The best is yet to  come!

With respect to the first point, I really only need to let it truly sink in that I am in over my head all of the time. Which of us has any real knowledge of what the next hour holds? For that matter, who among us can say with certainty they have the necessary wisdom and resources to handle all of the situations that currently confront them? My problem here is that this realization of inadequacy and this attitude of dependence are foreign to my nature, my training, and my culture.

God has given us rather phenomenal capabilities. We have been created to subdue the earth and rule over every living thing on it. Individuals and mankind in general have accomplished great and mighty things. These accomplishments combined with our natural desire for independence lead us to mistakenly believe that we can rise to any occasion. We have honed our skills with training and practice and have been taught that relying on anyone other than ourselves is a recipe for disappointment and failure. Society holds the self-sufficient, "self-made" man in highest esteem. If you watch television "Sit-Coms", you might agree with my son-in-law that we are conditioned to expect every problem to be resolved in 30 minutes to an hour. Mankind is so capable that there are those who believe that Homo sapiens are the Supreme Beings. Some people actually believe they have no need for God!

Therefore, once in awhile, the Lord permits circumstances to come our way to help us understand our limitations. Perhaps we would encounter fewer of these circumstances if we more consistently made our personal "Declaration of Dependence" upon Him. We are the branches; He is the Vine. Apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 15:5)   Yet, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13)

The second reason I draw closer to God in times of distress and wander away when things go my way is because my primary motivation for following Him is still self-centered. I am looking out for my best interests, and it just so happens that I have come to the conclusion that following the Lord (most of the time) is in my best interest. It is embarrassing to admit this, and I probably would not, except that I know I am surrounded by people of like mind. I have been a Christian for 35 years; it is about time to grow up! As I look back 35 years ago, I realize I accepted Jesus Christ into my life to avoid the anguish of Hell and to attain the "Abundant Life" promised in John 10:10. What is a little disheartening is that I haven't matured beyond this. As infants and little children we view everything as though it exists solely for our benefit. Parents come into our world to feed us and change us and then they cease to exist until their services are required again. I remember being surprised the first time I saw one of my elementary teachers with her husband at the grocery store. I had not pictured teachers as having a life other than the small segment that they shared with me. This same immature attitude is demonstrated in my life today by how quickly I lose thought about people once I have lost sight of them. The old cliche, "Out of sight; out of mind" is far too descriptive of me.

It is time that I begin to mature by being a lot more others centered. I have very few moments in my life that are characterized by others centeredness. Perhaps the most dramatic are with my wife and children. I believe I can honestly say that my thoughts for them supercede my thoughts for me. The reason for this doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. My love for them exceeds my love for me. But how do I achieve the same level of caring for others outside my family? I am treading on pretty unfamiliar territory here, but it seems necessary for me to get: a.) much more specific and b.) much more involved.

I am not going to move toward others centered maturity by trying to focus my love on corporate humanity. My mind and heart can't get too excited with such vast generalizations. I am unable to get to know and get involved in meeting the needs of everyone. Therefore, I will focus on the ones God has put me near. The individuals I see and work around day in and day out. Like with my family, I will need to get to know these people well enough to know what they want and need, and then, look for opportunities to meet these needs. That is easy enough to say, but as I ponder the task I become overwhelmed by the demand on my time and resources that this might require. The fact is it is far beyond anything I can possibly provide within myself. I know what I must do. I've said it many times in the classes I have taught. I will need to draw upon the infinite resources of my Lord Jesus. Since I don't have enough love, time, or possessions to give to even the people I live around, I will work at being the conduit of Christ's love. For this to work I will need to really abide in His love. His words recorded in the 15th chapter of John's Gospel tell us that if we obey Him we will abide in His love. I think the place to start is to build a more consistently reliant, obedient relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I am going to need to do this motivated by a desire to love Him and others more effectively rather than from the benefits I might derive. If I become enraptured with Him; that is, return to my first love, I will almost certainly become better equipped to truly love those around me.

Perhaps the Accuser and Deceiver of this World prefers other methods, since persecution seemed to only spread the Gospel rather than extinguish it. Perhaps our Loving Heavenly Father is graciously protecting us from this kind of onslaught. Perhaps it's our society's prevailing philosophy to maximize pleasure and minimize pain that keeps us turning back from the first signs of difficulty.

One morning as I looked out the window during a light rain, my eye was drawn to a drop of water that was growing in size at the top of the window. It soon began to run down the glass. Its course was not rapid nor direct. It increased in speed as it was combined with other drops lower down on the window. The course of the little stream was altered several times by tiny particles of dirt, dust, or insects that it encountered along the way. The stream never washed the obstructions away, it simply chose a course around them. It followed the path of least resistance, a very natural phenomenon.

Sometimes I wonder if this "path of least resistance" isn't the dominant characteristic of North American Christianity. John the Baptist would never have encountered Herod's executioner if He had kept quiet about his beliefs (particularly those having to do with adultery). Paul was warned about going to Jerusalem; he could have avoided the whole mess, but his convictions drove him to his death. The Christians slain in the Roman arena could have been set free if they only would have withdrawn their declarations of faith in Jesus. The point is there was a path of least resistance, but these people refused to take it. In reading the accounts of their lives and deaths, one does not hear of the logical rationalizations that are so common today. Imagine some of the possible thoughts of an Apostle Paul raised in Twentieth Century Western Civilization.

If I am imprisoned, how can I start new churches? Why should I go to Jerusalem and face a bunch of self-centered, hot-headed Pharisees? They will never change; I need to devote my time to those who will respond to the Gospel. I think I had better go to Spain.

