Life without end. . . .

Today is my 83rd birthday. People say I don’t look my age. Sometimes I feel it, but today am more concerned with being productive — but it is -30C outside, so hibernating is appealing!

However, there are days when the quickly passing years are reluctantly on my mind. It is good to read about the reality of eternal life and know that this life is not all there is. God does not always reveal to me that I’ve been a blessing by doing something He planned for me to do here, but since He says He saved me for His purposes, I am trusting Him and rejoicing that He keeps His promises. Many are listed here:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not 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, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1–10)

Not only do I rejoice in having a blessed life, the fact that it is eternal is also precious. Eternal means forever, never ending. Both Old and New Testaments declare it. For example:

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

Many of my friends, even Christian friends, look at death as a huge enemy. Young ones don’t think of it much, but the older most get, the more they want to stay healthy and keep on living here rather than stepping from this life into the next. How important to realize that that ‘next’ life is already ours. We have Christ and with Christ, we have eternal life. It is not something that we enter into when we die, but is already ours, and something to enjoy and rejoice in right now. This is because that life is the very life of Christ, in us and given to us the moment of our salvation.

PRAY: Jesus, I’m glad today that instead of marking the years, I can mark that from the day You walked into my life, You gave me Your life, Your forever life. If You died, I would die, but because You live forever, so do I live forever. It is a done deal, not a future promise. In You, I am eternally secure. Such an amazing and wonderful gift from an amazing and incredible Lord and Savior. You fill me with joy even as You reassure me that I am Yours forever!

 

Forever Thankful

 

 

Yesterday’s preparation for Thanksgiving dinner lasted for several hours yet it was not tiresome. The glazed turkey turned out so well that my daughter-in-law teased me that I’d snuck in the Iron Chef to do it. However, the clean-up, even though it took much less time, seemed to take ‘forever.’ I’m thankful that God, with the passing of time and because of all that He does, is never exhausted and can handle ‘forever’ much better than I can!

In the OT, FOREVER is about length, either space or times. “Length of days” refers to a long life on earth. One Hebrew word can mean eternity or is translated forever. Another word used more than four hundred times means “ancient, eternal, forever, everlasting.” Whatever the context, it is far longer than it takes to clear the table, take all the remaining meat off the turkey and put it and other leftovers in the frig, get those turkey bones in a crock pot for soup, fill the dishwasher, and wash everything else that will not fit.

Some OT examples of forever as it pertains to God include:

Exodus 3:15. God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

Exodus 15:18. “The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

Deuteronomy 32:40–41. For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me.

1 Chronicles 16:34. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 48:14. that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever.

Psalm 111:3. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.

Ecclesiastes 3:14. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.

Isaiah 40:8. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

In the NT, the Greek adjective aiōnios is used three ways. It refers to the eternity of God in the divine realm, the forever blessings of salvation, and specific conditions without beginning or end (eternal) that we often call God’s forever blessings. I’m blessed when thinking that there is no end to God therefore no end to His grace toward His people. These truths take me through down days and tough stuff.

John 14:16. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (the Holy Spirit), to be with you forever.”

Galatians 1:3–5. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Hebrews 1:8. “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.’ ”

Hebrews 13:8. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. The fatigue slides away when I think of how much I’ve been blessed. Peace fills my heart when God reminds me that He is a forever God who never changes and whose blessings last forever; there is no end to His goodness. One day, as Revelation 22:5 says, the dark and difficult will be gone because “night will be no more” and I will not need the light of lamp or sun because “the Lord God will be my light” and will be all that I will ever need; with Him I “will reign forever and ever.” Besides, that kind of forever also means never-ending joy!