to vote on pending laws, protest existing ones, or elect a new ruler. God is in charge, period. He always has been and always will be, regardless of how humans may rant or rave, shake fists at heaven, or deny His existence.

            God is beyond our understanding because He is perfect and we are not. He is beyond our comprehension because He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent; we are not. He calls ALL the shots, not just some of them, and He has no need to consult us before He does so or apologize if we don’t like the outcome. And He was under no obligation to send His Son to pay for our sins so that we could once again have relationship with Him.

            But He did. And that is the most stunning aspect of His personality to fathom. A perfect, all-powerful God, who needed nothing from us and owed us nothing, humbled Himself to come into our presence and reveal to us as much as we were able to understand about our Creator, as much as we needed to know to acknowledge Him as Sovereign Lord and willingly and joyfully give our lives over to His service. And because He did so, we are without excuse if we do not respond.

            An old Dennis the Menace cartoon so aptly depicts our necessary stance before a sovereign God, as it shows the little guy kneeling at his bedside, cowboy hat askew and plastic gun still holstered around his waist as he folds his hands in supplication and says, “I’m here to turn myself in.”

            We with our crooked cowboy hats and plastic guns may think we’re in charge of our lives, but it is only because we have not understood that it is we who are made in the image of God, not He in ours. Throw away that microscope that minimizes the Sovereign of the Universe to One who exists to serve our needs, and start studying God through the telescope of the Scriptures. I promise you that very soon your magnified view of God will give you a servant’s heart that wants nothing more than to fulfill the purpose for which He has created you.

We Shall Overcome: Embracing an Attitude of Bravery

Jan Coates, President/Founder, Set Free Today, www.setfreetoday.com
International Speaker/Author, www.JanCoates.com

Helen Keller once said: “The world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming it.”

Perspective plays a role in how we view our current physical, emotional, spiritual, and attitudinal situations. Is the sum total a barrier or an opportunity? Like a kaleidoscope, we can tweak the patterns of what we see, what we feel, how we respond via our perspective.

For Helen Keller she chose to see the human situation of suffering and seized every opportunity to overcome suffering. When we stop and think about it, overcoming is a lifetime decision. We can either wrap ourselves in a cloak of suffering to insure our self pity and woe is communicated clearly and heard by the masses, seeking sympathy with “poor me. No one knows the trouble I bear.” Or we can embrace an attitude of bravery in Christ—overcoming the suffering.

There are many tough, life-impacting decisions in our lives, but choosing to wallow in the mire of our pain and be satisfied with a life of self pity just doesn’t seem like a healthy life decision. In fact, that’s not why God created us.

First and foremost, God created us to have a personal loving relationship with Him. Hmmm. Based on my personal research, Bible study, and life experiences, this means a two-way relationship, including a:

A relationship with God

-Freely invite God into every aspect of your life.

No sloughing off here, because God wants every part of you in this relationship. Your mind, soul, spirit, body, and heart. Don’t hold back, or you’ll end up back at that pity party, and we don’t want that do we?

John 10:3-5 gives a relationship view for us to strive for:

He calls His own sheep by name

-Relationship with name recognition.

 

His sheep hear His voice and come to Him

-Relationship built on trust.

 

Follow me

-Relationship based on divine exemplary leadership.

-In order to follow without stumbling, imitate Jesus’ attitudes on earth, especially the attitude of placing others first.

-Imitate our Leader’s behavior, attitude, actions, and deeds

-Jesus sees good in His children and you should too.

-Jesus is gentle, kind, loving, compassionate, and extends grace to all. Follow your Leader.

Relationship of Adoration and Respect-Praise the Lord for all He is doing and will continue to do in your life.
-Sing praises.

-Pray for you and OTHERS.

-Grab your Bible and commune with God.

 Like Helen Keller, our many biblical ancestors, and everyday people who know the joy associated with overcoming, let’s follow God’s directives. As our personal relationship with the Lord grows, so will our desire and ability to overcome and live a victorious life.

For now, this should provide you with good, growth-filled, food to chew on that can help you learn to live in truth and freedom.

 

 

Who’s The Enemy?

Rich Dixon, Author/Speaker
www.relentlessgrace.com

 

A community is a group of people united through a common struggle with the same stories.

