Heaven vs. Hell (or Love vs. Fear)

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I have no fear of hell, for fear and love cannot co-exist. In fact, it is very simple to avoid hell and reach heaven. But why does Jesus say that narrow is the path to eternal life, and few there are who find it? Because of the pride of our hearts We insist on saying with Lucifer, "I will ascend to the heavens" even thought we are powerless to do so. It is simple because Jesus knows the way to heaven, and his will is to take us to be with him there, and whatever Jesus wills he is able to do. All we have to do is entrust ourselves to him. It is like we are little children and between us and heaven there is a vast wilderness fraught with peril and danger.

While it is simple, we may find it very hard to trust him, for he will carry us through many difficult and tyring experiences. Deserts, "dangers, toils and sanres", dark forests, harsh and rugged mountains, frozen tundra, hordes of enemies, perhaps passing by the gates of the Enemy himself. At each state of the journey we will be tempted to succumb to fear and leap from the arms of Jesus and run away and hide. Or in our spiritual myopia, we may think there is a better way, a safer way.

At each of these moments we must cling to Jesus ever more tightly, we must entrust ourselves to him over and over again. We are not smart enough, wise enough, or strong enough to make our own way. Compared to the greatness of that to which we are called, we can barely move a finger. Indeed, it is not so much we who cling to Jesus more tightly, but he who holds us ever closer — if we ask him. He will not hold us against our will, thought it pains him to see us run away.

But do not fear if you have let go of him and have run away; he will come looking for you. Indeed, he already knows where you are. Listen. . . he is gently calling for you, trying to woo you from your hiding place. Raise your head and open your eyes. . . he is already standing at your side, longing to pick you up and carry you again. And, he will follow you all the way to the gates of hell, trying to woo you back to him.

But he will not prevent you from walking through those gates.

†

Entrusting to Jesus

From a journal entry:

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Jesus, I need your help. This is too great and wonderful for me. To love another and so to love you more, and to love you and so to love another more. It is possible, is it not? To have this: the more I love the one, the more I love the other. Surely in my heart my great desire is to love without end.

I wonder how it is that I continue finding these Theresian themes cropping up in my life. “My vocation is to love” she said. Perhaps if I had chosen a different saint for my patron when I was confirmed I would have seen the development of things attributed to them instead.

Dear Therese said that she would spend her heaven doing good on earth. Well, I want to spend my earth living as if heaven is already here. It is my firm conviction that it in fact is. “The kingdom of God is within you.” Which is greater, the Lord of the land or the land, the kingdom? The Lord! And does not the Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven dwell within me? Have I not been baptized into his death and become a part of his body? Have I not begun to enter into his very life, or as Peter writes, to be a partaker of the diving nature? So what prevents me from living accordingly?

I do.

I do not want to let go of my pride. . . . I do not fully trust Jesus. My pride says to me, “I am your only sure guarantee that you will not be lost, that your identity will not fade away, that you will be able to maintain your grasp, your hold on being important. If you let go you may be so fully assimilated into Him that both the world and God shall forget you. . . you will not even be a memory.”

While illogical, that is a very compelling argument. For, that is the greatest fear of selfishness: being forgotten by all, especially by the person in whom it resides.

But we do not lose our identity in allowing the love of God to overwhelm us. We do not become oblivious to our own existence.

I have some idea of what it means to love God, and to love my neighbor, but what does it mean to authentically love one’s own self?

I think the key is entrusting, actively entrusting oneself to God. I think that is the key to truly loving another.

All love goes out and returns to its source: God. Whatever love we have finds its first and ultimate source in God. Flowing through us, its natural direction is towards God again.

So to love myself, I place myself in the place which is the source and end of love: the heart of God. I place myself there as a whole being; I give myself to him; I entrust myself to his keeping. From then on, gazing on myself I cannot help but see myself in the context of the Beauty and Love of God. Thus, I do not love myself for my own sake, because my gaze becomes transfixed on the one who holds me.

Likewise with others: If I entrust them to Jesus, insofar as it is for me to do so, I cannot help but see them in the context of the Beauty and Love of Christ. They do not lose their identity, nor I mine – no, rather than being obscured by the light of his Beauty, we are illuminated by it. Not only does it shine upon us, revealing the surface, but so intense is this light that it shines through us, and we become illuminated throughout the whole of our being.

For the full completion of this, we shall have to wait until we are raised to live, but raised incorruptible, even glorified.