Some Christians today are like the rain drop on my window. They never move out to do the Lord's will until the pressures of life force them to do so. They respond more quickly to the Lord when surrounded by others of like mind; it's rare to find them charting a life course alone. They appear to have no real purpose or direction. That, however, is not true. Their purpose is to avoid difficulty and to acquire happiness and comfort. These goals cause them to make a lot of adjustments in their interpretations of God's will and their response to it. They discern His will by whether or not things are going well for them. If they are happy and comfortable, they must be in the center of His will. If on the other hand the circumstances of life are uncomfortable, then that's God closing a door.

The problem is there are too many examples of people who face one difficulty after another while truly doing the Lord's will. We cannot expect the Narrow Way to be the easy way. That view cannot be found anywhere in the Bible or the lives of people who live it.

Furthermore, if I truly loved Jesus, how could I cast Him aside? I cannot imagine forsaking my wife or children to save my own life. The 13th Chapter of I Corinthians tells us, "Love never fails." This means that in this proposed life threatening situation, it's not a matter of bravery, strength, or personal resolve. Once again it is, who do I love more -- me or Him?!? If Jesus is just an abstract concept or a pleasant belief system, I may very easily deny Him to save my own neck. This is where the differences between religion and relationship become like night and day. The reality of our living Lord Jesus only comes alive in a constant walking, talking, loving relationship with Him. When my love for Him exceeds my love for me, the normal thing to do will be to readily sacrifice my well-being for Him. The really remarkable part of this relationship is that I only need to be willing to love Him that much; He enables me to truly achieve that level of love.

A few years ago, my wife got a little parakeet. His name was Bird. Bird loved his cage and all the things in it. He'd stay busy all day long playing with his toys, flying from perch to swing, chewing on his cuddle bone, and a whole lot of other really important bird stuff. He never experienced life outside this cage.  The few times we brought him out of his cage, he became very nervous and eager to return to familiar surroundings. God telling us about Heaven is like me trying to tell this parakeet about living free as an eagle in the regions around Mt Rainier in Washington. If he could understand any of it, it would probably frighten him more than give him hope and encouragement. He might complain:

How will I live with no one to give me food and water?

If I can't take my toy ferris wheel, I don't want to go.

If I live up in the mountains, I'll get lonely and cold.

I might get eaten by a wild animal or something.

Bird has no way of knowing what life as an eagle would be like. We have no way of knowing our capabilities after we have been changed in the twinkling of an eye. Bird only relates to his little world and cannot imagine anything better. We also have difficulty imagining life much different from our current experiences. Even when we cancel out the pain, frustration, and disappointment of our lives, the prospects of Heaven can still leave us a little cold. I've heard people proclaim that if there aren't horses or dogs or cats or whatever in Heaven, then they didn't want to go. This sounds a lot like parakeet talk.

My relationship with God has taught me at least one thing; walking with the Lord is NEVER BORING! Why would things change when we see Him in His fulness? I am woefully inadequate to understand Heaven, but the more I know of the Lord Jesus Christ the more I long to see Him face to face. My relationship with Him has, slowly but surely, taught me to view this world and my life as a temporary pilgrimage. The closer I get to Him the more homesick I become.

The second part of the above question reflects the doubt that may be in some of the deepest recesses of our minds. Have I done what I must to gain entrance to Heaven? A few years ago this thought came to me in one of the most vivid dreams I have ever experienced. The dream was very strange. The central theme of the dream was my execution. I have no idea why I was to be terminated; it was just something that had to happen. I was complacent about the whole ordeal. It was really no big thing. I drove to the place, parked my car, and went in to tell the receptionist that I was there for my execution. The receptionist left me in the lobby and went to get the person who was to prepare me for the event. It was like going to a hospital for surgery, but I wasn't going to be healed of any physical problems; I had an appointment to be terminated. As she left the lobby an overwhelming doubt entered my mind. What if I misread the Bible and there was more I needed to do to be qualified for Heaven? I awoke praying. Lord, forgive me of anything I have done wrong and please receive me into Your Kingdom!

This dream awakened the debate that I thought I had laid to rest long ago. Are we saved by grace and grace alone or is our eternal destiny determined by our behavior? I was raised in a church that was convinced a person could lose eternal life by going to the cinema. As I became more familiar with the Bible and its Author, I began to grasp the dimensions of grace. Grace can only be received; it can never be earned. Any attempt to merit salvation leaves us in the impossible bind that only Christ's death and resurrection could resolve. God requires perfection. I am not and cannot be perfectly sinless because I have already sinned. Even if I could live the remainder of my life completely without sin, I would still be flawed and unable to fulfill God's requirement for perfection.

I think the problem is that we get confused between atonement and being cleansed from unrighteousness. Atonement is required to remove the curse of eternal separation from God brought about by our imperfect, sin stained heritage. Cleansing from unrighteousness is necessary to create the guilt free environment necessary to grow in relationship with our Heavenly Father. Once we have received the Atonement, we are forever in relationship with Him. The quality of our relationship and our very lives is dependent on our willingness to trust and obey His instruction.

Ephesians 2:8-10
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

On the other side of the womb he finds everyone celebrating. The only tears are those of joy. No one is saying, you have my sympathy; oh what a tragedy; I'm so sorry. Why? Because we all realize that life has now begun in earnest. This aspect of the child's life is radically different from his life to this point. Radically different and remarkably improved! Once he adapts to it, his new life will be better than anything he could have even imagined in the womb. The understanding, mobility, strength, stature, emotions, and experiences that this child comes to take for granted were beyond his comprehension prior to birth.