Over the past few years and more recently this past week, I have been around families as they have made arrangements for the end of someone's life. There are things that are done far in advance relating to financial areas and deciding who will care for remaining children. There are wills, living wills, trusts, and legal transfers as well as dispersal of family heirlooms. So many things can be planned for and prepared for so that when that unknown time comes, we are ready to move toward the life to come.
Each time I am faced with this occurrence, I am always anxious to hear about the spiritual preparations that were made for the next life. It is the only question that really matters. Rust and decay will eventually consume everything else except our soul. How do we plan for the time our body no longer can remain joined with us? It is the ageless question? What happens next, Where will I go?
I believe that God exists. I trust that God exists. Because I trust that God exists, I act upon things in this world according to how I believe God wants me to act. My best way to know what that action is is that I read God's word, The Bible, and follow the guidance of God The Holy Spirit in my life. I spend every day drawing closer and closer to understanding and following God by the teachings of Jesus as well. Here is what I believe must be done to be prepared.
Romans 10:9--If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved
What does it mean to "believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead?" It means that you make decisions based on your understanding of what Jesus desires for you to do. You put yourself below Jesus. You are willing to give up your own plan to fulfill the plan God has for your life. Even if you are not successful in doing all of the right things, you have made a commitment to do it at the expense of your own goals. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified.
What does it mean to declare with your mouth "Jesus is Lord?" --- It means that you are willing to identify yourself as someone who has made Jesus the ruler of your life. You are willing to give up your own identity and become a "follower of Jesus." When someone asks why you are acting this way, you explain to them that it is not your own plan that you are following, but the plan of Jesus. It is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
As you commit to living this life, you begin to see God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit use you to reflect God's word in the world. Your faith grows as you experience God on a deeper and deeper and more visible level in your life.The Bible explains how to be saved in many places and using many similar explanations. The plan is simple, but takes a definite decision. When you are ready to decide to put this plan into effect in your life, pray and tell him that you want to declare "Jesus is Lord." Then trust Him as you live your life seeking to understand and enact His plan for your life. At that point, it is not you that lives, but Jesus living through you.
When the day comes and you are separated from your body, you will be immediately in the presence of the Lord because you are already a part of Him.
Be ready. Live Life.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Freedom, Religion and Life
My family has just returned from a long and enjoyable vacation. We traveled for 9 days to our nation's capitol. I have always wanted to see the monuments that have been created to commemorate the lives and ideas that helped found what I consider to be the greatest country every known. In the months leading up to this trip, there has been more and more news about the current representatives who are leading this country who seem to be unaware of the ideals upon which our country began. We began an effort to let people live by their own choices....liberty. Of course we have to come together to combat evil and selfish intentions for the protection of that liberty, but to the greatest extent possible, people should be able to live in a way that they choose.
The founding fathers' greatest achievement was a constitution that took into account the basic nature of mankind toward selfishness and greed and set protections to keep most of that from finding its way into the government. They did not trust that one person could decide what another person should do and then force them to do it. They learned that lesson from their lives under the British monarchy of the time. The operating procedures they put into place were there to help in certain areas where common problems arose in a free society. They did not decide to create a constitution where everything that people should do is spelled out for them, nor did they want to cause people to give up their own convictions. One lifestyle does not fit all. There are a few things, however that we must not eliminate, certain "inalienable" rights....life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They understood that God gave us certain standards that we should live by and that people could operate in a huge number of ways within that framework.
Knowing that religion is a personal matter and that it also affects the working together of a group, they made special considerations for it as a "problem area." Congress should not force anyone to participate in a religion. (Religion is a personal decision.) Congress should not hinder people from practicing their religion. (By hindering religious practice, you are actually forcing an opposite religious practice.) Religion is on its own and is an area where a wide and patient consideration for others is to be given.
There do arrive in our country's history times when we must address inconsistencies in the way our liberty and our interactions with others conflict. It arose over the question of slavery. It has arisen over the question of abortion. It will continue to come up as our country continues to work out the details of what is right and wrong. It seems that the question of slavery today is clearly understood. It is wrong to take away someone else's liberty. It is an inalienable right from God. I also believe it is wrong to take away someone's life. It is an inalienable right from God. In the 1860's some people said there is nothing wrong with slavery because those in slavery were not really people. We know today that that is incorrect. Today, some people say that there is nothing wrong with abortion because those being aborted are not really people. Don't we know that that is also incorrect? In the 1860's some people said that freeing slaves would be taking away the rights of slaveholders. Today some people say that outlawing abortion would be taking away the rights of pregnant women. Did slaveholders actually have the right to take ownership of someone else's life? Do pregnant women actually have the right to take ownership of another life? What will it take before we face this issue in a logical and moral way? It's time to not be hypocritical to our agreed-upon way of life. I don't think we see slavery today as a "religious" issue. I don't think we have to only see abortion that way either. This is a matter of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are the truths that we hold to be self-evident. It is time to once again restore freedom by restoring life.
The founding fathers' greatest achievement was a constitution that took into account the basic nature of mankind toward selfishness and greed and set protections to keep most of that from finding its way into the government. They did not trust that one person could decide what another person should do and then force them to do it. They learned that lesson from their lives under the British monarchy of the time. The operating procedures they put into place were there to help in certain areas where common problems arose in a free society. They did not decide to create a constitution where everything that people should do is spelled out for them, nor did they want to cause people to give up their own convictions. One lifestyle does not fit all. There are a few things, however that we must not eliminate, certain "inalienable" rights....life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They understood that God gave us certain standards that we should live by and that people could operate in a huge number of ways within that framework.
Knowing that religion is a personal matter and that it also affects the working together of a group, they made special considerations for it as a "problem area." Congress should not force anyone to participate in a religion. (Religion is a personal decision.) Congress should not hinder people from practicing their religion. (By hindering religious practice, you are actually forcing an opposite religious practice.) Religion is on its own and is an area where a wide and patient consideration for others is to be given.
There do arrive in our country's history times when we must address inconsistencies in the way our liberty and our interactions with others conflict. It arose over the question of slavery. It has arisen over the question of abortion. It will continue to come up as our country continues to work out the details of what is right and wrong. It seems that the question of slavery today is clearly understood. It is wrong to take away someone else's liberty. It is an inalienable right from God. I also believe it is wrong to take away someone's life. It is an inalienable right from God. In the 1860's some people said there is nothing wrong with slavery because those in slavery were not really people. We know today that that is incorrect. Today, some people say that there is nothing wrong with abortion because those being aborted are not really people. Don't we know that that is also incorrect? In the 1860's some people said that freeing slaves would be taking away the rights of slaveholders. Today some people say that outlawing abortion would be taking away the rights of pregnant women. Did slaveholders actually have the right to take ownership of someone else's life? Do pregnant women actually have the right to take ownership of another life? What will it take before we face this issue in a logical and moral way? It's time to not be hypocritical to our agreed-upon way of life. I don't think we see slavery today as a "religious" issue. I don't think we have to only see abortion that way either. This is a matter of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are the truths that we hold to be self-evident. It is time to once again restore freedom by restoring life.
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