Hasten the day, Lord Jesus.

Come Holy Spirit, begin your work in my heart today.

Father, glorify your name.

†

Joy in Suffering

† Suffering can be very instrumental in bringing us closer to God. It can help a great deal in making us holier. We can even find joy in our suffering: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Phil. 3:10-11) "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplines by his father? . . . .Our fathers disciplines us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No disciplines seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Heb. 12:7, 10-11) "Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin." (1 Pet. 4:1) "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." (1 Pet. 4:12-13) "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." (1 Pet. 4:14-16) "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Pet. 4:19) Just make sure that your suffering isn't brought on by your own stupidity. . . Some of the suffering we endure in this world is a direct result of our thinking patterns and our habits. We should work to change those things rather than simply bear it. †

A Forgotten Friend

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Ah, my friend! How long it has been since I have enjoyed your presence! I have seen you passing by and I have heard your voice from across the way, but, I've been too busy to stop and talk. We do talk in the morning at work everyday, but that's just business talk. Its important for me to focus on the upcoming project, so I can't afford to really listen to you unless your telling me something that relates to my project. People think that we're the best of friends 'cause I talk about you a lot. Most of the time though I talk about you when I get in discussions with other people. It's easier for me to convince people when I can tell you that you agree with me, and that way, when they don't listen to me, I can pass it off and tell them that really they aren't listening to you.

Sometimes when I'm feeling nostaligc, I get out the old pictures and letters I've received from you. It's great to remember all the good times we used to have, isn't it? Sometimes you made me smile, and sometimes I'd cry. You were always the best at comforting me when things were rough. Just thinking about it is almost like experiencing it all over again.

Well I've gotta go to the discipleship meeting. We're talking about how people don't make Scripture important enough in their lives and what to do about it. I've got some great ideas and I can't wait to share them with the group.

I'm sure I'll see you at Bible study this week. You're gonna be there, right?

†

If you don't recognize this person, read Psalm 1: The blessed man avoids several things, but what is it that he does?

Forgiveness

Throughout the Scriptures and from many pulpits the message is preached, "Repent, confess your sins, turn to God. . ." An excellent -- and essential -- call. Every day we are called to conversion, to once again lay our hearts before the Cross and cry out, "Lord, have mercy! . . . . I have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what I have done and by what I have not done . . . ."

But I think there is an aspect of this which we have placed far to little emphasis on, though Scripture goes to great length to address it.

"So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the alatar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matt. 5:23-24 RSV)

"Pray then like this: . . . . And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtos; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you trespasses." (Matt. 6:9a, 12-15)

"Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven." (Matt. 18:21-22)

"Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to everyone of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (Matt. 18:32-35. Read 21-35 for the context. I had typed it all out, but it was really long. . .)

"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." (Mark 11:25)

"Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." (Luke 17:3-4)

"But if any one has cause pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure — not to put it too severely — to you all. For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough; so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I be you to reaffirm you love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for you sake in the presence of Christ, to keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his designs." (2 Cor. 2:5-11)

I know I've read the most recent passage before, but I had completely forgotten about it. I find it quite interesting that he refers to keeping Satan from gaining advantage over us by forgiving. And how true that is! I was prompted to find these passages and write about this passage because of my experiences this summer and throughout my life.

What is it about forgiveness that causes Jesus to use such strong words about it and for Paul to speak of it as if it can prevent Satan from gaining advantage over us? And why can it be so hard to forgive?

For me, forgiveness demands that I love the other person, and many times that's the last thing I want to do. My sister cuts me with her words in that way only she knows, perhaps my friend was a jerk to me, or some of my other friends left me out of the evening plans. Maybe a coworker speaks badly about me all the time, making work miserable, or even gets me fired, or my wife cheats on me, or a drunk driver kills my parents, or a business partner runs off with all the money. . . My reaction (I realize others react differently) is to let a cold indifference creep in (or so it seems), saying to me, "Whatever. . . it doesn't matter. . . You know, you don't really need them. This doesn't really need to bother you. There are better people out there. Just cut your losses and move on. Forget about it, forget about them."

That may sound nice, but let me call it what it is: A bold faced lie from Hell.

Oh, I may wish that it doesn't matter, or that it doesn't bother me, but the fact is, it does matter. Underneath the facade of indifference is a heart in turmoil. We are made for love, to love and to be loved. And how could you love someone and not forgive them? Everytime we go against love, we are fighting against the very way we were created to be, especially we who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, making us alive in Christ, partakers of the divine nature

And as do so, we deaden a part of our heart.

