The Light at the end of Your Tunnel: 'man's way leads to hopeless end, God's way leads to endless Hope'

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his soul? What can a man give in exchange for his soul?
(Matthew 16:26)

Having recently attended a funeral for my Grandfather, it's unique what happens within our mind, our heart, and our soul when someone we love dies. It's almost like a "reality check". It is as though in those moments we forget about the pleasureful non-sense, the itch within that drives what we do and why we do, and in turn stop to reflect on yesterday, today, and tomorrow, coming to the realization that one day "I will surely breath my last breath". Funerals are a blessing in the sense that it brings to light the most important aspects of life that we often neglect, run from, and increasingly suppress. Considerations such as "what I am living for?", "Where is this path I am traveling on leading me?", "What is my hope for living - both now and after inevitable death", "Why am I here?"; questions - I believe - that all men and woman have to face at some point in their life (which oddly enough is usually when "what we hold as reality" gets flipped upside down and we are left in a helpless, broken state of realization that I can do nothing to change what has happened and what is happening, we discover that what remains is the epiphany of truth: I am not the master of my "known" universe).

What happens next is a travesty and perhaps the greatest tragedy of them all: the Funeral ends, the epiphany fades, and we go back to "living life", driven by the shifting modes of a pleasure-seeking heart, traveling down the same path and the same tunnel that I call "my way" ... the highway whose tunnel is continually dark (sinfully confusing) and whose shadow's distract us whenever we drive by, and begin to consider, the sign's that say "no outlet", "dead end", "wrong way". Yet we don't take the leap of faith and we continue driving faster and faster past the "U Turn" exit that offers any hope of redemption and direction toward light. The greatest tragedy of all is that so many of God's creation proceed down "their way", a way without God driven by their own pursuit for happiness, understanding of knowledge, and deceitfulness of heart (pride) that does not lead to an endless hope, but rather to a hopeless end (a way with no light ... at the end of the tunnel).

So the question is: How does what I'm saying apply to you? What is important to consider and what practicality applies to your life and your circumstance, right? That is the "Big", "most important question"!

First 'food for thought' - What is your purpose for living? In what direction does 'your life's purpose' have you traveling and is their a light of Hope at the end of that tunnel??

We spend our lives working -- for relationships, for position, for status, for acceptance, for meaning (achievement), for pleasure -- but to what ends does this "work-driven" life take us?

Within the bible, only one man ever got to receive somewhat of a "genie-wish" from God ... his name was Solomon. Solomon asked for the gift of Wisdom ... wisdom he desired to rule over and serve his people justly. Perhaps the riches man who ever lived, Solomon had everything. He had power, he had status, he had monuments, he had many homes (vacation homes even), he had many wives, cattle, and slaves ... heck he even had "girls" on call just for him (intimacy with females beyond measure), and on top of all this ... he was knowledgeable ... he was "wise". Yet listen to his reflection of his "pleasure-driven", "wisdom centered" lifestyle when it came to reflecting on his life ... he said [Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, 22-26]

"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work and this was the reward for all my labor. 11Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. 22What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. 24 A mans can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

Notice that Solomon concludes that "apart from God their can be no satisfaction in anything we "toil to do", because apart from there being a good and gracious God, there is no hope!"**

God makes everything we do meaningless for this reason alone: Realization that there's a greater meaning and purpose to our lives that we cannot achieve. So that we will need him to provide the huge gap in our relationship to him and with him caused by the Sin in our life. I believe that God desired to reveal to us that "we" cannot save ourselves and it's not what we do that please God, but who we are (either we ARE His in Christ or we ARE NOT -our own sinful rejection and pride to "hope in me"). (Ps 89:48).

Concluding on this note: "This world and the desires of my deceitful heart will eventually pass away ... but the man who does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:19, Jeremiah 17:9).

The Fork in The Road: What is the will of God?? What is the Light at the end of your tunnel? How can you stop drifting and start living purposefully, labor that is not in vain?

