The rest of the story...

The rest of the story...

Deut. 34, Luke 9:26-37, Eph. 3:20

It would be easy to think that God was a little too hard on Moses. It was such a small mistake in the middle of so much faithfulness. And those Israelites were so demanding.

After all that faithful work, Moses was destined to only view the promised land from the top of a mountain, it doesn’t seem fair. 

But Deuteronomy 34 isn’t the end of the story. God’s view of Moses’ life was not limited to the 120 years he spent walking the earth. The best word we can use for God’s concept of time is ‘today’.  God’s today for Moses was told in Luke 9:26-37. 

In God’s continuing story, Moses found himself standing not only in the promise land, but next to the Promised One, Jesus, along with Elijah to encourage Jesus as the final redemption approached. 

There is another today coming in God’s economy of time when Moses will see Jesus in the promise land again as a part of the raptured church. Will you be there?

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Eph. 3:20 The Message

  

Colorado was organized in 1861

The following was posted in the AP’s Today in history, 

1861	The Territory of Colorado was organized.

The chipmunk running the creative wheel in my brain is racing trying to decide what ‘organizing’ a territory would look like. 

I keep coming back to the same question, how hard is it to organize a rectangle?

Farewell to a special lady

This afternoon we laid to rest my last great aunt. She was three weeks shy of her 102 birthday. 

When she was 90, I think, she gave her apartment and moved into a ‘retirement’ center where she became the life of the third floor. 

There are 2 great lessons I take away from Aunt Dot’s life. 

1 - You will never out live your friends if you continue to make new friends. 

2-  Dorothy was a fairly stubborn lady, but last fall her son went to see her with just as much determination. He told her ‘Mom, it is time we talk about your salvation.’ For the first time, she was willingly to hear the gospel. That afternoon, Ronnie had the privilege of leading her to accept Jesus Christ as her savior. From then, they would see her Bible by her chair and have it in her lap when she had dropped off to sleep. 

Aunt Dot was fortunate God allowed her to have the time she needed to come to know him. But, she missed a lot of time to have a special friend. What about you? There is no time better than today to turn to Him. 

Surviving Judgment -Background passage Deut 30:6-8

The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live. The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. Then you will again obey Him and follow all His commands I am giving you today. HSCB

The one difficulty of coming to know Jesus at an early age is holding on to your childhood theology. It is easy to understand the basic concepts of God’s love and actions and our appropriate response. Jesus loves me and died for me. Many of God’s other mysteries like sanctification or propitiation, become words mashed into the easier understood concepts. 

Repentance was one of those concepts for me. At my conversion, I clearly understood that I repented of my sins when I asked Jesus into my heart. I enlarged the concept of ‘once saved, always saved’ to become ‘once forgiven, always forgiven.’

It is true, Jesus did his part one time. So, my ego projected my role was a one time event, as well. My prideful, immature self said, ‘Yes, I confessed I was a sinner once. How many times do I have to do it? No, I’m good to go, because Jesus died for my sins. 

When I studied verses like 1 John 1:9, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ (HSCB), I wouldn’t find no application for myself. John is talking about those people who sin, but I’m covered be the blood of Jesus. 

It doesn’t work that way. When I don’t recognize, confess and repent of my sins, guilt builds slowly until my entire physical. spiritual, emotional being, the building materials of my temple are compromised. 

Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely. 1 Cor. 3:12-15 THE MESSAGE

I don’t want to survive judgement. I want a temple which passes inspection. What about you?

Lift the veil from my eyes, 

Let me hear the words I say

Let me see the soul you see

Pierce me with my sin today.

I confess you as my Lord,

and as my sin flows from me, 

Fill me with your cleansing love 

Circumcise my heart for thee.

Archie Manning's football legacy

Toward the end of the regular football season, I was amused by an article discussing the legacy of players like Tony Roma and Tom Brady. The author asked had we already seen their legacies or were they still begin shaped?   

I had to laugh as I thought of Archie Manning. I wonder what people thought his football legacy would be while he was playing. He never played for the Cowboys, so I didn’t know a lot of about him. Yet, still there was something I respected about him. 

Now, we know the Archie’s legacy to professional football was not his playing, but in raising two outstanding quarterbacks, who seem to be great leaders on and off the field. 

We need to believe that “greater things” are always still to come.