Category: death

Perhaps Today! Actively (and Expectantly) Awaiting Jesus’ Return

I’m a mug junkie. I have mugs overflowing around our house. Mugs in the cupboards. Mugs on a special shelf in our solarium-breakfast room. I even had my husband add another shelf to one of our kitchen cabinets to accommodate all of them. The cabinet right above the coffee maker. The cabinet stuffed with mugs, tea, and coffee-making supplies. It’s gotten to be a family joke.

I don’t remember when I started “collecting” them. I had a few mugs scattered around, special ones I’d picked up at seminars, (with conference logos and company promo material), national park mugs, and mugs from Hawaii with our Anglicized-Hawaiian names on them. But when I gave up collecting vacation-spot T-shirts, I gravitated toward mugs, which are much more difficult to haul home (unbroken) in a suitcase!

Now I have “retired” mugs on display on a special shelf, the ones I don’t want to break or wear down any longer through usage; and the noteworthy cracked ones I can’t bear to part with. And I have several secreted away that no one else is allowed to use but me. The mugs given as extra-special gifts, or the ones that remind me of sweet times Chris and I have spent together at some charming Bed and Breakfast.

But there’s one mug I’ve never used. It’s been prominently displayed on my writing desk for over 25 years. The blue marble-look mug I received after donating to a well-known ministry. The words on it remind me of something I should keep forefront in my mind. Every day. Words especially appropriate for this month when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.

Perhaps Today!

 

Can you guess what those words reference?

They’re a reminder that our Lord will return one day. They’re a hope that perhaps today will be that glorious day—when He’ll return, subdue the earth, vanquish his foes, and lift up and resurrect the faithful.

 

Jesus’ Second Coming—

Of course, not everyone believes He will return. And not everyone harbors the hope within his or her heart that He will. Some are terrified it might be true.

 

I thought about my “Perhaps Today!” mug when reading a chapter from Max Lucado’s book And the Angels Were Silent: The Final Week of Jesus. Reading that book has been my Lenten practice nearly every year the last 23 years.

The particular chapter that brought the mug to mind is titled “Be Ready.” The verse associated with the chapter is Matthew 24:42:

 

“So always be ready, because you don’t know the day your Lord will come.”

 

It’s a winsome (and stark) reminder that being ready for His return is a way of life. A critical one.

Jesus’ Last Sermon on Earth—

In his book, Lucado examines what Jesus says and does (and doesn’t say and do) the last week of His earthly life. It’s a lesson—when time and distractions are stripped away—on what’s important. This particular chapter looks at the topic of Jesus’ last sermon.

What would you think a last-sermon topic would be? Like Lucado, we’d probably preach on love, or family, or church attendance, ministry support. Spreading the Gospel. Doing good and being good. Marching for some social justice issue.

But Jesus focuses on something He evidently believes is far more important.

He focuses on being prepared.

Or, as Lucado bluntly puts it:

 

“He preached on being ready for heaven and staying out of hell.”

 

Hell. Now there’s a word many recoil at. “Does anyone believe in hell anymore?” you might ask.

Jesus is a firm believer in it. If you haven’t tallied up the numbers, He talked about hell and money more than anything else while He was on earth.

But it’s become a passé or quaint subject. An idea reserved for the undereducated or simple-minded. As Lucado points out:

 

“We don’t like to talk about hell, do we? In intellectual circles the topic of hell is regarded as primitive and foolish. It’s not logical. ‘A loving God wouldn’t send people to hell.’ So we dismiss it.

But to dismiss it is to dismiss a core teaching of Jesus. The doctrine of hell is not one developed by Paul, Peter, or John. It is taught by Jesus himself.

And to dismiss it is to dismiss much more. It is to dismiss the presence of a loving God and the privilege of a free choice.”

 

And that’s the point: we all have a free choice. To choose heaven or hell. And God will honor what we choose.

 

Where will you choose to spend eternity?

God talks a lot about what we’ll gain by going to heaven, how we can get there, and what consequences we face if we choose poorly.