"35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and their is the right way (God's way) that leads to endless hope ...
This way can no be paved by your own doing, but by God's doing ...
God is doing a work in your heart right now and he is calling you to himself.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour ... all you have to do is acknowledge that you have sinned, that you need 'a way' to forgive those sins and repenting of what's behind you, you make a choice to place your faith and hope for heaven in a person, the Son of God, Jesus Christ ... who died for your sins, but more importantly was resurrected to intercede on your behalf in heaven ... becoming a living God who walks with you, who lives literally 'to love you'. If you have decided to place your hope in Jesus, you can know that God has given you his Spirit to guide you and love you today unto forever. You can know that no matter what ... you will be in heaven ... not because of what "good" you have done", but because Jesus lived, died, and was raised for you ... and there is nothing that can separate you from his love after your moment of faith, not even yourself ... no future sin, doubt, or faithlessness.

Be washed in the blood of Jesus ... and start living out your destiny ... traveling down a tunnel that promises a glorious hope and light called heaven. We can have victory from sin's grip and judgement today, but only through Jesus Christ ... only by faith in Him.

Please contact me if you have placed your faith in the Lord ... I would love to show you "how Great is our God and his amazing Grace, Love, and Faithfulness. :)

Living He loved me ... Dying He saved me

Words cannot express "how truly loved you are"!

You are so loved that God himself would live for you ... and through dying He would save you.

My heart cries out for all the souls who live without the knowledge, without the peace, and without the possession of this great Love. This is the Gospel: I sin, I need love, I need rescue ... not from this world but from myself. Jesus is the hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, and love for the broken heart. He is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing, and He meets you wherever you are ... whoever you are ... because He loves you ... period.

Change the course of your life ...

You cannot save yourself!

He is everything that I am not ... everything I couldn't be.

I beg of you who read this ... let go ...

Let go of pride ... you don't have to do anything to bring fulfillment and completion to your life.

Jesus Christ is the only "means" by which your life is fulfilled and completed.

Let go of this world ... it offers nothing of worth. You were made for something greater than the pain, the sorrow, the struggle, and the intoxication of this life on earth. You were made to "last forever", to live eternally.

Jesus has made a way for you. His love completed everything you could not. He lives for you :)

There is Only One Hope and One Way ... Jesus Christ.

Life with Christ is half as hard and twice as good ... and I pray that you will welcome Christ into your heart and make him your hope for heaven (any further questions please contact me ... I would love to show you ... the life and love that lasts forever!)

John 14:1-6 -- He is preparing a place for you ... He has made a way for you ... Him!

¹"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. ²In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴You know the way to the place where I am going."

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

⁶Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really knew me, you would know^{b]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[b]} my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

You Do Not Have to Walk Alone ... there is A Love That Lasts Forever!! Jesus Christ! "Living He loves me ... Dying He saved me ... Buried He carried 'my sins' far away ... Rising He justified (me) freely forever ... One Day He's coming ... Oh Glorious Day!!"

Rest In Peace: "The Peace" the world cannot give ...

One doesn't have to look far to find pain, sorrow, suffering, and strife (sin). Whether your reading the news paper, flipping through the channels, looking at the person who pulls up next to you at a traffic light, or even looking in the mirror at oneself ... we see that "the rain" falls on all people. As fallen people living in a fallen world, we embrace the weight of each undertaking one day from the next. We all live life driven by our pursuit to find "shelter from the storm". Yet, so often I remember that not only am I apart of the storm, but sometimes "I am the storm"; We live "in" the storm.

What is this shelter we seek? What does it look like?

So often we think its a vacation to some tropical climate, a bank statement that has several digits, or even a companion who will sweep us away to a place somewhere over the rainbow ...

But the fact still remains that vacations come to an end, money cannot buy happiness (peace and love), and eventually the people we love are here today, gone tomorrow; the temporary shelter the world promises does not protect us from the inevitable perishing of each shelter we seek to provide comforting peace and essential love that we so desperately need in this fallen world.

The shelter we all seek, in truth, is 'peace and love', but what is peace? What is love for that matter?

The world promises you "peace" that it cannot give. The peace and love it offers is not peace or love at all ... it's not gold ... it's fools gold. When you go to cash it in, it's worth nothing except the temporary feeling of relief it provided when you believed it to be "genuine peace" and "genuine love" (pure gold). It's sad to see so many people living misleading lies of peace and love. The direction in which we travel through life is driven by our understanding of what peace and love is, as well as where we can find it. Therefore, it's important that we clearly understand what love and peace truly is and what it is not. Most importantly, we need to understand with whom are we seeking to "make peace". With ourselves? With the World? Neither! The peace and love we so desperately seek is resolved in reconciling "peace with God".

