The Excitement of the presence of the Lord in our lives
Acts 3:11-20a
EXPLAINING GOD
An 8-year-old boy, Danny Dutton of Chula Vista, CA, wrote this for homework assignment to explain God. “One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn’t make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way He doesn’t have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers. God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go wasting His time by going over your Mom and Dad’s head asking for something they said you couldn’t have anyway. Atheists are people who don’t believe in God. I don’t think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren’t any who come to our church. Jesus is God’s Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and people finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind, like His Father and He told His Father that they didn’t know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K." His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn’t have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things, which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary. You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time. You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God. And don’t skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway. If you don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He’s around you when you’re scared in the dark or when you can’t swim and you get thrown into the real deep water by big kids. But...you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases. And that’s why I believe in God.
NEEDING HELP!
Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you? Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love. Can you guide me though the process? Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed? Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first? Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart? Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running? Tech Support: What programs are running? Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now. Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self esteem. However to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off? Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off! Can you tell me how? Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased. Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal? Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades. Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program, do not run on external components” What should I do? Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others. Customer: So, what should I do? Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance, then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and acknowledge your Limitations. Customer: Okay, done. Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back. Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal? Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you. Customer: Thank you, God.
Thoughts on heaven:
In one of his books, A. M. Hunter, the New Testament scholar, relates the story of a dying man who asked his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, and he had his answer. “Do you hear that?” he asked his patient. “It’s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has grown impatient, and has come up and hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Isn’t it the same with you? You don’t know what lies beyond the Door, but you know that your Master is there.”
A widely respected man known as “Uncle Johnson” died in Michigan at the incredible age of 120. Perhaps his advanced years could be credited in part to the cheerful outlook that characterized his life. One day while at work in his garden, he was singing songs of praise to God. His pastor, who was passing by, looked over the fence and called, “Uncle Johnson, you seem very happy today.” “Yes, I was just thinking,” said the old man. “Thinking about what?” questioned his pastor. “Oh, I was just thinking that if the crumbs of joy that fall from the Master’s table in this world are so good, what the great loaf in glory will be like! I tell you, sir, there will be enough for everyone and some to spare up there.”
A little girl was taking an evening walk with her father. Wonderingly, she looked up at the stars and exclaimed; “Oh, Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what must the right side be!”
There are many evidences of being "in Christ." Let us hear three clear evidences from The Bible that prove whether you are in Christ: These evidences are dependent upon your first repenting of sin, forsaking all wickedness, trusting in Christ for eternal salvation, and allowing him to translate you out of darkness and into his kingdom of light.
1. You are in Christ if your faith is mixed with Love. The Bible says if you do not have unconditional love, you cannot be in Christ: "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Cor. 13:2). "Nothing" in Greek here means, "I am nothing now - nor will I ever be anything." You can be a gifted preacher or a powerful evangelist. You can heal others by your faith. You can move mountains by speaking a single word. You can teach God’s word with power and anointing. But if you don’t have love for others, you’re nothing! "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. “(1 John 4:12-13).
2. You are in Christ if you live by the Bible. Do you have a reverence God’s word? Do you go daily to the mirror of scripture to be changed by it? “If anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him “(1 JN 2:5). The Bible is clear: We know we’re in Christ if we love and obey his word. “This is also how God’s love is perfected in us!” Paul said, "As you read or hear the word, honor it and make it the rule of your life. Let it govern you!" Christians often quote this verse: "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). But this promise hinges on the preceding verse: "If ye continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed" (vs. 31). The phrase "if you continue in my word" means "if you live in and keep my commandments." "As you are in me, I will reveal my truth to you. But I won’t reveal it to you, if you don’t intend to live by it. You’ll know the truth only after you’ve committed to obey it!"
3. You are in Christ if you are in the process of being renewed. Those who are "in Christ" do not rest on a one-time conversion experience. Rather, they constantly cry out to be changed and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Their daily prayer is, "Lord, take out of me everything that’s unlike you. Purge me, and remake me in the image of your son!" "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Tit. 3:5-6). "Regeneration" here means "making anew," or "reviving and producing something new." Paul is saying, "The Holy Ghost is at work in you giving you a renewal!" You see, Christ gives the Holy Ghost without measure. And because we are part of his body, his Spirit flows down to each of us. So, as we are in Christ, we are being nurtured by his Spirit made over into the image of Jesus himself! Rom. 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. We are renewed by his Word and the Work of the Holy Spirit. Gal. 3:11 “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”
What is the evidence in your life that you “are in Christ?”
