A Letter of Faith.

Awhile ago, I posted something about not getting enough sleep and waking up startled. I don’t know if anyone has been praying for me, but ever since that post I have been sleeping deeply and feeling good when I wake up. So, thank you and thank God.

My sister has a girlfriend who has been diagnosed with incurable cancer. Her name is Heather and we all love her as part of our family. Heather is a believer in God, but she was overcome with so many feelings when the doctors gave her this news. A few days ago, I received a letter from her and she told me I could share it here.

“So, I’ve come to the conclusion that satan is attacking me. He is killing me with cancer. I have told him to do his best. It doesn’t matter what he does with this body, he will never get my soul. He is trying to get me to turn from God. He’s trying to get me to to get angry and question God. He is trying to get me to turn from God. It isn’t going to happen. I say let him do his worse. If I die, then I will be with God and my family who has died before me. My mom had 2 girls who died before I was born, so I will get to meet my sisters. I will get to see my great granny, my aunt Nell and my aunt Betty Jean again. Those 3 women were 3 women I loved more then anything. My cousin had an 11 month old son, Connor, who died. I helped raise him. I will get to see him again. That has made me pretty excited actually. If I don’t die, then God has won the battle because satan has lost his grip. Either way I win. What do you think about that?”

 

Love you,
Heather

 

I told her I think God and the angels are rejoicing. It is a wonderful thing for a person to accept God’s will in their lives and to keep on loving him no matter what happens. This is the path to peace and happiness. This is what Job, Joseph and Daniel did.

The Greatest People in Heaven.

Me, my brother, Kim and my sister, Chloe.

 This morning, I was reading through Matthew 18 and came upon the time Jesus told his friends who was the greatest in heaven. 

 

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

“He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

 

I looked up this verse on Bible Hub to see what commentators would say about it. I was really moved; one reason is probably that I adore little children. Another reason is the Presidential election in the U.S.  All the fighting, the name-calling, and the grasping for power is disheartening. I’m glad God’s kingdom is backwards and upside-down compared to our kingdoms here on earth.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

“Our Lord set a little child before them, solemnly assuring them, that unless they were converted and made like little children, they could not enter his kingdom. Children, when very young, do not desire authority, do not regard outward distinctions, are free from malice, are teachable, and willingly dependent on their parents.” 

 

I remember when I was 11 yrs. old, my mother drove the family from California up to Canada for a wedding. There were 6 of us in the car. Dad couldn’t come. We hit a blizzard in Montana and Mom couldn’t see the edges of the road. Everyone was scared except me. I trusted my mother implicitly; she drove us everywhere all through my childhood. She had never been in an accident. I just knew inside me we wouldn’t crash or go off the road down to who-knows-where. We didn’t crash – we came to a little town and spent the night. In the morning, we could see there was no steep precipice to plunge down; the ground was flat as a pancake so even if we had gone off the road we would have been fine.

 This is how I would like to trust God. Absolute calmness in any situation because I know him. I know how he leads and I know whatever happens, even if it seems bad, it will be good; good for me, and good for God.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

 “Except ye be converted,” does not imply, of necessity, that they (Jesus’ friends) were not Christians before, or had not been born again. It means that their opinions and feelings about the kingdom of the Messiah must be changed. They had supposed that he was to be a temporal prince. They expected he would reign as other kings did. They supposed he would have his great officers of state, as other monarchs had, and they were ambitiously inquiring who should hold the highest offices. Jesus told them that they were wrong in their views and expectations. No such things would take place. From these notions they must be turned, changed or converted, or they could have no part in his kingdom. These ideas did not fit at all the nature of his kingdom.”

 

“And become as little children – Children are, to a great extent, destitute of ambition, pride, and haughtiness They are characteristically humble and teachable. By requiring his disciples to be like them, he did not intend to express any opinion about the native moral character of children, but simply that in these respects they must become like them. They must lay aside their ambitious views and their pride, and be willing to occupy their proper station – a very lowly one.”

What Would You Think?

What would you think if I told you I keep a dog chained up in my basement? I feed him and keep him alive, but every day I go down and burn him with a hot poker. What would be your opinion on what kind of person I am?

Yet, most Christians believe God does that  to human beings in a place they call Hell.

I wonder how many atheists are atheists because of this doctrine?  Why would anyone want to worship or love a being who would do that to an animal, never mind people. But when I tell people I don’t believe in a hell like this, most Christians are deeply offended. As if this belief is a cherished one!

I was raised in a church that taught us death is a sleep until either Jesus resurrects us and takes us to heaven, or a sleep until Jesus raises us for the judgement and we will be told why we are lost. This is a teaching from the Bible I can live with and then love and admire God for his wisdom and mercy.

I have read the teaching of eternal torment in hell originated with the Greeks. Christians adopted it around 200 years after Jesus went back to heaven. Augustine taught this and it was incorporated into the Catholic Church. They later added Purgatory as a stop-off place to be purged of your sins. You could pray or buy your relatives out of purgatory.

So, that is the history of an eternal  hell of torment for the wicked. There are a very few verses in the Bible where people could get this teaching, but the vast majority of verses in the Bible about death call it a sleep or unconscious state.

And do those who love God go straight to heaven when they die? No, they also sleep. Jesus himself called death a sleep. Before he raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus said to his friends, “I go to wake him out of his sleep.” The disciples argued that if Lazarus was sleeping he would recover. But Jesus then said plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”  John 11.

