Time

Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Time

I’ve been thinking a lot about death this week. Who can blame me after you read my previous posts. I’ve realized something I’ve never given much thought to and that was life support. I informed my husband and son that if I’m ever on a machine to keep me alive, to please oh please pull the plug!

I personally think that people on machines are left there for selfish reasons. The family is holding out hope that the person they have loved for so many years will come back to them whole. My dad didn’t want his defibrillator removed because he said it was God’s decision when he goes. And my peace comes from knowing that it was God not man/doctor/sister/brother that took my father when it was his time to leave this earthly shell.

Time, it’s all about time.

Ecc. 3:1-8 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

My sister had said something to me recently, “You CHOSE to be where you are.” What she might not understand (or maybe she does) is that it wasn’t a CHOICE it was TIME! It was my time to heal. My time to get and my time to lose, my time to LOVE and my time to have PEACE!

While my family was back home struggling with the burial necessities, bickering and tugs of war that are a natural part of my family, I sat here out in the middle of nowhere left to mourn on my own. This is NOT the time for dissension; this is the time to pull together! I have been writing this all not for myself, but to share with others who might ever go through this. It is not a morbid fascination for me; it is my way of mourning and grieving.

It’s not really a bickering back home going on, it is more of maybe misinformation? Miscommunication? My dad wanted one thing, my mother wants another thing, and siblings, they want what THEY want. Me? I’m just sitting here 1400 miles away from them and literally out in the middle of nowhere with no way of getting back home. It’s just not meant to happen that way and I accept that with no guilt or remorse.

Let me just say for all of you who WILL have someone die on them sometime in your life and it WILL be up to you to get the tedious things out of the way.

One: Cremation or burial?

These are facts that NEED to be known! A cremation is cheaper than a burial as the burial can cost up to 10 grand! With limited funds, money will play a big part of your decision; unless of course you have a great life insurance policy that will pay for everything.

Two:  Know who is in charge.

You may want one person to be in charge but someone else might come in and take over your burial. KNOW who is in charge!

Example: My mother is of sound mind so she should be the one in charge of what happens to my dad. My mother wants his ashes in an urn and a keepsake necklace for her. She wants him with HER!

Three: Make a list... of special material things and where you want them to go and to whom.

Four: A Living Will: Keep in mind that after you’re dead, none of these wishes are bound by a law or have to be met, so be reasonable and understanding and let the one in charge know you understand that all of your wishes might get tossed in the wind but let them KNOW. Get a notarized will if you want your wishes bound by the law. Still not guaranteed.

Knowledge: It is hard on a family to make decisions based on knowing nothing!

Reasoning: During the grieving process, emotions are at an all time high. One person will want one thing, another a different thing but only ONE thing can be done so there is bound to be the clashes of wants. I see ego and pride standing tall, while loneliness sits her peaceful self in the corner facing the wall wanting it all to go away.

It all boils down to one thing and that is TIME! It eventually runs out and the choices are left up to those left behind to do what they will to make peace with themselves. You might THINK you have TIME to get these things in order but know you very well might NOT have time.

I’m thanking my lucky stars that God saw to it that I was placed out here in the middle of nowhere to spare me all the dramatics going on back home. Because when you think about it, it’s not all about love, love, LOVE as it should be it’s all about TIME!

The time we laughed

The time we cried, the time we lived

And the time we… died.

Rom. 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Balance

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Where does balance come from in the Christian life? One doesn’t seek it, nor buy it, and one can’t find it through all the knowledge you put into your system. Balance is achieved. Notice the wheel, how well balanced it is? When there is no balance, the wheel will not roll!

Balance is achieved by having a goal and reaching it, like climbing to the highest mountaintop and looking out at all the glory, you have achieved a goal. Balance is holding onto that goal once it is achieved.

The lack of balance in a Christian’s life will certainly cause a bit of trouble; sleepless nights, worry, stress. When you achieve a balance of all that God has shown you there is only one outcome and that is of pleasurable peace.