And that leaves me with one more point Lucado made. An ironclad argument against this idea that there is a heaven but no opposite place—hell—in existence.

 

“To reject the dualistic outcome of history and say there is no hell leaves gaping holes in any banner of a just God. To say there is not hell is to say God condones the rebellious, unrepentant heart. To say there is no hell is to portray God will eyes blind to the hunger and evil in the world. To say there is no hell is to say that God doesn’t care that people are beaten and massacred, that he doesn’t care that women are raped or families wrecked. To say there is no hell is to say God has no justice, no sense of right and wrong, and eventually to say God has no love. For true love hates evil.

Hell is the ultimate expression of a just Creator.”

 

I’ll add one more thought: If there is no hell, why would Jesus have to endure humiliation, abandonment, torture, and a cruel Roman cross to provide a way for us to enter and enjoy heaven? Was that all just one big wasted event?

Surprisingly, staying out of hell and making the choice for Him and an eternal life in heaven, is the same topic he preached on during His first sermon.

He constantly warned people to be prepared. He focused on the subject the last week of His life, three short days before His death.

 

And I believe it’s a subject we need to return to today. Not by standing on street corners with signs, pointing angry fingers at people and shouting at them through angry, twisted lips and with blazing eyes that they’re headed for doom.

I think it’s something we need to continue talking about in a loving, firm way. With hearts of concern for the rejecters or uncommitted. As I’ve heard pastors say, “If you saw someone in a burning building, wouldn’t you try to do everything you could to save them? Or would you just walk by and say, ‘Oh well?'”

 

I know many think we believers-in-hell are feeble-minded, duped, or downright nuts. But that’s okay with me. I’d rather it weren’t true; I’d like to believe that God just says, “Okay. I’m going to let everyone into heaven, even if they’ve rejected me. Or just annihilate them so they’ll never know what they’re missing. That’s a belief to which many faithful are now subscribing. It just sounds nicer.

But I can’t have it my way. I don’t make the rules. God does. And I don’t think He would have spent so much time warning against it if it were just some big cosmic joke. A “just kidding” discussion.

 

What to do while we’re waiting—

Does looking forward to His second coming mean I do nothing but twiddle my thumbs until it happens? Many people that laugh at us, thinking that’s what we’re do.

But when I think “Perhaps Today!” my looking forward to it in anticipation should drive me closer to preparation, being found busy and active, as Jesus instructs us to be. Doing His work down here, like a faithful ambassador, until He returns.

So, along with the “Perhaps Today” thought, I try to start every day with a Jewish adage I learned some years ago: “Rise up like a lion in the service of the Lord.”

You never know when or at what hour you might be called. You might as well be busy during the waiting and anticipation process.

And then it will be too late.

 

May God grant you a happy, expectant “Perhaps Today!” heart as you prepare for the commemoration of His final week, crucifixion and glorious Resurrection, and live every day of your life until He returns!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

Andrea

“Certainly there was an Eden….We all long for it, and we are constantly glimpsing it.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

Christmas: The Gift of Love

Although there are many Bible verses associated with Christmas, like Old Testament passages about Jesus being called Immanuel, and New Testament verses about bringing peace to men of good will, I think the best passage to give full perspective to Christmas is:

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son,…” (John 3:16a).

 

Loved.

 

The thing we all crave. To be loved. And who could love us better than the One who created love and is love?

 

The story is simple:

You have God, who created humankind.

He gave mankind some rules, to protect us. Keep them innocent, happy and shrouded in peace and protection.

But they rebelled, broke the rules and lied about it to their creator, and laid bare their progeny and all mankind (all of us) to the ugly ramifications of their sin.

With the snap of His powerful creating fingers, God could have scrapped them and started over; or shook his head and given up. Spent the rest of eternity with his angels.

But He didn’t. He immediately devises a redemptive plan. A plan for death and destruction to be overcome, to have no power over life. A plan that wouldn’t come to fruition for thousands of years, but a plan that would come to fruition because He ordained it so.

And it did. A little over two thousand years ago.

 

And that’s what we’re celebrating at Christmas, really.

