Eternal Life

^{Luke 18:18} A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

There it is..... the question we all ask ourselves at some point or another? What must I do?

We will look into the Rich Ruler this week and undoubtedly find out we are more like him than most of us care to acknowledge. Don't deceive yourself, you know you have asked the question. Here is an answer from Paul's words in Ephesians 2. (emphasis mine)

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship,created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

It seems pretty clear to me that eternal life comes to us by our faith through the freedom of grace. All the things you are doing to earn it, really have very little meaning. God has a plan for you, no doubt, but that plan is when you are in Christ Jesus. When you are the new creation, born again, God will use you as a tool for His kingdom. Until you believe, your efforts are fruitless. A little faith, a free gift of grace and the inheritance of eternal life is yours.

Everlasting

Proverbs 10:25
When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

Why is it so hard to remember the promises of God?

There is so much wonder and amazement in these words, Everlasting Foundation. Not just yesterday, not just today but all the way to the everlasting, the eternal.

Newsboys: In Christ Alone


Please pray for the Oliger's as they finish the last 8 weeks preparing for their missions trip to Kenya. Pray for lodging, finances and all the final details.

Praise for Sam C as her husband Dale C has found employment.

Praise for Randy R as the angels rejoice to his giving his life to Christ.

Praise God for all the success at the All Nighter at the Church on the Hill, McMinnville, OR fund raiser for camp. Please continue to pray for continued success in the fund raising so that every child has a chance to go to camp this summer.

Pray for Diane B and her family. Pray for health and healing. Please pray for peace as they grieve the lose of Dan's grandfather.

Pray for the Kelly H. and her husband Traegon. Pray for peace as they grieve for the lose of his grandmother.

Pray for healing for Heather C, Sam C and Janell O as they worked hard on workouts and may have overdone it a little.

Please pray for healing of Joanne A breast cancer. Pray for peace of mind. Pray for an enjoyable trip to visit with family in Nevada this next week.

Praise God for my successful run in my first marathon. It took me 5:19:28. I am looking forward to doing it again. AS

Surrender, Day 2

Give Up

Surrender

Do you ever feel like you have fought and fought and still are getting nowhere? Your working hard, doing the right things, pushing through with everything you have. Still, there is no answer, no solutions to the big questions you are asking.

It is so aggravating how frustrating life gets sometimes. I don't get it. If I am working hard enough, why aren't there more blessings in my life? If I take care of myself, why do I get sick? I love my children, why don't they obey? I make my marriage a priority, why is intimacy so difficult?

Why not just give up?

Actually, that is exactly what you should do. Stop fighting. Stop pushing for the things of this world but focus on things eternal.

Time to wave the white flag. Surrender to the only one that can answer all of your questions with His Life.

May I remind you once again, faithful servant, that there isn't a single thing you can "do" to earn more blessings from God. You have already been given the greatest gift, free(Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved) Grace gives you eternal life(Titus 3:7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.) . Sacrifice of His Son covers your sin (Hebrews 9: how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?).

You see, there is very little hope when you are separated from God. When we surrender and find rest in Him, we find purpose in everything. It is in our time of surrender that we find the nourishment, purpose and strength to keep going.

1 Corinthians 23-25 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Please continue to pray for Anna B this week.

Thanksgiving, Day 3

Do you have enough?

How much is enough?

Is the sacrifice God made for you enough?

Do you have enough to be thankful for this week and always?

Romans 5 (msg)

18-19Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one
person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.

20-21All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance
in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

When you loose focus this season; remember the best gift ever given is free and available for everyone to receive. Be thankful and let let Him be enough. Find rest in the chaos and know He Reigns.

Judgement

Judgement

Day 1

Judgement

Discernment or separation between good and evil.

Romans 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God "will give to each person according to what he has done."[a] 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.

Day 2

Judgement: God vs. Mankind

Mankind judges people and their actions according to their law. The judgement from mankind toward another person is often times influenced by that individuals beliefs, morals, values and environmental factors.

Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

God judges among people and their actions according to the standards of His LAW.

Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.

Day 3

The Questions are in the scripture.

Romans 2:1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Day 4

With God, judgement refers to the process of discernment or the punishment to those who fall under His wrath and condemnation.

John 5:22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. 24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

"eternal life"- living forever with God- begins when you accept Jesus Christ as Savior. At that moment, new life begins in you.

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

It is a completed transaction. You will still face physical death, but when Christ returns again, your body will be resurrected to live forever.

1 Corinthians 15
The Resurrection of Christ 1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters,[a] of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.[b]
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter[c] and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers[d] at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. 9 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.
10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead 12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. 25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. 26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.”[e] (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.) 28 Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.
29 If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again?
30 And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour? 31 For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you. 32 And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus[f]—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”[g] 33 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
The Resurrection Body 35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[h] But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[i] the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[j] this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.[k] 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?[l]”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Day 5

Reflection

John 12:48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day

Take a moment to read this Psalm then offer to God your heart, let Him in, invite His forgiveness and grace. Stand firm on His word and be ready for his judgement. I pray that we all learn to fear our Lord and learn to repent when we are not in accordance to His will. The rest is up to Him.

Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak

and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts [a] ;

you teach [b] me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from blood guilt, O God,

the God who saves me,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

Click on the following link to read more scripture about judgement.

http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/index.php?search=judge&version1=31&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no&startnumber=1

Praise Friday Praises.