Pastor Tim talked about the intellectual Christian. That to ME, is the type of Christian who builds his strength and faith on KNOWLEDGE of the bible. Sometimes he/she can spew scripture down to the book and chapter, sometimes he can find a scripture (via google?) that deals with suffering, pain, need, faith etc. He is the reader/believer I spoke of in my Lent series.

When only the head is involved with Christianity, you lose sight of the balance. I know of many spiritual based faiths that speak of balance also and in the Christian faith it is not much different for the spiritual Christian who has learned to balance his/her faith with the head (knowledge), will (action), heart (a deep passion).

With everything in life, if you just gain knowledge of something, what exactly are you gaining? A big ego? “Yeah, I know this, that and the other thing.” Whoop-de-doodle, you’re knowledgeable.

If you put that knowledge into action with a deep passion, you are balancing the three. The will, the heart and the mind. We do not take up Christianity (just gain knowledge) we are taken UP by Christianity. With our hearts and minds and physical actions we are drawn to be LIKE Christ.

God’s Word is spiritual food. We grow by it, we're seasoned by it, we’re transformed by it. The Holy Spirit uses the word to revive you, restore your spirit and change your heart. You must process the filling of your spirit and OBEY what you are being called to do.

If I want to be used of God, it is important that I fill my mind, my heart, and my life with the Word of God. A practicing Christian has strength to fight the enemy, he is refreshed daily by the wisdom he holds and transformed so that the old person who sat and judged his fellow man, name calls, feeds the fire of satan’s lure, is gone, he is NO MORE, he is transformed.

I see a lot of folk who claim to be Christian sit in some safe corner of the globe reading and believing that no matter how often he/she sins, they’ll be forgiven and taken up to heaven when their time comes. People see them profess Christianity but their actions are far from Christlike giving people the idea that sin is good. “I can just call myself a Christian and God will save me.”

Christianity is a transformation, the balance of the heart, mind and soul. If the outer world doesn’t see the balance in you, and YES, they will see the transformation, they get the idea that Christianity is a false belief system. You have turned people AWAY from God instead of TO God.

You don’t hold the power of transformation in your own hand. All the reading and believing in the world will shape you but it will not transform you. I know you’re tired of me saying this but CHURCH aids in the transformation. Action is going to cause a reaction.

Let me see if I can simplify this. Let’s say you’re hungry. You go to the freezer and find meat. You think to yourself, that sure looks good. (Christianity looks good) You then place the meat in the oven or frying pan and begin to cook it. (This is where you read and believe.) You share this cooked meat with your friends and they all spit it out. It tasted horrible, drab, lifeless. You realize you didn’t marinate and season the meat. You took no action to make this meat a meal.

Marinating the meat is like bathing in the word. You season the meat, you cook the meat, you share the meat with people who presumably are not vegetarians. Sharing the word with unlike minds is like sharing meat with a vegetarian. Church is a place of like-minded people. You will know who and who is not a vegetarian. You have transformed the meat into a solid meal for ALL to partake of, not just the carnivorous meat eaters.

Transformation and balance of the transformed individual allows you to be of a pure mind, spiritually and physically. People with a seasoned just right balance, shake off the snares of the devil. Their strength is in the meal and the deliverance of the meal.

People have eyes to see and if you are not balanced, it shows. It doesn’t help God any if you're unbalanced. The men and women God used WERE sinners but by their transformation, they didn’t dwell in sin because it was a given that they’d be forgiven, they worked earnestly to live a pure life; they were all balanced (seasoned) in the proportion God dished out.

A Different God?

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I have a question. Do any of you feel that you are worshipping, having faith and following a different God than the God Moses, Noah and Abraham followed and listened to? Did they have a ‘different’ relationship than the one you and I have?  Someone said, that Moses and Noah had “Faith and a very personal relationship of actual communication on which to rely.”

