Eternity

Sleeping in Harvest?

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More years ago than I care to share I remember helping friends with putting up hay. Though they had begun early in the morning the 1700 bale count was just too many for them to finish alone. The hay was perfect and lay in endless numbers on the field but on the horizon loomed dark thunderstorms. At hearing of their dilemma over the phone we jumped into our pick-up truck and sped across miles of dirt roads to help. What fun we had that night as we pitched in to help our tired friends. At 2 a.m. the rain finally came but just 50 bales still lay outside the barn.

Today there is also a harvest and there are hearts ready to be gathered into the Father’s barn. There is also a storm on the horizon and it is coming our way. Are we willing to give all to see as many as possible brought safely in or will we hang up the phone and go to sleep for the night?

Lost to us but Present with God!

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We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord 2 Corinthians 5:8

This week we said good-bye both physically and spiritually to my God Mother. My Aunt Helen was a blessing, a fixture, a must phone call at Christmas and a favorite of our family reunions. As the tears fell today, not from sorrow that she is gone as much as a sad recognition that this was never meant to be. God did not program death into His wonderful plan for us. We were the ones who have chosen our own way and yet he has worked an eternal greater good through the cross of Calvary. Through the dark suffering night of Jesus Christ on the horrible cross He gave to us a gift far greater than we will ever know while still here on this earth.

He suffered humiliation, rejection, abandonment and betrayal alone so Helen’s hope and our’s could be honor and acceptance, belonging and faithful love. What a loss I sense at losing my precious God Mom today but she is now found by God and experiencing the fruit of that eternal forgiveness freely offered to us by a the kindness and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord!

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Crucified with Christ

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Once near the end of his life Samuel Clemens was so sick that the newspaper reported that he had died. When Mr Clemens awoke to read story he quipped “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!”

Paul shares a similarly astonishing report with his friends at church. He was in fact dead! But hold the presses because in fact he was still living! But wait there’s more! It isn’t me alive..it is Jesus in me that lives!

Strange and wonderful as that may seem it can be equally true for any of us. The moment we 100% trust our daily life to Christ we die…but wait because He lives by faith in us the news is we are still alive and will be for all eternity!