We say, "Oh heart, do not love!! For to love brings to much risk of pain, and humility!" and in the process, we turn our hearts away from God. Slowly, surely, we find ourselves like the man who refused to forgive a small debt though he had been forgiven such a large debt (Matt 18). So often we read that story and say, "Ahh, foolish servant! Can he not see the ridiculousness of what he is doing? How can he not understand what he is doing?" but we do not see that we very often are that servant.

I had conversations with several people this summer in which they told me that their relationship with God was a little rocky. After talking with them for a while, I discovered that deep below the surface — maybe even unknown to them before then — there was someone or some people that they were refusing to forgive. The suggestion that they pray for them was met with stiff resistance, and I think I know why. Both forgiving people and praying for them (on their behalf, not that God would send them to a deep, dark hold somewhere) require love. As soon as we begin to pray for someone, we bring the attitudes in our heart into sharp contrast with love. So, if we don't want to love someone, we aren't going to want to pray for them, or forgive them.

I would like to reflect on asking for forgiveness from others, but I will save that for another time.

† Jonathan †

He has set eternity in the hearts of men. . .

“He has . . . set eternity in the hearts of men . . .”

I realize that there is a longing for eternity within me, a longing for eternal life, a longing for eternal satisfaction.

I long for eternal relationships, where I and another can run to the end of eternity and back again and not be exhausted, longing to go deeper still.

A great sadness falls upon my heart, for I do not have that sort of relationship with any of my friends here in this world though I long for it so much.

Indeed, though my fervent desire is to share such an intimacy of heart, I am dismayed to find how much both they and I are incapable of such a thing this side of heaven.

Am I doomed to a life consumed with a futile search for that which cannot be found?

“. . . whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”

May I say with the woman at the well, “Give me this water so that I will not get thirsty.”

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

How then shall we be saved?

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:6 (NIV)

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Acts 4:12 (NIV)

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

These three verses are some of the verses most often cited in discussions of salvation and how one can receive it. A quick reading of these verses easily leaves one with the common impression that if you do not confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you cannot be saved, for there is no other way. This leads to a belief that all those that are not formal members of the Christian community are damned. (I am speaking broadly; for some baptism even in infancy is the beginning of membership and for others it is the ability to publicly say "I am a Christian" and whatever other implied beliefs that accompany that). However, I am not convinced that this is the correct conclusion. Rather than arguing using difficult cases, I shall argue from Scripture and only then shall I try to connect that with my own examples and cases.

Let us look at Abraham. I selected him because he is treated at some length in both the Old Testament and the New, but I will be focusing mostly on the New Testament account. Let us go to the book of Romans:

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."
Romans 3:22 (NIV)

"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about -- but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' "
Romans 4:1-3 (NIV)

"So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also wolk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised."
Romans 4:11b-12 (NIV)

Abraham the Hebrew is called our father -- our father in the faith. He had faith in God and is justified by God, having righteousness credited to him. How can this be, since Abraham did not even know the name of Christ! He could not have confessed with his mouth that "Jesus is Lord!" Could he have believed in his heart that God raised him from the dead? Not in any way that he would have been conscious of. This much we do know: "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.' " (Rom. 4:20-22 Emphasis mine.)

This does not contradict the three passages I began with, for Abraham is saved and justified through Jesus. As Paul writes in the very next chapter, "Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. . . .Since we have now been justified by his blood. . . . Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." (Rom 5:1-2a, 9a, 18) Abraham, too, was justified by the blood of Jesus.

Therefore there is hope for those who are children of Abraham by faith, who, despite not knowing the name of Jesus, put their faith in God, gaining access into the grace which our Lord Jesus Christ has brought to us. It is not up to us to determine who has an authentic faith in the True God or not, for we judge by the outward appearances, but God judges the heart. As Psalm 139 so eloquently states, he has searched us and he knows us.

Those in such a position are in some way a part of the Body of Christ, the family of God. We should by no means leave them where they are, but should strive to bring them into a deeper participation in the Life of Christ, that they may know him not only in their hearts through faith but also in their minds. Our responsibility to preach the Gospel to all the world has not been removed, for not only does the Body of Christ need to be reminded of the Gospel, but there are many people who are not children of Abraham by faith. They are in most desperate need of the Gospel.