Tag: Reincarnation

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Gap Fillers.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If you want to read the Apostle Paul’s most genuine, generous and gentle letter to a church – read Thessalonians. Paul was only able to stay with this new church plant for a few weeks. And, although it was difficult, he had to leave them. His young sidekick, Timothy, kept the Apostle in the loop as to what was happening in this baby church.

Soon after Paul left there was horrible persecution. It was so bad that Paul often wrote about the wonder and glory of end times, of heaven, to help them deal with suffering. God had not abandoned them, God was WITH them in the struggles, even in martyrdom! Paul wanted to return in person, but that never happened. Oddly enough, Paul tells the church that their perseverance, their dedication brought joy to his heart. Like a proud papa, Paul extended his own faith in deep and sincere prayer for them.

Paul used an interesting phrase and a word to describe how desperate he was to see them again. The New Living Translation gives us a glimpse into Paul’s thinking, he wanted to “fill in the gaps” in their faith. The other translations use the direct translation from then Greek word, husteréma, which is lacking, a defect or shortcoming. The root word, hustereó, helps a bit more. This word means to come late, be behind or come short. What was lacking? What did Paul want to catch them up on?

The general consensus is that Paul was able to share the gospel, how one is saved through faith and given grace as a gift, not through works of our own. But, he was not able to instruct the new church about end times. Since people in the church were being put to death, there was a lot of questions about where they would go and how long it would be until Jesus came back. They had heard the part about Jesus returning, but when. They had hoped it was very soon.

Where most people see the apocalypse, or end times, as terrifying, folks who were under extreme persecution saw it as HOPE. Hope for justice for the innocent, hope for a better life than struggling in starvation or constant mocking of their faith. The Thessalonian church was eager for it all to be over and get on with eternal life! The gap fill was a proper understanding on suffering, perseverance, persecution and what life AFTER death looks like!

Do we know what life after death looks like? Does our friends and neighbors understand that life, our physical body and soul continue to exist? There are few choices to be made when our culture removes God – the God – out of the equation. One is reincarnation, coming back again and again – trying to get it right. One lives “good,” and you come back as a “higher” existence as a more advanced creature. A horrible person comes back as a despised creature, like a mosquito or a tick! The other is the idea of annihilation, where nothing and no one exists at all. It’s just over and you’re gone.

Believing God means that there is life after death! However, this life and definitely the afterlife has consequences attached to it. For the church folk Paul was writing to, they did not have answers or proper teaching on life after death, so they were very concerned. Let me just ask? What are the gaps in your faith? What are things you’ve heard about and wonder if they are true? What questions do you have that you’re afraid to ask, because someone might think you’re silly or too simple? Do us all a favor – ASK anyways! One of the biggest regrets I have in the church is for folks to be shamed or silenced into not asking questions. This is not of God, and it is wrong. Ask me if you’d like. I can’t guarantee I’ll have the answer, but I won’t think less of you for asking – in fact, I’ll be proud of ya.

Prayer

Dad,
I sure had A LOT of questions as a new believer. I wasn’t afraid to ask! I think people knew that I was new in my faith, so they didn’t shame me. However I did get a ton of over-simplified answers and Bible references that didn’t make sense and had nothing to do with my question. I would have rather them be honest and tell me they didn’t know the answer. I want people to feel comfortable with asking to fill in the gaps of their understanding of You. I don’t want folks lacking in their faith because it leaves them unsure of their future or relationship with you. Help me, help us be better gap-fillers for others. Amen.

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What does God want?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Consider all this, and call for the mourners. Send for the women who mourn at funerals. Quick! Begin your weeping! Let the tears flow from your eyes. Hear the people of Jerusalem crying in despair, ‘We are ruined! We are completely humiliated! We must leave our land, because our homes have been torn down.’” Jeremiah‬ ‭9:17-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​Learning from discipline.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a child being properly disciplined, but it is quite a difficult scene to endure. I’m not talking about abuse or harsh corporal punishment from parent to child. I’m just talking about the extraordinary patience as a toddler melts down in public! Of course the child is crying, but often I’ve seen the child’s mother break down in exhaustive tears in complete frustration. There is wailing for sure.

As I read through the God-spokesperson’s words, His prophets, warning, imploring God’s own people to stop their temper-tantrum, destructive behavior. I understand why God would…. discipline them – severely! God does so as the most loving, merciful acts ever. Israel (and ALL of humanity) just won’t listen and stubbornly, even defiantly CHOOSE to go their own way, choose their own path. Even if it’s right off the cliff to their own death and destruction. They don’t, we don’t care – we want what we want when we want it and we won’t let anyone tell us any different!

What’s God to do with that total toddler behavior showing up constantly in grownup adults? Back then, God said, enough is enough! He has plans and God will have His way and nothing, NOTHING is going to stop Him from getting what He wants.

What does God want? YOU. He wants you back. He wants what is best for you, for me. He wants everything and everyone to be made right, whole, at peace, and back in the family. What if humans don’t want that? Well there’s the rub, right? There’s the struggle, the WAR, the problem. What if humans WANT to go their own way? Sure, God will eventually let them, but not without a fight.

What does it take to get it through our thick skulls – there is NOTHING else out there but chaos, death and destruction! And that world, that existence has its own ruler with his own ways of doing a life without God – that’s Satan’s realm and his plan to take as many as possible away from God and drag them to the eternal pits of despair!

For those humans who “live” it up here and just hope for annihilation, a eternal state of nothingness, it’s a lie.

For those promised some kind of union with “all” things and experience karma (with is nothingness) being “one” with all matter, it’s a lie.

For those who think they get to do life here, then come back, reincarnated to try again, hopefully as a higher life-being, it’s also a lie.

ALL those paths are shams leading to the same place, death and destruction away from God for all eternity. When God comes across harsh in His discipline methods, like stripping Israel of everything they knew and everything they owned – He does so out love! Because the alternative is eternally worse. So when you see people angry at God, or bitter because they believe God isn’t fair (which He is definitely not fair, but He is just), or they struggle and fight to run into the street like a wild, willful toddler – yeah, you’ll see some serious tears and tantrums going on.

Prayer

Dad,
Even though I completely acknowledge my sins, I have no intention of trying to get away from you to do “my own thing.” My life was a wreck before you got ahold of me. I remember your discipline in my youth. I remember how stubborn and feisty I was towards the things of God and how hard it was for me to just be obedient. Honestly, from my chaotic past, a lot of what you were teaching me did not make sense. If felt extremely counterintuitive from everything I had learned on my own. If it were not for your grace and persistent patience, I would not have made it this far. So, thank you for your steadfast hand of love.