WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN

A few weeks ago Karen and I attended a local church with some friends who attend our Home Group Meeting and before the pastor delivered his sermon a trio got up to minister in song. They sang great, but before they sang one of the singers said, “we all are waiting for Jesus to come back and take us out of this world.” Then at about the same time I had this thought in my spirit and wrote down these words, “I wonder what will happen to the church if God does not take us out of this world? Nowhere in the Bible did God ever deliver anyone without first developing them. Daniel went into the lion’s den. The three Hebrew Children went into the fiery furnace, Jesus went to the cross, and do we think we are any better than them? Just delivering someone from hard situations and circumstances just makes them soft spiritually and a weaker sailor (I was in the US Navy) in God’s end time army. My friend it is hard training and difficult lessons to learn that make us fit for battle to overcome areas in our lives. If God has to deliver us from troubles and problems in our lives it is because He knows the work of God in our lives is in jeopardy of being lost so He moves us along only to be planted in another field for maturing and spiritual growth. To me, it seems with all of the songs we sing in church and plans we do not make the church is making plans to run out on God before the work on earth is done. How can we all want to go heaven when our family and neighbours are dying and going to hell? Something just is not right here. To me this seems rather selfish and self-seeking. Now do not get me wrong here I do want (I will and hope I see you there) to go to heaven, but NOT at the sake of my family and friends going to hell. We must be the salt and light to them “speaking the truth in love” until God says it is time for us to come home. It is not ours to want a mansion over the hilltop at the cost of sinners lost for all eternity. Let us not be so fast to want to run out of here before our job on earth is done. And there is another danger in this thinking Jesus is coming back to get us and that is Jesus has left us, but how can Jesus come back and get us if He has never left? Many Christians think Jesus has left us, checked out, and will return to someday in the sweet by and by to take us all to heaven, but that is not what the Bible says. In other words believing Jesus is coming back for us means that Jesus has left us, but that has never been the case not for one second has Jesus left mankind. Understanding this point is something like trying (difficult unless the Spirit give you revelation) to understand the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one. I think the closest explanation of this I have seen or heard was a slice of Neapolitan ice cream: chocolate, white, and strawberry ice cream also three in one. At the end of Matthew Jesus promised us, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20) Now when Jesus used the words “I am with you always” He meant it. Jesus promised and He always keeps His word. Well if Jesus is always with us how can He come back and get us? Karen and I have four kids. Our first two were David and Daniel. I would take David and Daniel to the park when we lived on base in 1984-87. When we would go to the park I would put the boys in a swing side-by-side and push them. First David and then Daniel would say “faster and faster, higher and higher, wheee what a wonderful time we are having.” David would look over at Daniel and say daddy really loves us (what we say to God when all is going well in our lives) what a wonderful expression on their faces as they would go faster and higher, but just when they were at the extent of the swing I would jump behind a tree. At first they did not notice I disappeared all was well, but as they got slower and slower they noticed I was not pushing them and that I disappeared, well you should have seen the look on their face and heard them cry, Daniel daddy disappeared he does not love us (what we say to God when things are not going well in our lives) anymore. The slower they got the louder they cried (does this not sound like us when we first get saved) until the swing almost stopped and then I would jump out from behind the tree and say, “David Daniel” and they would say “daddy” and I would start pushing them again. Well here is the point of this wonderful story; did I leave my boys? No I was right there the entire time, but they could not see me. Jesus did not leave us He promised He would not leave us just like my boys we cannot see Jesus, but He is right here with us. If He is here how can He come back? To think He has to come back means we believe in our heart He has left us, a real danger indeed. You know I wonder why many Christians call Jesus’ return to earth His second coming when in reality it will be Jesus’ third coming. Now read your Bible on this one. The first time Jesus came to earth was when He came as a baby. The second time He came to earth was after He was crucified and went to hell to give people a chance to be saved who has never heard the Gospel message before Jesus died, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.” (Acts 2:31), but