This statement befuddled me. ‘Different’? ‘Personal’? ‘Actual communication’? He went on to say, “We have 66 books to search, read, take into our hearts, and ponder. Our Faith in Him may be rock-solid, but we base it on His Word.” But does that mean we have a different God? In no way does it mean that. The God of Abraham is the One and only True LIVING God. In no way shape or form is He different now from way back then!

While the statement of Him being different might be true to those still searching for Him. The readers and believers of the Word, it is not true of me and MY experience with God. For one, we have to trust that man dictated the WORD in its entirety. We have to trust man through many translations in knowing what God Himself was saying. We are left to ponder His Word, not drink it in and bathe in it; there IS a difference.

Well I’m telling you right up front, if you don’t have a very REAL and PERSONAL relationship with GOD, (yes the same God of Noah, Moses, Isaac and Abraham) then you my friend will be tossed about in utter confusion and caught up in every wind of doctrine. God did not always speak to Moses via the burning bush. If you read and believe, you’ll know this to be true.

We humans are extremely limited in our vision, that is that we can only see that which is material. God is not material. To have an up front personal relationship with God, you must embrace the spirit and I don’t just mean the Holy Spirit sent to us in the New Testament, I mean the God Spirit walking with us from the beginning of time!

I very clearly understand that God does not speak to me as He spoke to Adam and Eve, or to Moses (via a burning bush) and the many others He spoke to, but my faith is not built on just the Word of God put forth in scripture. My faith is built on the Word’s of God spoken to ME.

A few months ago, January to be exact our minister who had been serving our church for 14 years left. Why did he leave? He said God placed on his heart to go and tend this other church that was weakening. He was called by God to go and tend that church and try to assist in reviving it.

Is that any different than God telling Noah to build an ark? Moses to free His people? I sincerely don’t feel it is much different, and yesterday’s service physically showed that to me. Pastor Dave had a break and Pastor Tim was told to give a sermon of what God placed on his heart.

When you attend church, you will physically SEE God working in the heart, mind and soul of a follower. If you don’t attend church you more than likely will only see what you want to see, read and believe from the scriptures. 

Pastor Tim made it clear. If you are an intellectual Christian, your faith is based on intellect, knowledge of the Word. Christians the world over have to give themselves completely to God. There is a balance of the will, the mind and the heart that takes place and in that relationship you’ve formed with God, He speaks to you! Yes, the same God of Abraham, Isaac, Noah and Moses. You balance the intellect (head), the Word (will) with God Himself  (heart) and are SHOWN the TRUTH of His Word via Him, placed on your heart, not man’s interpretation of what God places on your heart. (I’ll touch more on the balance later in the week)

Acts 2: 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

From Pastor Ron of the Titus Institute: “We see that man forfeited at the fall, direct communication with God on a personal basis. He then only received direct revelation through intermediaries. God communicated infrequently and only as He deemed necessary to fulfill His redemptive plan.

When we get to heaven we will have direct communication with God again. That is part of the blessing of redemption.

2 Cor.5:8 "absent from the body present with the Lord."
1 Cor.13:12 "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known."
Praise the Lord!

Then how does God communicate to His people today?

Through His Word, the Scriptures.”

I understand the ‘personal’ relationship between God and Moses, Jacob, Abraham and Noah and the others. I understand the relationship of the trinity God (OT), Son (NT) and the Holy Spirit (NT), yes, via the scriptures, and with that knowledge I balance my servitude to the Lord and have a whole and entirely DIFFERENT relationship with God than say the intellectual Christian. < (the man who only seeks knowledge of God)

I have a very personal relationship of actual communication on which to rely. Just because mine appears different than theirs, it is essentially no different at all.

Thanks my friend, for stirring my mind and giving me more to ponder. And thank you God, for placing a very meaningful sermon on Pastor Tim’s heart.

More to come later this week…
 

Isa. 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.