A love so deep and so wide and so unfathomable that it’s impossible for us to fully wrap our minds around. To comprehend it.

God sends His spirit to be joined to the seed of a woman to form a baby—His Son—to live a fully human life while simultaneously being fully God.

This son’s purpose is to experience life as a human—child and adult—and embark on a ministry of healing and teaching and leading people to a better life. A redeemed life.

 

To show people the Father.

 

To show them what real love looks like.

 

And believe. And follow.

 

And then pay the ultimate price of sacrificing Himself, to bring the redemption tory full circle.

 

To redeem mankind.

 

“…so that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16b).

 

The story of Christmas is that Heaven gave the supreme gift of love. Of life.

So we could stop perishing.

“Love,” God says. “I give you unconditional love. Because I know you don’t have the power to do this yourself, to redeem yourself. I’ll do it, so we can be properly reunited to spend eternity together.

“So I’m going to do it for you.

“That’s my gift.

“The gift of Love.”

 

This is the start of a season of love that begins with a gift and culminates in a death and Resurrection. Both gifts of life. To you and me.

 

This month—

In the next several weeks, we’ll look at just how powerful love is and what effects it has on us physically, emotionally and spiritually.

 

The power of Love.

 

Are you ready to give it?

Are you prepared to receive it?

 

Until next Monday, prepare your heart to be a love-receiving and love-dispensing vessel.

It’s what Christmas is all about.

 

Until then!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Surviving the Holidays with Conscientious Eating

What’s the one thing most of us have in common during the Thanksgiving to Christmas holiday window?

Want a hint?

Overeating.

Not a surprise, is it? All of those delectable goodies: the rich desserts, the fatty dressings, company parties, family gatherings, Aunt Bee’s 1000 calories a piece family heirloom recipe, and on and on. You feel obligated to indulge and out of control. You excuse it as okay because you’re going to turn over a new eating leaf in 2019.

 

As we rev up to Thanksgiving this month and then into Christmas in six weeks, maintaining healthful eating habits and not gaining an extra five to ten pounds that will likely not come off next year, we’re going to wade into the conscientious eating waters here on Workout Wednesdays.

Just exactly what does conscientious eating mean?

It’s not just conscious eating, as you’re probably familiar with. Living consciously is a big topic these days. It goes beyond that.

It means not just being conscious of what or how you’re eating, but being conscientious about the food choices you make.

Specifically, we’re going to look closely at how eating affects your mental health, body inflammation levels and brain, especially the aging brain.

 

Last month I had the opportunity to attend a great educational program on conscientious eating.

One of the sad facts we learned is that the US life expectancy hasn’t improved much in the past several decades, and the major determinant in improving life expectancy was the introduction of antibiotics after World War II.

And although the longevity age seems to be eking up, much of that may be due to available medicine.

An ugly statistic we must face is that the United States ranks 34th on the longevity list, tied with Cuba.

Not a pretty picture.

 

Country Comparisons

One thing both Chris and I noticed when we returned from Europe was just how overweight Americans are. I knew the statistics, but the glaring fatness and sluggishness of Americans couldn’t be missed, or ignored.

 

Just why is that? And does that heavily influence our poor longevity status?

I think there are a lot of contributors to our obese status, and we’ll look at several of those. But we’ll focus primarily on what you can do—as a consumer and as a person concerned about your health, your lifestyle, and your overall fitness and energy levels—to improve your health, lose weight without going on some special six-week caloric restriction diet, and reduce your chances of serious illness.

We’ll really delve into the woes of the Western diet and why we need to care about inflammation in the body, what it means for your overall present and future health.

 

Want to feel good mentally, physically and spiritually on January 2? Then meet me back here next week when we start our conscientious eating focus!

 

Pre-holiday checklist:

Until then, go through your cabinets, pantry and refrigerator to get an idea of how many products you purchase that contain sugar, added sugar and ingredients like fructose and high fructose corn syrup. This includes any kind of sugar, even if it’s raw or evaporated cane source. What percentage of your overall food intake does it constitute? (Make sure you examine ingredients in every processed food, frozen, fresh or canned.)