Now, Jesus didn’t say, “Lazarus has died, gone to heaven, and I’m going to call him back from heaven.” No, because Lazarus wasn’t in heaven. The Bible says when Jesus died, many of the saints were raised. They went around Jerusalem telling the people about Jesus. The Bible doesn’t tell us who these people were; it just says they were raised from the dead. It doesn’t say they came back from heaven and walked around. “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” Matthew 27:52,53 Perhaps John the Baptist was in that group. People would have recognized him!
When Jairus’ daughter died, Jesus called it a sleep. “And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” Mark 5:39
“Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death…” Psalm 13:3
“You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.”  Psalm 90:5
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13,14
“He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.” 1 Thess. 5:10
God said, “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.” 2 Samuel 7:12
“Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death…” Psalm 13:3
“But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Jude 1:9

Moses was raised with his body. His “spirit” didn’t fly up to heaven. God raises the dead when he wants to and who he wants to. Moses was probably raised before many other people but most will be raised when Jesus comes back.
As for the word, “eternal” or “forever” in the Bible, it does not mean what we think it means. There are many sites that explain this. I’ve put one of them below. The “everlasting” fire of hell means, “until it is done.” If you google this topic you can read what other scholars say about it.
http://www.goodnewsaboutgod.com/studies/forever2.htm
Well, I could tackle the few verses that seem to say hell is a place of torment without end and what Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man meant, but I’d have to write a book. I’ll just add a few more verses and ask you to have an open mind and study this topic for yourself if you are interested.
“You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 4:3
“… he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Rev. 14:10
The wicked will be destroyed at the judgement day in front of God and the angels – not in some pit somewhere underground.
Speaking of his judgement on the nations, God says “It will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will be desolate; None will pass through it forever and ever.” Isaiah 34: 10
But the world will not burn forever – in our idea of what forever means, because God says in Revelation that one day this earth will be the home of the City of God – the Holy City will come down here from heaven. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the angels will live among us, therefore the world cannot be on fire forever.

 

Eternal Life.

If someone would have asked me what eternal life is; I would have told them it is living forever.

 

I heard a preacher say that was wrong. Jesus told us what eternal life was.

 

He said, “And this is eternal life, that they might know you (God the Father) and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”  John 17:3

 

The preacher said eternal life is not a time-span.

 

Eternal life is a person.

 

I was at a family dinner one time and one of my son-in-laws asked me, “Do you know God, Belle?”  I answered, “Yes.” Then he asked everyone at the table, my daughters and their children, “Does she know God?”  They said, “Yes.”

 

But, now I would say, “I know him in a small way. I am learning about him and knowing him better day by day.”  Because what I thought I knew about God has grown and expanded from the day I gave my life to him when I was nineteen. And I won’t fully know him until I am in heaven and can learn more and more of his love and goodness.

 

How can we know God? Read the Bible each day and tell God you want to know him. It’s that simple, but also hard because we must persevere and not give up.  ““You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:13

 

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24

 

“I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.”  Jeremiah 24:7

“And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”  Hebrews 8:11

“If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  John 14:7

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.”  john 10:14

“Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”  John 14:9

All Creation Groans.

I read an article in the New York Times today about the scientist  Peter Wohlleben. He wrote a best-selling book called, “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries From A Secret World.”

 

The book sounds wonderful and I decided to buy it. As I was reading, I remembered this verse from the Bible, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”  Romans 8:22

 

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“…It refers, as I suppose, to the whole animate creation; to all living beings; to the state of all created things here, as in a condition of pain and disorder, and groaning and death. Everything which we see; every creature which lives, is thus subjected to a state of servitude, pain, vanity, and death.” 

 

Groaning – Greek, Groans together. All is united in a condition of sorrow. The expression denotes mutual and universal grief. It is one wide and loud lamentation, in which a dying world unites; and in which it has united “until now.”

And travails in pain together – This expression properly denotes the extreme pain of parturition (giving birth). It also denotes any intense agony, or extreme suffering; and it means here that the condition of all things has been that of intense, united, and continued suffering; in other words, that we are in a world of misery and death. This has been united; all have partaken of it: it has been intense; all endure much: it has been unremitting; every age has experienced the repetition of the same thing.

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/8-22.htm

 

All creation has suffered because of sin. I’m sure the animals didn’t kill each other and eat each other. Trees didn’t die – nothing did. But when Adam and Eve sinned, all of creation was changed. The Bible says the wolf and the lamb were made to sleep together, but that isn’t the case now.

 

A few times, I’ve watched nature shows with my husband. We can see many of these shows because we have Netflix. But almost every time, I quit watching because I don’t like seeing animals kill each other. It is hard to find a movie that doesn’t have that featured. I’ve told my husband, “I love nature from a distance. As soon as you see it close up, it is sad. (Or creepy, I hate bugs.)

 

I’m looking forward to heaven where all people and animals will be at peace and full of love. (And hopefully, no bugs.)

 

“The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.”

Isaiah 11:6-9

 

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:3,4

 

“See, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

and its people a joy.

I will rejoice over Jerusalem

and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying

will be heard in it no more.

“Never again will there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not live out his years;

the one who dies at a hundred

will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reach a hundred

will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

No longer will they build houses and others live in them,

or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,

so will be the days of my people;

my chosen ones will long enjoy

the work of their hands.

They will not labor in vain,

nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,

they and their descendants with them.

Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

and dust will be the serpent’s food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,”

Isaiah 65:17-25