Post by Hutson Lindner on Jan 6, 2013 8:11:39 GMT -6
DAY SIX: LIFE IS A TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT
Psalm 39:4 → “Lord remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that our days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.”
• First thoughts on this verse:
o Sad, morbid
o Life is coming to an end
o Focus on death vs. life
• While we seem to try to live well and find happiness or joy for the here and now
• This world is all we know
• It is foreign to think of the eternal as we have no such experience
• It has to be taken on faith
• The evidence of the “unseen”
• We are prone to reason along the lines of:
o “believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear”.
• Life vs. eternity: is like
o One grain of sand vs. an entire beach
o We say in math that infinity is “undefined”
• We cannot grasp the immensity of such concepts
• 1 Cor. 2:9→ “no mere man has ever seen, heard or imagined what wonderful things God has ready for those who love the Lord”.
• We are given glimpses of eternity in the Word.
o Yet we are asked to put our concentration on such notions
o We cannot do this in our own power, we must depend upon God to help us “see” the unseen.
• Psalm 39:4→ “Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be. Help me to know that I am here but a moment more”.
• Metaphor = life on earth is like living in a foreign country
o We are aliens, pilgrims, strangers
• “do you ever feel that way” !?
• like you don’t belong here
• there must be more than this
• do you ever feel un-fulfilled, empty, longing for something better and lasting
• do you ever feel unaccepted and confused by what you see in this world?
o If so: “good news” = you are right
• We don’t belong here
• We were made to walk in a garden in the loving presence of our Almighty God.
• Feeling His overwhelming sense of unconditional love and peace
• Sense of purpose; on a winning team
• Not just getting by, not just barely coping to keep our heads above water
• Not daily watching evil seem to prevail over good.
• Seeking our identity from the things and rewards of this world is “flirting” with Satan and His lies
o Spiritual adultery
o James 4:4 → “You are cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God.”
o We are called to be Ambassadors of Christ
• Representatives of His Kingdom here in a foreign land
• Not conforming to the ways of this land
• YET WE ARE ASKED TO “WALK HERE”, LIVE HERE, WORK HERE, COMMUNICATE HERE
• WE ARE ASKED TO BE IN THIS WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT.
• We cannot “represent” eternal perspective, values, ethos, if we become “like this world”.
o Would cease to be an ambassador and become a traitor
• 1 Peter2:11 → “Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul”
• 1 Cor. 7:31 → “the things of this world will pass away..’
• Such an assignment cannot be done IN OUR OWN POWER.
o WE must depend upon the Lord to keep our hearts and minds fixed on the “author and perfecter” of our faith; while we run the race, marked out for us
o Hebrews 12:1-2:
• “therefore since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith……
• keep your focus on the goal
• draw strength from those who have gone before you (cloud of saints)
• do not be distracted by the “small stuff” that wants to trip, prevent, slow us on this race.
• The reason we often experience sorrow, suffering, rejection in this world
o This is not our home
o We should therefore expect such difficulties rather than be surprised
o When prayers seem unanswered: things are not finished here; we are not at the end of the story
• FATAL MISTAKE:
o To assume God’s goal for our life here is abundant material life, possessions, status
• These are temporary crowns:
• “all glory is fleeting” → Patton Movie
o Latin: “Sic transit Gloria mundi” = Thus passes the glory of the world”.
Summary Points from day 6:
2 Cor. 4:18 --> “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Question: How should the fact that this life is temporary change the way I am living right now?
Psalm 39:4 → “Lord remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that our days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.”
• First thoughts on this verse:
o Sad, morbid
o Life is coming to an end
o Focus on death vs. life
• While we seem to try to live well and find happiness or joy for the here and now
• This world is all we know
• It is foreign to think of the eternal as we have no such experience
• It has to be taken on faith
• The evidence of the “unseen”
• We are prone to reason along the lines of:
o “believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear”.
• Life vs. eternity: is like
o One grain of sand vs. an entire beach
o We say in math that infinity is “undefined”
• We cannot grasp the immensity of such concepts
• 1 Cor. 2:9→ “no mere man has ever seen, heard or imagined what wonderful things God has ready for those who love the Lord”.
• We are given glimpses of eternity in the Word.
o Yet we are asked to put our concentration on such notions
o We cannot do this in our own power, we must depend upon God to help us “see” the unseen.
• Psalm 39:4→ “Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be. Help me to know that I am here but a moment more”.
• Metaphor = life on earth is like living in a foreign country
o We are aliens, pilgrims, strangers
• “do you ever feel that way” !?
• like you don’t belong here
• there must be more than this
• do you ever feel un-fulfilled, empty, longing for something better and lasting
• do you ever feel unaccepted and confused by what you see in this world?
o If so: “good news” = you are right
• We don’t belong here
• We were made to walk in a garden in the loving presence of our Almighty God.
• Feeling His overwhelming sense of unconditional love and peace
• Sense of purpose; on a winning team
• Not just getting by, not just barely coping to keep our heads above water
• Not daily watching evil seem to prevail over good.
• Seeking our identity from the things and rewards of this world is “flirting” with Satan and His lies
o Spiritual adultery
o James 4:4 → “You are cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God.”
o We are called to be Ambassadors of Christ
• Representatives of His Kingdom here in a foreign land
• Not conforming to the ways of this land
• YET WE ARE ASKED TO “WALK HERE”, LIVE HERE, WORK HERE, COMMUNICATE HERE
• WE ARE ASKED TO BE IN THIS WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT.
• We cannot “represent” eternal perspective, values, ethos, if we become “like this world”.
o Would cease to be an ambassador and become a traitor
• 1 Peter2:11 → “Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul”
• 1 Cor. 7:31 → “the things of this world will pass away..’
• Such an assignment cannot be done IN OUR OWN POWER.
o WE must depend upon the Lord to keep our hearts and minds fixed on the “author and perfecter” of our faith; while we run the race, marked out for us
o Hebrews 12:1-2:
• “therefore since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith……
• keep your focus on the goal
• draw strength from those who have gone before you (cloud of saints)
• do not be distracted by the “small stuff” that wants to trip, prevent, slow us on this race.
• The reason we often experience sorrow, suffering, rejection in this world
o This is not our home
o We should therefore expect such difficulties rather than be surprised
o When prayers seem unanswered: things are not finished here; we are not at the end of the story
• FATAL MISTAKE:
o To assume God’s goal for our life here is abundant material life, possessions, status
• These are temporary crowns:
• “all glory is fleeting” → Patton Movie
o Latin: “Sic transit Gloria mundi” = Thus passes the glory of the world”.
Summary Points from day 6:
2 Cor. 4:18 --> “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Question: How should the fact that this life is temporary change the way I am living right now?
