The Bigger Picture

(Revelation 21:7) “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

 

Counting the cost to the Christian calling is something we all need to consider if we are to become effective for Christ. For us to become operational in the building of God’s Kingdom we must envision our eternal reward. We must learn to appropriate this verse to our daily gaits; “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)

 

What we are witnessing must motivate us more than it did yesterday or the day before, Covit 19, looting, vandalism and even deaths are rife and escalating, the sign off the times is beginning to heighten, nevertheless it’s the goodness of God that shackles the outpouring of such calamities. But why would He allow such behaviour? Simply put, so that we may come to our senses and cry out to Him for help. Some may cry “foul”, whilst others will look a little deeper and in turn be brought to their knees. If we begin to study the book of Revelation and begin to understand the looming Judgements, did you know, a third of the earth will be destroyed and Billions of people will die and there is nothing we can do about it. However, through it all some will see the bigger picture and realise it’s the goodness of God giving mankind one last chance to be saved. Any difficulty should result in us falling to our knees acknowledging our sin before a Holy God and then crying out to Jesus for rescue. God giving mankind their last chance to repent with the offer of salvation in and through the finished work of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Simply put we need to honour Him as God and pledge our allegiance to Him and not another. If not we will suffer the full burden of His wrath, which will happen, no ifs and buts in play. Regardless of how you feel about that, the creator of the universe has declare His intent in and through the penned word, THE BIBLE! It’s up to the individual to decide where they will land.  

 

The summons from the only true and living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must dictate the way we live from here on in. I realise that this will only ever become apparent when we understand that call; when we are persuaded that it is God who has called; regardless of our blunders throughout our lives, if and when God calls will we obediently respond to His voice. For when we understand that this is the reason we were born, to honour and worship Him, He is the creator and we are the created. Society teaches us to believe in ourselves but God commissions all to believe in Him…

“For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." (Romans 10:11)  

 

When an athlete trains it is a painful process but they endure their training so that they may be crowned champion. Their goal is very specific and it is no different for the Christian, we must learn to lay our lives down so that we too may one day reap our reward, which is to hear Gods approval when we enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. There is a grand event coming known to us in scripture as the “marriage feast of the Lamb”, a wedding ceremony. It is very dress specific and only those adorned with the correct garments will be allowed to partake. It is a celebration reserved for the bride of Christ and only those who have their names written in the Book of Life will be allowed to attend. So how do I receive an Invitation? I acknowledge my sin, then repent by asking the Lord Jesus to forgive me, when that happens, I am born again and I am immediately invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb, included on that guest list, it’s as simple as that. These invitations have been carefully selected and have not been penned with ink but with a quill dipped in blood of the Lord Jesus. Those selected for this great event must make Him their prized possession. In order for this to happen we must learn to walk by faith and place all our dependency upon the Words of God, THE BIBLE! As it is the treasure map to that beautiful occasion in a glorious land. Study and then study some more. Be sure of that which has been charted out and leave nothing to chance. If you have doubts to whether you will eventually make it into that magnificent land do not rest until you hear the voice of God speaking clearly to you! It is one thing to know that God exists but quite another to be personally known by Him. Are you convinced that you are on that guest register? Are you at liberty to converse with Him? Are you sure that you have been invited? These are questions that you need to answer with total assurance. Only you can have that eternal conversation with yourselves. 

 

Examine your own hearts…   

 

What is it that drives you? Money, lust, the pride of life, power; the list is endless or is it the hope that one day you will hear God speak these words directly to you? “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” If this is not your motivation to life then I would suggest that you rally around those who have that as their ultimate goal and spend as much time with them as humanly possible. This is where we will be able to buy the oil for our lanterns that will be needed up until our bridegroom returns to take us home. Without oil in our lamps we will miss out and that is something we can all ill afford, for it will have eternal consequences. It Crucial that we understand the consequences, what must now ring the loudest in our doctored ears, is that we’ve been saved from a place of total devastation, we were doomed for destruction from the time we took our first breath. “BUT GOD”! He has so loved us that HE has intervened, by sending the darling of heaven, His beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ to sand in the gap of our rebellion, Emmanuel has paid the price of our sin, and HE was judge for sin in our place. Its seems unthinkable to think that God would judge Him, who knew no sin as a sinner to make a way for us to escape His judgement, and make no mistake, the out pouring of God's wrath is just over the horizon and it is coming on all who reject His love. The only question you need to ask yourselves is do you believe in the finished work of the cross or not. To my Jewish friends, examine your wittings, read Isaiah chapter 53 and then see if you are able to conclude that who is spoken of there was not the Lord Jesus, the true Messiah. It’s where you land on this question that will determine your eternal existence. I have done what I can to point you in the right direction, the rest is up to you.

 

Signing out

 

Tyrone