The bible speaks of "peace" primarily in two ways.

One speaks of "peace with God", a personal, relational peace attainable only through the Grace of God when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior. In this reference of peace, the Cross of Christ is the focal point of God's Grace (love) and source of our peace. Jesus Christ is for us our "eternal peace with God".

The second connection to peace within Scripture is "the peace of God". This is the day to day peace available through ones fellowship with God ( a growing relationship walked by faith, reliant on trust, and sown in love). This peace is given by God as he works in you and through you to know him better and to be used in shining the love of Christ to others.

"The Peace" we need and seek is far different than what the world offers (moments of tranquility and ease).

There is only two recorded instances in which Jesus wept. He wept for all the souls that would never find the "peace" they searched and longed for their entire lives... This instance in Luke 19 is appropriate for "understanding" how it grieves God for all those who never receive the Grace, the Love, and the Peace he so greatly desires to give all he made ...

Luke 19:37-44

On a donkey, riding into the Holy City of Jerusalem, the Prince of Peace ... God himself (Jesus Christ) made his triumphal entry, allowing all to see and hear that the LORD has heard the cries of humanity, and He himself has come to be there salvation (he has come to save sinners from death caused by sin). Proclaiming peace ...

"When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said,

"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes. The day will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

Today, through the Word of God and a sinful vessel as myself ... God approaches you with "peace". Although taken out of context, one day we will all breath our last breath and have to stand before God in judgement. Either we will be covered in the blood of Christ or we will be forced to defend ourselves ... our own way. On that day the enemy of the world (the Great Evil the spins the world in chaos each day) will encircle sinners on every side ... dashing them into pieces. In that day of judgement, all it will take is one sin ... and God will hand us over to the enemy, to whom belongs all those guilty of trespass against God. In that day, those who have been saved by Jesus Christ will spend eternity with God, while those guilty of sin (those who did not recognize the time of God's coming) will be eternally separated from God.

"The Peace" our soul searches for throughout life approaches you..

If "peace" approached your heart and your soul today ... would you be able to recognize it?

Eternal peace is found entirely through faith in Jesus Christ! So I ask you, will you place your faith in Christ and receive the Grace of God (eternal peace and love)?? The peace of Christ is not what the world gives ... for his peace and his love never perishes and never fails.

"Peace I leave you ... My peace I give you; I do not give to you as the world gives...do not let your hearts be troubled, do not be afraid ... surely I will be with you always, even until the end of age" (Jesus ... John 14:27; Matt. 28:20)

Rest In Peace - No Jesus, No Peace ... Know Jesus, Know Peace (part 1 - Thoughts)

It's been a while ...

It's been a while since I've posted a blog ....

It's been a while since I've allowed myself to be swept away in the Love of Jesus...

It's been a while since I could say that I've "let go" of this world ... of stress ... of myself...

It's been a while since I've "rested in peace" ...

For quite some time now, I've been pressing forward in my own strength, walking parallel to the flock in which I belong... to the Shepherd who calls me "his own." Everyday I hear him call. This still small voice within, a gentle whisper that calls my name ... letting me know that He is still there, still walking with me ... still hearing ... still helping ... still loving ... still caring ... and still holding me together ... never letting go.

His whisper speaks peace to my heart and love to my soul, it says ... "Let go ... Let go... rest in peace ... rest in my arms ...

Every morning, every afternoon, every evening before I go to bed my heart cries out this song...

"I Love You ... All of my Hope ... is in You,

Jesus Christ ... take my life ... take all of me

I Love You so ... and I give up my heart ...

to say ... I need ... you so ... my everything..."

(Lyrics from Hillsong United - Take All of Me)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Gyb8_CUyc&feature=related)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXE3G8oC7Zk)

So the question is "why" don't we (me included) let go...?

Why do we hold on to "the weight of this world"...?

Why don't we "rest in peace"...?

The answer: We forget ...

We forget ... who made us and how we are made (By God and in his image).