arose on the third day in great victory for us as He said He would do. So then when He comes back in the clouds of glory as the Angels said, “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11) it will be His third time. I wonder why we call His next coming the second coming? Maybe because we do not know our Bible well enough to be able to state the facts as the Bible represents them. But this is nothing new. We have so many misconceptions regarding heaven and things to come in the future. I think a lot of our misapplications of thought are due to songs we sing and books we write on how we want things to be and not what we know it will be. We must be careful not to lead people astray in spiritual matters if we really do not know what we are talking about or have never experienced something in God. I have never spoken to someone who went to heaven or hell and came back to earth (and was not selling a book or DVD) to tell people of their experience and the ones who said they did their words do not line up with the Bible which makes them false teachers. Take heed my brothers and sisters here. It is far better to encourage someone to do the things they need to do to make it to heaven than to tell (really guessing) people what heaven is going to be like hoping the grandeur of heaven will be good enough to help them make it there. We have no idea what heaven is going to be like, but I know it is going to be wonderful (beyond my wildest thoughts) not because of the streets of gold, gates, and walls are made of precious stones, but because Jesus will be there. I am not into heaven I am in to Him! The true hallmark of us wanting to go to heaven or even of our faith is not believing for a miracle, but joy in hard times, joy in difficulties, joy in trials, and joy in the dealings and judgments of God. Funny how many Christians blame God for things that are not His fault. I hear many Christians say God is dealing and bringing judgments into their lives, but in reality the hard and difficult times they are experiencing is not from God, but of their own handy work. God’s dealings and judgments in our lives yields spiritual growth and development when we have learned the lesson God desires to teach us. Jesus Himself said, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12) What a wonderful promise from God. Trials, difficulties, and tribulations are the normal life experiences for Christians. Peter encourages us, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:12-13) I need to keep reminding myself of these verses when I am going through difficult times, but we must also remember Jesus said He would never leave us nor forsake us. Hard times, bad situations, and difficulties in our lives if not tempered by the Holy Spirit yields bitterness, an anguished spirit, and rebellion to God and man. Our greatest need is not more of “things” or even more trials, difficulties, and tribulations because our need does not move God’s heart oh no what moves God’s heart is our obedience to Him and His word to us. Some day heaven will be a wonderful time and a wonderful place, for how long I do not know. What will we be going? I do not know. When we all get to heaven, well we know that will not happen. Sadly there will be many (probably more will not make it than those that do) who do not make it to heaven. Let us labor now for them. Let us do and say the things we need to do to be the example of integrity, honesty, and righteousness before God and man. Heaven is a wonderful word to my ears and heart. My hope is my father (3 Jan 2010), mother (5 June 2014), sister (1 April 1961), other family members, and friends who have closed their eyes in death in this world are waiting for me there. This is my hope that keeps me going until I come to know the truth for myself about heaven and all that God has in store for me and all that have done the things they needed to do in God go to heaven. Written by David Stahl

OUR DISCIPLINED SPIRIT

The longer I go with God the more I find myself not really knowing what I thought I knew; things I thought I would die for now I am not so sure about. Oh I am not talking heaven or hell issues, but I am talking about things I find myself doing and saying that I would not do or say in the past. Some is for the good while others are not. Now do not worry I have not fallen off the spiritual wagon, but I have noticed a subtle drift in the discipline of my spirit and I cannot (and you too) allow this to happen. It is up to us to prevent this drift in our lives. It is up to us to discipline our spirit and daily walk with the LORD where we are sensitive to the guiding and direction of the Holy Spirit. Brother Paul knew this truth quite well when he said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: (Strong’s #1396 harshly discipline or to lead away into slavery, claim as one’s slave) lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Corinthians 9:27) My friend this world (a system of thinking) and our love for our “self” will quickly overtake our soul if we allow them to. We must take heed to our self and our doctrine. Paul told Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Timothy 4:16) and it is no different today. In the early Church there was a manifestation of the life of Christ that was powerful enough to move an entire nation. Rome was greatly affected by it and nations ever since have been affected by it. Although the members of this early Church had received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and were used in the gifts of the Holy Spirit there were spiritual qualities such as; power and love that permeated these gifts which caused this powerful impact upon nations. