As much as I might want to tell you I have unusual moral courage or spiritual insight, the basic reason might be that my grandparents and parents hung on to Jesus. Plus I grew up in a village full of ordinary neighbors who hung on to him.
The Present.
Some of those neighbors are as old and white-headed as I. With a glance or two I compare their lives with those I grew up with who laughed at Jesus. More incentive to hang on.
The Future.
You’ve heard, “‘Cheer up,’ they said. ‘Things could be worse.’ So I cheered up and sure enough, things got worse.”
And we both laughed at the line.
Yet, as my boyhood friend, Howard Snyder, recently noted — Christianity is a religion of hope.
“Be of good cheer,” Jesus said, “for I have overcome the world.”
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
I appreciate your use of the CEV version of Scriptures.;
The hope (of rescue) that the Christ promises sometimes doesn’t feel “real”; but verse clips like ” I Am with you to deliver you”; or,God is faithful who promised” or I am With you, not against you”, or such other phrases in Christs’ teachings, do offer support too.
The phrases don’t say “how” or when”, and that often is what I need/want to know, but it’s an encouragement to hang on.
yes… things could get worse, and often they do…..it happens!
But God is faithful Who promised…still……..even tho’ I often have no clue of how or when….
I’m going through some personal stuff right now, that demands my holding on to His promises to deliver; wait on the LORD comes to mind…It is what we do.
“The eternal fires of Gehenna first must burn away, refine, and purify evil from every heart. And make no mistake. Like it or not, none of us will escape.”
I would love to dive more into this thought here. Do we need to rethink and ponder purgatory? The wicked will not inherit the Kingdom, and yet we are all wicked at the core. Christ covers us, is our foundation in the day of wrath. But we too must suffer.
Is not out life here, if viewed as a whole, an eternity? And is not life here, in this broken, groaning reality, not like the valley of hinnom? How could he’ll possibly be worse than genocide, rape, infanticide, and everything else our moral abuse makes a permanent reality here?
Thank you!
Chris,
Isn’t “hell on earth” a good image? It is a cleansing experience in many ways..
Seriously…from my observances of life as an MK, born and raised many years in La Cote D’Ivoire… and the transitions and conflicts of an MK trying to figure out where she really belongs….and how to live in this huge USA with more foster parents… and little communication with core family….as a teen ager and then into marriage and child raising…
Alot of that time of transition and adjustments were hellish.
Why do I hang on?
The Past.
As much as I might want to tell you I have unusual moral courage or spiritual insight, the basic reason might be that my grandparents and parents hung on to Jesus. Plus I grew up in a village full of ordinary neighbors who hung on to him.
The Present.
Some of those neighbors are as old and white-headed as I. With a glance or two I compare their lives with those I grew up with who laughed at Jesus. More incentive to hang on.
The Future.
You’ve heard, “‘Cheer up,’ they said. ‘Things could be worse.’ So I cheered up and sure enough, things got worse.”
And we both laughed at the line.
Yet, as my boyhood friend, Howard Snyder, recently noted — Christianity is a religion of hope.
“Be of good cheer,” Jesus said, “for I have overcome the world.”
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Amen. May his grace be with us all.
I appreciate your use of the CEV version of Scriptures.;
The hope (of rescue) that the Christ promises sometimes doesn’t feel “real”; but verse clips like ” I Am with you to deliver you”; or,God is faithful who promised” or I am With you, not against you”, or such other phrases in Christs’ teachings, do offer support too.
The phrases don’t say “how” or when”, and that often is what I need/want to know, but it’s an encouragement to hang on.
yes… things could get worse, and often they do…..it happens!
But God is faithful Who promised…still……..even tho’ I often have no clue of how or when….
I’m going through some personal stuff right now, that demands my holding on to His promises to deliver; wait on the LORD comes to mind…It is what we do.
Yes, Viv, wait on him. It is what we do.
Thank you, my dear brother in Christ!
I appreciate your support!
“The eternal fires of Gehenna first must burn away, refine, and purify evil from every heart. And make no mistake. Like it or not, none of us will escape.”
I would love to dive more into this thought here. Do we need to rethink and ponder purgatory? The wicked will not inherit the Kingdom, and yet we are all wicked at the core. Christ covers us, is our foundation in the day of wrath. But we too must suffer.
Is not out life here, if viewed as a whole, an eternity? And is not life here, in this broken, groaning reality, not like the valley of hinnom? How could he’ll possibly be worse than genocide, rape, infanticide, and everything else our moral abuse makes a permanent reality here?
You are right Chris. There is much more to consider on the meaning of Gehenna.
Thank you!
Chris,
Isn’t “hell on earth” a good image? It is a cleansing experience in many ways..
Seriously…from my observances of life as an MK, born and raised many years in La Cote D’Ivoire… and the transitions and conflicts of an MK trying to figure out where she really belongs….and how to live in this huge USA with more foster parents… and little communication with core family….as a teen ager and then into marriage and child raising…
Alot of that time of transition and adjustments were hellish.