We forget ... why we are here, that we have a purpose (our journey "back" to God, to know God intimately, personally in a new redeemed essence through Jesus Christ)

We forget ... the light of this world, the love that keeps us moving forward, we forget hope (Jesus Christ ... died on a cross 2 thousand years ago and was resurrected from the dead, living each day in intercession on our behalf between us and God)

We forget ... who we are!

Having recently celebrated Christmas ... this realization of "forgetfulness" was ever before me.

People celebrate Christmas ... yet forget Christ ... not the baby ... but the Saviour and Redeemer of the World. My brother (Evan) said it best, "the World has commercialized Christmas ... that is why they can't see Jesus Christ ... the hope and love and Redeemer we all need! The only gift that truly lasts!"

Christmas is celebrated in vain by millions around the world ... because as great as it is to give gifts to ones we love and receive gifts from people who love us ... without the giving and receiving of "the Greatest Gift" from "the person who loves us most", Christmas is nothing ... just another day.

Jesus is the greatest gift. He is the gift given to us by a loving and gracious God. A gift to save us from the impossible ... ourselves, our sin. Without the reception of the gift of Jesus Christ ... all gifts are in vain because at the end of the day death awaits. Whether death for you is tomorrow, a year from now, or many years down the road ... the fact remains that "we all need victory from death". That's why "all" need the "gift of Christmas" ... "Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World and Redeemer of my soul."

Jesus is the only way to make "peace" with God. No Jesus, No Peace ... Know Jesus, Know Peace! (in the next blog we will look at this through another light)

{John 3:16-21}- "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

The Psalmist and the Anti-Psalmist - Psalm 23 (part 1)

Notice the difference between the Psalmist and the Anti-Psalmist.

In the next series of blogs, we will explore these differences ...

Which most speaks of who you are: The Psalmist? The Anti-Psalmist (A-P)?

I was once the Anti-psalmist.

Every line in the anti-psalm described how I felt about life and myself. The anti-psalm described who I was before faith, before hope, and before coming to know Jesus Christ.

Today, I am the psalmist.

Everything I need is found in my relationship with Jesus Christ ... my shepherd. In his love I have all I need ...

Psalm 23 - A psalm of David

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

A-P: I’m on my own. No one looks out for me or protects me. I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing's quite right.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

A-P: I’m always restless. I’m easily frustrated and often disappointed.

It’s a jungle –I feel overwhelmed. It’s a desert – I’m thisty.

³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

A-P: My soul feels broken, twisted, and stuck. I can’t fix myself.

I stumble down some dark paths.

Still, I insist: I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want

But life's confusing. Why don't things ever really work out?

⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

A-P: I’m haunted by emptiness and futility – shadows of death.

I fear the big hurt and final loss.

Death is waiting for me at the end of every road,

But I’d rather not think about that.

I spend my life protecting myself. Bad things can happen.

I find no lasting comfort.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

A-P: I’m alone … facing everything that could hurt me.

Are my friends really friends? Other people use me for their own ends.

I can’t really trust anyone. No one has my back. I can’t even trust myself.

No one is really for me – except me.

And I’m so much… all about ME, sometimes it’s sickening.

I belong to no one – except myself.

My cup is never quite full enough. I’m left empty.

⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

A-P: Disappointment follows me all the days of my life.

Will I just be obliterated into nothingness?

Will I be alone forever, homeless, free-falling into void?

Sartre said “Hell is other people.”

I have to add, “Hell is also myself.”

It’s a living death,

And then I die.

We all are like sheep

We wander ... searching, seeking, longing for the flock we belong to and for the shepherd who can protect, provide, but more importantly love us for who we are.

Jesus Christ is that shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd ... who will carry you through the pain and strife of this life and guide you safely back to His home in heaven...

I was once a lost sheep, yet Jesus came to my rescue ... I was far from His flock, where I belonged, yet He still sought after me and found me in my helpless, hurting, hopeless frailty.

He can meet you wherever you are ... and if you are still reading this and don't know him ... He is gently trying to lead you back to Him ...back to the flock in which you belong.

There is no greater place to be ... than in the loving arms of Your Shepherd. For In Him, you'll not only find everything you need ... but you'll also find yourself...