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said that He would give us the power to become “His witnesses.” This includes the ability to do the works that He did, but there is to be more than this. He was referring to a quality of life, an element of the Spirit which would become the dedication (agape) of the Son of God resting within us. The early Church moved under the influence and power of this sacrificial dedication until all this became dynamic in the hands of God by which He was able to affect and move a nation. But today that is not the case. Today the church (worldwide) has had little impact in the nations and this is because the church today teaches just enough Gospel from the Bible for a basic knowledge of salvation to get someone into heaven and have stayed away from the critical issues of the day that would allow righteousness to be the order of the day and fill the nations. How do we expect the nation to turn back to God? How do we expect Christian children to grow up and become Christians if they are not taught and grounded in Godly truths when it comes to the social issues of the day from God’s perspective? In schools (from pre-kindergarten and up), from TV, movies, video games, Hollywood, even some churches the worldly view of social issues are force fed to Christian kids and slowly and subtly their mind and hearts are won over to the lie. And if you dare to speak against the politically correct view of such issues as: abortion, creationism, homosexuality, racism, etc. you are vilified called a hater, a homophobe, mean spirited, and more so the world can marginalize you and your message, but the Bible says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34) My friend just because the Supreme Court says it is okay to do things God calls an abomination does not make it right. God is final judge for all things even the affairs of man. There are consequences (and we are seeing them now: disease in an ever increasing scale, social unrest, poverty, loss of peace in world, families being torn apart, the list is endless) for our willful disobedience to God’s word. Due to our slow and deliberate drifting of our spirit discipline we have replace the standard of the word of God with no standard at all. Paul in Romans tells us, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” (Romans 2:28-32) The people knew the truth and they knew the judgment (Romans 1:18-19) of God’s reward for their actions was worthy of death (unless they were a reprobate), but they still choose to do that which was right in their eyes and this my friend is chaos and always leads to destruction. You know we blame the church, but in reality it is the people in the church that are at fault, after all the church is nothing more than the people. We are the church! We must get back to a disciplined spirit within us to maintain a moral standard within the world. As important as telling the truth in love (Ephesians 4:17) is there is a deeper thought I would like to look at when it comes to us having a discipled spirit. Although Jesus taught us the necessity of receiving His power we must always remember it is dangerous to allow its impact to overrule us. The same power that we feel when we are filled with the Spirit is the very power that can make us almost irrational with its moving. In response to a manifestation of this power we feel that we must do something, but we are not quite sure what it is. Then we become agitated and confused because the result was not what we expected. We must come to understand that there is another element that must be added. Believe it or not power and love is not enough to move in God. In the building of our spiritual life the field of motivation must be carefully thought about. There must be a right motivation behind each manifestation as we respond to the power of the Holy Spirit moving within us. We may have all of the gifts and be properly motivated by the love of God, but if there is not a disciplined spirit to go along with them they will not be able to accomplish their purposes. What is a disciplined spirit? This is a military term. Paul uses many military terms. The word here is used in connection with a General who has been disciplined in order to give discipline. He himself is under discipline so that the authority he now exercises will have a backing. One may have both power and love, but unless there is a “disciplined spirit” behind them they will accomplish little. For example, when Jesus called James and John He saw coming toward Him two young men whom He called “Sons of Thunder.” God’s hand was upon them, but they were not yet acquainted with the meaning of this hand that had been laid upon them. They were not fully able to interpret it at this time. I wonder what the mighty hand of God looks like? Today in the church we