Chris Guillebeau wrote an insightful article called What Makes A Community? I encourage you to read Chris’ thoughts through the lens of a Christian community.

Chris asserts:  “…a community needs friends AND enemies …You need a villain, a bad guy. The bad guy can be a person, group, idea, or belief … having a defined enemy increases the strength of the community.”

I initially reacted pretty negatively to this notion. I didn’t like the “us versus them” mentalitt or the assertion that a community “needs” an enemy. But I think we can learn a lot about Christian communities by analyzing this idea.

First, I’m not certain whether or not a community “needs” an enemy. This may be an interesting philosophical question but in the real world I don’t think it matters. I suspect that every worthwhile community has natural enemies, so whether they’re a required element is sort of irrelevant.

For Christians, I think the nature and identity of the enemy is a more essential discussion. Christians waste enormous amounts of time and energy, and alienate countless millions of people, by inventing false enemies and battling them. Preachers rally the troops against all sorts of ideas, behaviors, groups, or individuals. We close ranks to defend ourselves from these imagined invaders, clearly identifying “us” as the good guys and “them” as the bad guys deserving judgment, contempt, and exclusion.

That’s a wonderful strategy if your goal is strengthening the walls of the existing community, increasing a sense of internal unity by building fortifications against the evil outsiders. Nothing brings people together like a perceived threat, and it doesn’t much matter whether the threat is real or imagined. We can love the bad guys, but we must label them and keep them “out there” at all costs. Any weakness in our defenses will allow them to infiltrate, and then their badness will rub off on us.

There’s only one small problem with this approach—it’s precisely what Jesus instructed us NOT to do.

The church has one primary purpose—to bring the outsiders in. Everything we do should be designed to weaken the walls and break the barriers. “They” are not our enemy, and they only threaten us if we give them the power to do so.

An old friend used to observe that the church is a hospital, not a hall of fame, and a hospital’s frequently a stinky, unpleasant place because it keeps admitting all of those sick folks. But a hospital that refuses entry to those who need it most isn’t doing what it’s designed to do.

The church DOES have a real enemy, but it’s not unacceptable behaviors or divergent ideas. And it’s certainly not the outsiders, the “bad” people we so often exclude with our words and attitudes. The church’s true enemy is a crafty, evil one who uses our tendency to isolate ourselves against us. The true enemy fosters hate and mistrust to isolate us from those who need to hear about Christ.

If we represent the church as a circle, the central goal is to bring people into the circle and make it larger. The enemy gladly hands us the bricks with which to build walls around the circle, bricks constructed of judgment and divisiveness. The enemy whispers that we ought to condemn those with whom we disagree politically and separate ourselves from people who behave in ways of which we disapprove.

I imagine that our true enemy’s greatest fear is that we will actually take Jesus’ words seriously:

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6: 27-31)

Love tears down the walls between good guys and bad. It’s a poor way to build a fortified community that’s safe from intruders. It’s the only way to build Christ’s church.

Who tends to look like an enemy to you?

Rich Dixon is an author and motivational speaker. His first book is Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance.

Learn more about the story of Relentless Grace at: www.relentlessgrace.com

Filipenses 1:21

Kathi Macias, Author/Speaker
www.KathiMacias.com

 

 

“Porque para mí vivir es Cristo, y el morir es ganancia.”

(Filipenses 1:21 RV)

 

Le dije adiós a Brian ayer, aunque nunca tuve la oportunidad de decirle hola.  Pero eso está bien porque Brian era Cristiano y yo también, así es que yo sé que algún día muy pronto lo podré saludar. 

Brian tenía treinta y tres años, la misma edad de Jesús cuando Él murió en la cruz. Brian creció en la fe cristiana pero, como muchos jóvenes, se apartó por un tiempo. Hace unos pocos años, sin embargo, Dios le dio a Brian una “cita divina” a través de un peluquero cristiano quien lo dirigió de regreso a su rebanó.  Como resultado, el servicio conmemorativo de Brian fue la celebración de un joven cuyo corazón perteneció al Señor y que se había ido adelante de nosotros para estar con Él—otro tesoro más en el cielo, aguardando nuestra llegada.

