Encouragement

Suppose a life-threatening situation strikes April and me. Since we both are believers, we should be able to pray in this way: “Father, if all you did for us was to bring salvation into our lives so that we would enjoy eternity in Your paradise, and You did not help us in this life-threatening situation, it would be enough.”

Only two kinds of people exist temporarily on this planet. One guess might be men and women. Apparently, you aren’t aware of the new superstore, ‘Genders”R”Us?’ Don’t like your gender? Visit this store and find one that fits you. It operates like the Build-A-Bear store. You simply create a gender that fits you.

Contrast that with the world’s recipe for obtaining peace. “Breathe in, breathe out,” the world says. In other words, do some fundamental biology. “Practice talking to yourself,” the world exclaims. Because the world has always admired people who talk to themselves

You can never experience the peace of God until you possess peace with God. The problem is we believe we can create our own versions of establishing peace with God.

Our Lord will gaze upon us and say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:23) Once again, the easy yoke of Christ has reigned in our hearts.

When the Roman proconsul threatened Polycarp with fire, the saint said, “You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and is then extinguished. But you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting? Bring on whatever you want.”

The bull hippo can only wish for that kind of day. That burly fellow spends every hour warding off challenges to his rule and protecting his domain. The poor guy can never leave his self-centeredness behind for even a moment. It’s exhausting. It’s definitely not the life of the ‘easy yoke.’

God desires a relationship with each one of us. The Creator of all, the One who is timeless, the One who bestows eternal life, that Person desires to know me. Hard to believe I know.

Imagine if God had said to the Israelites (and also to us), “I will remain on my throne high in Heaven. To reach me, you must attain the perfect holiness that I am. I have established all the procedures you need to follow in order to accomplish this. Follow them perfectly and you can join me here. Good luck. Also, no collect calls please.”

God’s holiness potentially prevents the entirety of mankind from having a relationship with Him. A mere man cannot stand in front of an on-rushing locomotive and live.