"Anti-Psalm 23" written by Dr. David Powlison, professor at Westminster Theological Seminary and counselor at Christian Counseling Education Foundation since 1980. Also see commentary from David Powlison on Psalm 23 ... http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2009/07/25/antipsalm-23-vs-psalm-23/

Hope for the Helpless, Rest for The Weary, and Love for the Broken-Heart ...The Psalmist and the Anti-Psalmist - Psalm 23 (series)

I'm reminded that this blog is not my ministry, but the Lords'.

It is the Lord who guides anyone and everyone who will read this.

If you are reading this, it is not by chance or mere coincidence ... rather ... it is because God is drawing you near to himself, to his love, and to a saving faith in his Son Jesus Christ.

With this in mind ... I desire to remain faithful to my calling and stay committed to you (in Love) and ultimately to this ministry set fourth by Christ (in Love). Sadly, I've been so consumed with myself and becoming overwhelmed by things ... that I have missed out on this opportunity for blessing (others and really...myself).

For quite sometime now, God has been working in my heart through Psalm 23. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't make you perfect. I struggle and stumble just like everyone else. It's beyond humbling when you realize that I'm just like anyone else out there ... that really ... the only difference is that I have been saved by the Grace of God -- Because of His Love -- And in reality ... I belong to Christ and therefore follow Him.

It's crucial to understand who you are and to whom you belong. It has been a theme I have been stressing on this blog in recent "blogging".

In the next several blogs, I would like to explore this concept of belonging, in light of Psalm 23:

(a). The Psalmist - whose shepherd is the LORD God

(b). the Anti-Psalmist - the one who walks alone ... a lost sheep ... pretty much who I was before I discovered my identity and home in the loving presence of Jesus Christ.

I hope that by the end of this series of blogs ... that you will see ... that you belong to Jesus Christ and that you don't have to walk alone anymore.

I hope you will see ...

"There is Hope for the helpless, Rest for the weary, and Love for the broken heart. There is Grace and Forgiveness... Mercy and Healing and Jesus will meet you, wherever you are."

We all belong somewhere! Where do you belong?

We all belong somewhere? Where Do You Belong?

[John 10:24-30]

"The Jews gathered around Jesus, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

To whom do you belong?

Jesus states that there are two type's of people in life:

(a). Those who belong to him, given to him by his Father; His Sheep

(b). Those who don't belong to him; Not his sheep.

Likewise ...

There are those who live for God (love)

OR

those who live for themselves, a me-centered universe in which they make themselves God (sin).

Yet these two type's of people have one thing in common: Sin.

Do you have sin in your life?

I do. Everyday. I'm sinful and so are you. And because we are sinful, not one sin can be forgiven without consequences (or in God's eyes' the shedding of blood).

So that's where the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes into your life with utmost importance.

This is the gospel:

All have sinned. God is sinless. All sin had to be removed in order for anyone to live eternally with God, in God. God decided to sacrifice his life, through His Son, so that you could have life WITH HIM ETERNALLY. Therefore, God showed his love in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8-9). And it was on the basis of God's gift of saving grace through faith in his Son Jesus (Ephesians 2:8) ... that God would chose for himself ...a people (Romans 9:25-26) ... His Children ... His Sheep ... and a Family. A family and flock over whom He would shepherd, love, and call "his own" for all eternity.

This is the Gospel:

Sins are forgiven and eternal life is given to those who repent of their sins and place their faith, hope, and love in the person Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior over their life both now and forever.

I had no choice in what God has done in my life. He called me his own before the earth was created (Ephesians 1:4). Yet, for most of my life, I lived as an enemy to God. I did not believe in God and I lived for myself (worshipping myself through who I was in life) day in and day out. I did not know Christ, yet even in the days before I came to "know" Jesus as my Lord and Savior ... I still belonged to him ... I just didn't know it. I was always predestined in his love to be his own (Ephesians 1:5). Now, the question remains ... Are You?

So I say again: We all belong somewhere!

For Jesus Said, "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." [John 6:40]

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become Children of God ... born not of natural descent or a husband's will, but born of God" [John 1:12]

That is Grace. That is love. And that it the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That God rescues those who are sinners and those who do not deserve his forgiveness ... yet it is because of His love for you ... that He comes to you ... to call you his own. There is no greater love ... than Jesus Christ!

To Whom Do You Belong?