Winner Either Way

I have a good friend and recently we were talking and he was so excited. He told me he just had a great weekend and had gotten to see his parents perform. They are part of a gospel/bluegrass group in North Georgia. Part of the performance included a song that just touched him. It was called “Winner Either Way”. He told me the lyrics just touched him and encouraged him that no matter what as believers we have such hope! I think I agree with him. He gave me a copy of the lyrics;

A LOVED ONE KNEW HE'D REACHED THE END OF LIFE'S JOURNEY, BUT HE'D BEEN HOLDING TO GOD'S HAND A LONG, LONG TIME AND AS I KNELT BESIDE HIS BED, MY HEART WAS THRILLED AT WHAT HE SAID," IF I GO, OR IF I STAY, THE VICTORY IS MINE."

NONE OF US REALLY KNOWS ABOUT TOMORROW, WE MUST PREPARE TO GO TO HEAVEN ANYDAY BUT WHILE WE'RE HERE LET'S TRUST THE LORD, HE'LL LEAD US SAFE TO OUR REWARD AND BY HIS GRACE, WE'LL BE A WINNER EITHER WAY

I'M A WINNER EITHER WAY, IF I GO OR IF I STAY FOR I'LL STILL HAVE MY JESUS EACH PASSING DAY I'LL HAVE MY HEALING HERE BELOW, OR LIFE FOREVER IF I GO, OH PRAISE THE LORD, I'M A WINNER EITHER WAY.

You know there is great encouragement there and it brings to mind Paul’s trials and there is a passage in Philippians 1 that I often dwell on;

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.[d] 20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Can you see the hope of believers? Paul in Jail, facing trial and possible execution sees the hope and it is “better by far”. Life is tough and there will be many bumps in the road, but if we trust in Christ we will be “winners either way”.

Abba Father, thank you so much for your Son; our Lord and Savior, your word and your great plan of remdemption, so that we might have true hope and rejoice no matter our circumstance.

Grace and Peace!

Foretastes of Heaven

Have you ever experienced something in life; hiking, a sunset, some scene in nature, where you were just overcome with joy? Maybe you were even slightly astonished and overwhelmed and thought to yourself with all confidence; God is with us! I will admit I have had a few of those experiences and hope for more. Randy Alcorn in his book Heaven calls these moments “foretastes of Heaven”.

I love that thought; foretastes of Heaven; he uses this to help describe the type of spontaneous joy and worship we will experience in Heaven although magnified beyond belief. Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk says; “occasionally we experience little hors d'oeuvres for heaven in our earthly life, experiences that give us some idea of what final and full happiness must be like.”

Final and full happiness, spontaneous joy and worship, for all eternity; that is so hopeful! I don’t know, but Heaven just seems so “Heavenly” (sorry, I couldn’t resist). It does bring to mind Revelation 21:3-7;

3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

So as believers if we overcome; persevere; continue our walk with Christ we will inherit “all this” as sons of God. Can you imagine being in the presence of God for all eternity; in paradise with Christ? Oh my!

In his book, Alcorn quotes J. I. Packer who sums it up; “Hearts on earth may say in the course of a joyful experience, 'I don’t want this to ever end.' But invariably it does. The hearts of those in Heaven say, 'I want this to go on forever.' And it will. There is no better news than this.”

Abba Father, thank you that by your grace and mercy we might get a glimpse of what it will be like in paradise for all eternity. Eternity, that’s a long time!

Grace and Peace!

Man Left to His Own Devices

I have been thinking deeply about my need to fully trust God. It is beyond me in my few moments of clarity to realize how much I trust myself. It brings to mind the first part of Isaiah 53:6;

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way

So to me as fallen creatures we have gone astray, we have left the true navigational path of life. And if we follow our own ways how far will we stray? If we can’t or won’t see the way, where might we end up? Think about that for a while.

I recently experienced this straying in a somewhat humorous way, but it really reinforces this idea. Recently, I was fishing with my Pastor and my wife. We were miles offshore; beyond sight of land, but don’t tell my wife, she doesn’t like to go that far out. Oh yes, she was there, but that is another blog.

Anyway, after a successful few hours of fishing, we start to head in. We used our GPS to guide us back to our launch point. However, we had failed to mark this point and were simply using an address. As we near land, I begin to see what I thought were some clear land marks indicating we needed to head due north. The GPS said we needed to head south to the pass. However, I knew this could not be; so I turned north and after several minutes noticed we were indeed headed in the wrong direction. Oh, how embarrassing!

I turn around and trusted the GPS for the rest of the trip and although we arrived where we started; we arrived in the dark. While we were making our way back, it hit me that if man is left to his own devices; he will truly stray. In fact, it hit me that left to our own devices; life is truly hopeless. What we need, what we must have is a grand and glorious compass of life. In this new year I am so thankful that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior is that compass; our GPS of life.

You know we are even told this in John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So this new year, may we all fully and absolutely trust the GPS for our soul; Jesus Christ! May we all follow Him for the way, through Him may we all see the truth, and in Him may we all live the life.

Grace and Peace!