are filled with God’s grandeur and power yet there is no spiritual discipline in our lives for which God’s power can correctly flow. When Jesus gave them power to go out and minister John came back disturbed because the people in the city where he preached would not receive the LORD. He asked Jesus, “Do wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). John had the power to do this because Jesus had given it to him. John loved the LORD and wanted Him to be appreciated. These people had rejected Christ and their ministry therefore they wanted them to be punished. Then in verse 55, the Lord turned to James and John and said, “You know not what spirit you are of.” The difficulty was not in power nor was it with love. This reaction was due to a problem in their spirit. We must be motivated by God to be Successful, but it must come out of a right spirit. James and John had both power and love, but their motivation was flawed. The difficulty was in the undiscovered inner resources as seen with John. The territory within my heart that has yet to be discovered sometimes amazes me. There is territory within each one of us that must yet be taken. There are vast areas within our lives that are not yet conquered and the LORD needs to triumph in them. The Lord had seen John as a “Son of Thunder,” but He did not intend to let him remain as one. He used John in places where he would be able to “thunder” for a while. But the time came when God wanted to talk with him, so He took him to Patmos a barren isolated island. Here there was no one to “thunder” at. This was to be a time of quietness, a time to think, there was nothing else to do. Like John the Baptist God took him to a place where there was no water to baptize people, prison where he too could think about his motives and the reality of his ministry. You know I have friends who zealously work for God, but not much thinking about what they are doing. All they talk about is how God is using them or how God is blessing them, now do not get me wrong here, but God blessing us is not the message of the Gospel. The LORD was after John (He is after us) even more than He is interested in anything he will ever be able to do for Him. When we have been set on an isle like this by the LORD be careful not to accept the suggestions of all those who are willing to row us back to where we were, because we are so needed in God’s work. The LORD puts us in isolation at times so let Him keep us there! People may attempt to hinder us, but be determined to make time and room for the LORD, to allow Him the necessary conquest within us. When the thunder had become silent within us and the LORD had accomplished what He is after is us then He can gently speak to us. John knew that he had heard this voice before and thought. “Can it be my LORD?” Then the LORD said to John, “I have a message for you. It is not only for you, but for the Church as well. It will be projected down through thousands of years. Let me bring this forth through you.” John’s heart was already broken so just the call of his name was like a balm and he understood. “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the LORD’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” (Revelation 1: 9-10) Have you ever been in the Spirit on the LORD’s (which is every day) day? We know that we are to walk in the Spirit, but how many of us have experienced what it is to be caught up in the intimate moving of God? God gave John a vision and in it He covered every element of the earthly realm: the world, all creation, the skies, moon, stars, animals, trees, people, cities, nations, floods, winds, thunder, lightening. God took every tangible thing that John had ever known and used it all to make a most complicated, yet marvelous display. God has thundered in Revelation. But, did you hear John thunder in Revelation? No, all that was gone. What is the difference now? God is thundering through John. God did not call John because he could thunder. Knowing truth is critical in our walk with the LORD, but it is more important that we have a love for the truth. He did not want John's thunder. He wanted John’s heart condition (the beloved) and capacity for thunder, so that He could thunder through him. A marvelous change has taken place within his spirit. When John came back from the Isle of Patmos we read of John, “Little children let us love one another.” There is a tenderness, a brokenness, and a graciousness that was not evident when John thundered. So it is with our development. We have this capacity for thunder within us, but He will let us move along for awhile in our own thunder. But someday God will come after us and say, “I am going to dry up your thunder.” He will put us on our “Isle of Patmos” and everyone will wonder what in the world is wrong with us. Do not bring that soul to shore! He is bringing forth a disciplined spirit within us. When God begins to deal and judge within us to accomplish His purposes let us not be fearful He has not given us a spirit of fear. He has a purpose in view for us, both in time and in the ages to come. We are safe and secure in the hands of the living God as long as we have a discipled spirit. The question then is what kind of spirit are we of? Written by David Stahl