Como amiga y colega de la madre de Brian, Yvonne, yo asistí al servicio para su precioso hijo, como hicieron varios otros amigos escritores/oradores, para apoyar a nuestra estimada hermana en su pérdida. Y aunque diciendo un temporal adiós a su amado y único hijo fue indudablemente una de pruebas más duras y difíciles que Yvonne   jamás había tenido o jamás aguantaría, y ella lo hizo todo con gracia y fe, hasta el grado  de darle un elogio poderoso a Brian, el cual terminó levantando la mano para señalar al cielo mientras declaraba  la verdad de Filipenses 1:21: “Para a mí el vivir es Cristo, y el morir es ganancia”. Entonces ella agregó, “Brian ha ganado”.

¡Cuán verdadero que es esto! Aunque apenados por la pérdida de nuestros seres queridos, nosotros como creyentes no sufrimos como los que no tienen esperanza, porque  sabemos que nosotros otra vez volveremos a ver a  los que se han muerto en la fe, aún cuando nosotros continuamos viviendo en fe. Por eso, aunque yo nunca tuve el privilegio de conocer a Brian en esta tierra, yo sé que algún día lo saludaré en cielo, porque compartimos la misma fe, el mismo Padre, el mismo Salvador. Y en verdad, no hay ningún otro.

Porque justa y seguramente como los que hemos recibido a Jesucristo como Salvador estamos asegurados de una casa eterna en la presencia de Dios el Padre, los que han rechazado a Cristo están asegurados a una separación eterna de Él—a menos que ellos se arrepientan antes que ellos respiren su último suspiro. Si usted vive para Cristo, entonces usted está en una situación en que todos ganan: Sirviéndole a Él aquí, o “graduándose”  al cielo para estar con Él para siempre. Pero si usted no lo sirve/adora a Él aquí en la tierra,  usted está en una situación de perder-perder, y sólo humillando el corazón ante Dios y recibiendo Su perdón puede hacer la diferencia.

No espere, amado mío. Brian sólo tenía treinta y tres años de edad cuando Dios lo llamó a casa. A nosotros no se nos promete el mañana—sólo hoy, y la Biblia dice “es el día de salvación”. Arréglelo todo en su propio corazón/vida, y entonces comprométase a orar por otros que necesitan  hacer lo mismo.

Today is the Day of Salvation

Kathi Macias, Author/Speaker
www.KathiMacias.com

 

 

 

 

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21).

 

I said goodbye to Brian yesterday, even though I’d never had the opportunity to say hello to him. But that’s all right because Brian was a Christian and so am I, so I know I’ll have the chance to greet him one day soon.

Brian was thirty-three years old, the same age as Jesus when He died on the cross. Brian was raised in the Christian faith but, like many young people, walked away for a while. A few years ago, however, God gave Brian a “divine appointment” via a Christian hairdresser who led him back into the fold. As a result, Brian’s memorial service was the celebration of a young man whose heart belonged to the Lord and who had gone on ahead of us to be with Him—one more treasure in heaven, awaiting our arrival.

As a friend and colleague of Brian’s mother, Yvonne, I attended the service for her precious son, as did several other writer/speaker friends, to support our dear sister in her loss. And though saying a temporary goodbye to her beloved only child was undoubtedly one of the most difficult ordeals Yvonne has ever or will ever endure, she did so with such grace and faith, to the point of delivering a powerful eulogy to Brian, which she ended by lifting her hand to point heavenward as she declared the truth of Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Then she added, “Brian has gained.”

How true that is! Though we grieve the loss of loved ones, we don’t as believers grieve as those who have no hope, for we know that we will again see those who have died in the faith, even as we continue to live in it. That’s why, though I never had the privilege of meeting Brian on this earth, I know I will one day say “hello” to him in heaven, for we share the same faith, the same Father, the same Savior. And in truth, there is no other.

For just as surely as those of us who have received Jesus Christ as Savior are assured an eternal home in the presence of God the Father, those who have rejected Christ are assured eternal separation from Him—unless they repent before they breathe their last. If you are living for Christ, then you’re in a win-win situation: serving Him here, or “graduating” to heaven to be with Him forever. But if you are not serving/loving Him here, you’re in a lose-lose situation, and only humbling your heart before Him and receiving His forgiveness can ever make the difference.

Don’t wait, beloved. Brian was only thirty-three years old when God called him home. We are not promised tomorrow—only today, which the Bible says “is the day of salvation.” Make it right in your own heart/life, and then commit yourself to praying for others who need to do the same.