Living in the Last Hour

For me, saying goodbye to another year always allows me to reflect on the past twelve months but also my life in general. I like looking back because I can see the many ways that God worked in my life. Most trials were unpleasant and downright difficult. I can also check my attitude, behavior and over all spiritual growth or lack of it, from my failings to my joy being restored. I give God all the glory! God has moved mountains for me. He knows me by name. He is faithful when I am not. When I doubt, complain or fail Him, He remains faithful. He’s has demonstrated to me what agape love looks like. And I can testify that there is nothing like it on earth. Agape love cannot be found in human relationships. Sorry. Humans are selfish, to the core. That is our fallen nature. We try to love as the Lord showed us, but we fall short of His glory. Bible believers and non believers both try and sometimes a nonbeliever will extend grace and compassion where a believer fails, but as the Scriptures declare no amount of good works will get anyone into heaven.

Walk in the Spirit

What does a believer who walks according to the Spirit look like? I ask myself that question, over and over, again. I look for examples among fellow believers. Do I know anyone that fits that bill? I look at my life and wonder. If I die tomorrow will anyone say that I walked in like manner? Family say all sorts of nice things when a loved one passes, especially a Christian. But that, Christian individual, had relationships before Christ and maybe after, that were broken. Husband and wife and parent-child relationships tend to fall in there. No doubt the other person had negative things to say, but as we know. We never speak ill of the dead. We remember the best and ignore the rest. Or we choose to remain bitter. There is no resolve after death. It is sad that such situations exist. Yes, even among believers.

I just read an obit about an individual that passed suddenly. Friends had all sorts of nice things to say about this person, about what a kindhearted, a good friend, prayer warrior, lived Jesus daily, always singing praises to the Lord, positive and encouraging, just a good Christian. I did not know this person, per se but I knew this person had brought a darkness to some children. This person’s appearance completely severed a parent-child relationship, that remains fractured. And death did not make it right. Now, other children came along to the individual, and those new children were never told about the previous children. They discovered the truth inadvertently, but it was explained away. Those children never knew the of existence of the other children, so they did not know they were living a lie created for them. When one spouse gives the other spouse an ultimatum, choose me or your previous children. And the spouse chooses the spouse. Who is responsible for those broken relationships? Are either, as bible believing Christians, commanded to make things right? I don’t want to bring attention to the details of such relationships, but to the overall notion of restoring relationships. I do not doubt this individual was a good person, or a good Christian to those most close. But how do we as believers reconcile the lives we created, lives based on untruths (even if by omission), with the Scriptures?

Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Mat. 5:24

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom  he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:20

When we start walking with the Lord, we learn as we go along. Nothing happens overnight. We certainly don’t change our heart and mind right off the bat. I don’t care what any song lyric says. The Lord works in our heart and mind to transform us into His image. It takes time to get all that old gunk out of our heart, and mind, and taking every thought captive, oh and taming the tongue. That’s almost impossible. Our walk is or should be a reflection of this spiritual transformation. When the Lord transforms a heart there is no need for facade. We are to know fellow believers by their fruit, but the content of our character. Well, I do not know about most people, but I have been fooled more than once. So, God continues to work in me, to create in me a pure heart. Part of what I am compelled to do is to examine myself, my faith, what I believe which is something the Scriptures encourage us to do (2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Peter 1:10-11 and Psalm 139:23-24). It is not about doubting God, or my salvation, or questioning anything of God. It is about examining what I have been taught. We are commanded to test the spirits. I have had to do a lot of unlearning.

So, if we claim to be so righteous, should we allow untruths, and broken relationships to remain in our lives, especially relationships we broke? Can we truly have a pure heart if we ignore such truths?
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5:8

I end the year with a lot of reflection. Losing loved ones is never pleasant. When is death ever pleasant? Well, you have to ask the people who were hurt by the deceased. I do not want to be someone that died knowing that I hurt someone, past or present, and as a believer, never sought to make it right. So I am asking myself, did I allow the Lord to restore my broken relationships? Did I make things right with people I knew I offended, intentionally or not? Was I sensitive to the Spirit even to recognize that I may have offended someone? Did I love people that others called toxic? Was I toxic? Jesus Christ was all about restoring relationships. He came to restore, to reconcile man’s relationship with his Creator. He did it because He loved His Father. And His Father loved Him. God wanted complete reconciliation and Jesus Christ, His only Son accomplished that. But do we? I have to go with a big NO.

I saw the sign above on the highway. It caught my eye, because I thought “Oh man. Is that not a sucker bet? Don’t take it people! It should say “Jesus Christ is real and He loves you. Just ask Him. Do not bet your life away.” More later as I continue to reflect.