Tomorrow?

  Perhaps you have been on one side or the other of the following exchange (or one like it):  “Alright, I understand that you are very busy, but you need to tell me, When will this job be complete?”  The answer follows, “Tomorrow.”  Perhaps it was here that you discovered how evasive or even illusional the term tomorrow can be, and how it is often used by those who want to make meaningless commitments. They know that when you wake up on tomorrow, it will have already become today, and tomorrow will be yet another day.

  God’s Word puts tomorrow in perspective when it says, “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:13-14)”

  In the next verse James reminds us that, though we don’t know what tomorrow holds, there is Someone who does.  “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. (James 4:15)  i.e. Tomorrow is subject to the will of God—as are all subsequent tomorrows.  As followers of Christ we must say with the rest of the world, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds,” but we can most assuredly add, “…but I know who holds tomorrow.”

  Some procrastinator once coined the phrase, “There’s always tomorrow!” but in fact, the Bible is clear, there will be a last tomorrow.  And so it is important that we take care of the most weighty matters today!  God states it like this, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself… (Matthew 6:34)”

  Consider the urgency of: “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6)”  “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2Corinthians 6:2)”  “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2Timothy 4:1-2)”  We must not wait until tomorrow!

Mountain Of Evidence

  Because of the bi-polar political climate in our country, and the bias of our national media, conspiracy theories are continually leveled against the “opposition party.” Everybody seems to be looking for “a mountain of evidence” to support their choice of theories or accusations.  Perhaps there is legitimate evidence to support the claims of some, but because of the abundance of fabricated tales espoused by those who do not blush to speak a lie, it is becoming increasingly hard to discern the truth among them.

  Contrary to popular opinion, there are things infinitely more important than what “reporters” reveal about the political arenas around the world.  There is the plan of God that unfolds before our very eyes, just as it was prophesied in His Word.

  An ever growing mountain of evidence supports the accuracy and relevance of the Bible.  Just a few examples will have to suffice for now:  #1 Daniel 2 and 7 predict the rise and fall of five Gentile world powers that would exercise authority over God’s people, the Jews.  Four have already come and gone (the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires).  The coming fifth empire, perhaps already forming in the East (a Revised Roman Empire) will be led by the Antichrist during the coming Tribulation.  #2 The Bible is also clear that the nation of Israel will exist in the Tribulation, and Millennial Kingdom, but for 19 centuries there was no Israel.  And then, in 1948, as predicted the nation was re-formed in her ancient homeland.  #3 God has revealed what the world will look like just before the end.  “…in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (2Timothy 3:1-4)”  Sound familiar?

  If you doubt the Word of God, either you have not read it, or did not understand it.  Try again; in time you will discover a mountain of evidence to suggest that things are going to turn out exactly as God has foretold.

Artificial Intelligence

  Each week seems to bring news of “advancements” in computer science as it pertains to Artificial Intelligence or AI.  There are obviously those who would promote an accelerated implementation of this new science into the systems and processes that govern the way we live.  They believe that computers will be able to make informed, educated decisions that dwarf man’s ability to reason.  What could go wrong?  Some of us old-timers have started to question whether the only true “Artificial Intelligence” is the intelligence of those who would so blindly risk such a quantum leap of utter dependence—one that could potentially preclude our ability to reverse directions.  Perhaps future generations will say, “Maybe they weren’t so smart after all.”

   This reminds me of some verses of scripture, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1Corinthians 1:27-29)”  The point is that God has a monopoly on knowledge and wisdom—Genuine Intelligence.  What men of the world consider to be wise, God deems foolish.  And the true wisdom of God is viewed as foolish by “wise men” who don’t know Him.

  I am sure that these few words will not convince the skeptics, but if you are a believer, do not forget, God is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.  The sciences are God’s playground for learned men to try to discover how He designed things to be as they are.  For the wisdom that makes life worthwhile, He invites, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)”  You will quickly learn that His way of thinking is different from the wisest of men.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)”

In The Morning

  Though not often, I can remember times in my youth when, as the light of day faded, my mind became filled with adolescent anxiety as my world was about to be shrouded in blackness.  I felt like a prisoner of night, my anxious thoughts my only companions.  I still remember my mother’s loving and tender attempt to console me with these words, “Son just try to get some rest; things will look better in the morning.”  Amazingly, when the sun rose in the morning sky and the light began to illuminate a new day, it was obvious that she was right!  The change in my perception was like the magic of morning.

  This reminds me of something that Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.   As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:4-5)”  Obviously the Lord was not referring to physical light that illuminates the stuff of earth, but spiritual light, to illuminate things that cannot be seen with our eyes—the eternal things of God.  His reference to “day” then, must represent the period in which this spiritual light shines.

  When Jesus (the essence of that light) was here, men became aware of God’s love for them and His intention to purchase their souls back to Himself by the gift of His Son.  After Jesus returned to heaven, generations of His followers became the bearers of that light.  Jesus told them, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. (Matthew 5:14)” …but perhaps you have noticed lately, troublous times are upon us, spiritual darkness threatens to envelope the globe.  Perhaps you are starting to feel captive to your own thoughts of what will be on the morrow.

  If you know the Lord, let me console you with those words I learned from my mother, “Rest for now, things will look better in the morning.”  But what is it about the morning that yields its magic?  It is not magic my friend, morning is when we will once again see the SON in the sky.  Jesus Himself said, “I am the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16)”  He’s coming soon!  “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isaiah 40:5)”

The Resurrection

  The calendar is dated in both directions from His birth.  He performed miracles and transformed lives during His thirty-three year life on earth.  His followers spread His teachings around the world and for centuries, people, wise and sincere, have found His cause worth living for, and worth dying for.  He has accomplished what no mere man could accomplish.  He is God in the flesh—Jesus, the same God who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them!  But perhaps it all sounds like a fairytale to you—you who choose to exercise faith in a cosmic explosion billions and billions of years ago which unscrupulous theorists have deemed responsible for every form of life that inhabits the earth, and the perfectly ordered universe that sustains it.

  This is the week that sets biblical Christianity apart from all other faiths!  This is the week we remember the Passion of Jesus, and Sunday is the day we remember His Resurrection from the dead.  Those of us who have discovered God’s Book (the Bible), who have placed our faith and dependence upon Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin, now serve a risen, living Savior who has promised to return to earth at the end of this age to receive us to Himself.  But this sounds like the last, sensational lines of a play with a complex story line.

  The truth contained above is indeed an over-the-top conclusion to the story of time and eternity as revealed by God in His Word.  It is quite unbelievable to the natural mind without the illumination that comes from hearing the whole story.  The story begins with, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)” and ends with, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)”  The truth that lies between these two passages makes believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sin, the logical thing to do.

  But why take my word for it when you can read it all for yourself!  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2Timothy 3:16)”