 

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Are You Double-Minded With Too Many Worldviews?

Today we’re wrapping up our worldview discussion with a major question:

How many worldviews do you have?

 

Over the last several months we’ve looked at some major movers and shakers in world philosophy. And we’ve discussed the basic beliefs of some of the most influential worldviews.

During our discussion, what did you discover about your own personal worldview?

Do you have a melting (or boiling) pot of worldviews? Have you melded an assortment of them together, like a smorgasbord?

Maybe you lean toward Marxism, as so many seem to do now without even knowing they do. Do you view religion as an opium for an oppressed creature?

Do you take a rational view of the world? Maybe you’ve combined a little Naturalism—like Environmentalism and Earth-focus—with a dabble of Romanticism and Christian Theism. That combination might make you feel more in tune with the polytheists of the world.

Or would you relate to being a staunch Realist, or an Absurdist who thinks the world is one big pointless joke that ends in Nothing. Nihil.

 

The disciple, James, had some scathing words for those who couldn’t make up their minds.

 

“…the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind… Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

 

Like the wave of a sea, blown and tossed by the wind, double-minded and unstable.

 

I don’t know anyone who wants to be considered unstable, tossed around by a multitude of beliefs, unsure of their past, present or future. Unsure offer worried about, the foundation upon which they stand.

 

I think we would all be wise to know what we believe and why.

And strive to build our house upon the Rock!

 

What worldview have you built your house on?

 

As you read this post, I’m learning how to be a pilgrimage, doing a lot of meditating on how I do life, and probably how I can do it better. I expect to return enlightened and changed.

Because of this,MEDITATION MONDAYS will be on hiatus until October 15, when we’ll start our journey of preparing our hearts for Thanksgiving with a look at gratefulness.

 

Until then, be convinced about what you believe and why. Know the facts. People who have done a honest study of Christianity—even with the sole intent of proving it wrong—have come to the conclusion that its founder really is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Knowing that and living like you believe it, will make your life’s path straight!

 

Looking forward to being back with you in a month!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Grief: The Ultimate Body and Spirit Experience

I can think of no other life event that makes you so acutely aware of being both body and spirit than the death of a loved one. Especially the death of your child.

Grief.

There’s a reason people call it gut wrenching and refer to the sufferers as brokenhearted. Your gut feels wrenched—grabbed, twisted and strangled. Your heart feels as though it has fractured into a million pieces that will never be patched back together in the right places again. And they really won’t.

The air feels as though it’s been vacuumed out of your lungs and you can’t breathe. Sometimes you feel as though you’ll suffocate. But that’s okay because you know death would be a welcome alternative to the hell you’re experiencing.

There’s a reason Scripture refers to the brokenhearted as having crushed spirits.

 

Your heart throbs with an indescribable pain that seems impossible, and impossible to bear. Somewhere deep in the core of your physical body lies your spirit that cries out in pain. If you could hear it on the outside, it would sound like a blood-curdling, glass-shattering wail. On the inside, the silent scream reverberates through your body, causing your heart to gush blood and your organs to convulse.

Even your brain gets involved, dumping chemicals into the nervous system that send your spirit into a state of terror and your body into rebellion. Your nerves sound an alarm of impending destruction. You’re unraveling from the inside out, until there’s nothing left to unravel.

Then you lie wasted, unresponsive to sensations and disinterested in life.

Nothing can make you feel so old and physically and emotionally wasted as the death of a loved one. Look at a grieving person and you can recognize the dull look in their eyes. The light of life—from within—has vanished.

Grief.

There is nothing like it to make you aware of how much body you are and how intertwined it is with your spirit or soul. They are inseparable while your body pumps blood and your brainwaves function.

 

When you encounter a grieving person, remember that their body is hurting just as much as their spirit, and it, too, needs attention and care.

 

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

 

(Free-for-All Fridays will be on hiatus until October 12. I’m on a pilgrimage to discover and experience the body and soul waltz. See you next month!)

Photo by Christian Newman on Unsplash