Flashback Favorite: The greatest reward possible

When a new US President takes office, he gets to pick who will be in his cabinet and inner circle. Those opportunities aren’t afforded to just anyone. The person who voted for him is certainly on the “winning team”, but simply casting a vote would not qualify an individual to be a cabinet member. Those inner circle positions are only available to those the President knows the best and trusts the most - men and women who have worked with him and for him all along the campaign trail.

The same will be true when Jesus takes His rightful place in the Millennial Kingdom and Eternity Future. Those who have believed in Jesus for eternal life will be part of the Kingdom, but those who have followed Him now will have even greater opportunity to serve and have access to Jesus in the future.

The greatest reward possible
Originally posted on September 26, 2019

Assuming you had the necessary skills and the opportunity, what is the biggest earthly prize you would aspire to?

Maybe it’s directing the highest grossing movie of all time…or Quarterbacking your favorite team to a Super Bowl victory…or building a business up from your garage into a global empire…or perhaps you are content to win the lottery and retire to a private island.  What would be “the ultimate prize” for you?

How does thinking about this feel?  Scary?  Overwhelming?  Unrealistic?

As those who believe in Jesus for eternal life, we know this present life will continue on with Him into Eternity Future.  While there are big dreams and opportunities to be had here and now…we should also wonder if there are eternal opportunities that God has made available to us.  In God’s revelation to John, He reveals a big one:

Revelation 22:3-5
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will worship Him.  They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

They will reign.

Those words carry a weight to them, and they should.  To reign means that a person has obtained or has been given the authority to rule, to lead, and to preside over the lives of others.  While we fully expect Jesus to reign in Heaven and over all creation…John tells us that in addition to Jesus, His servants will reign.

Servant Kings.

Those words don’t seem to go together, but it is exactly what Christ taught to His disciples.

At one point, Peter struggled with comparing the life he left behind with his choice to follow Jesus as a disciple.  He could have believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, continued to work the family business as a fisherman, and still gone to Heaven.  What Peter struggled with was seeing the tangible benefits to accepting Christ’s invitation to intimately follow Him in Discipleship, to living his earthly life learning how to imitate Christ.  Let’s drop into their conversation:

Matthew 19:27-28
Then Peter responded to Him, “See, we have left everything and followed You.  So what will there be for us?”  Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Notice that Jesus does not rebuke Peter for asking this kind of “What’s the reward?” question.  Jesus replies that there is a reward – a reward of authority – to those who have followed him.  Jesus didn’t say that this magnitude of a reward was available to everyone who believes…rather those who will be great at the renewal of all things are those who, after believing, have spent their earthly lives learning how to imitate Christ.

Learning to imitate Christ, the greatest example of a Servant King, is what will qualify His servants to reign forever and ever.

You and I have the necessary skills and the opportunity to do the same.  Will we follow Christ now so that we, too, can become Servant Kings in eternity future?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Your new nickname

Up until about eight years old, I was known by my family and friends as “Kenny”.  I didn’t choose that name, but that’s what everyone called me.  We moved to a new state near the end of 2nd grade and while signing up at my new school, the secretary asked what name I would go by.  Before my mom could answer, I shot out “Ken”.  I don’t remember why I made the switch, but I was quite certain that’s what I wanted to be called.  So from then on, I was known by everyone as “Ken”.

Names are a bit of a strange phenomenon, aren’t they?  This is the noise I want you to make to get my attention.  However, they are more than just sounds to us.  We also attach specific meaning to those sounds.  Sometimes the meaning is in a given birth name, with the hope that our child will live up to that name’s significance.  Other times, we take on a new form of our name, like I did, to signify a new chapter in life.  Then, there are also nicknames – not normally self-given, but typically given to us by someone else.  Nicknames are often tied to a specific characteristic or a life event.

In the Old Testament, after Gideon tore down a popular alter to the god Baal, the Baal worshippers wanted to kill him.  Instead, they were convinced by Gideon’s father that Baal should get his own revenge if he’s as powerful as they claimed.  Grudgingly, the mob accepted the argument, but from then on, they stopped calling him Gideon.  Instead they called him “Jerubbaal”, which meant “let Baal contend with him”.

We see similar instances of nicknames in the New Testament.  Jesus stopped referring to Simon, instead calling him Peter.  This name means “Rock” and it’s clear that is the attitude/role Peter took on from that moment forward.  You probably don’t recognize the name “Joseph of Cyprus”, but if you’ve read the book of Acts, you’ve met Barnabas.  “Barnabas” means “Son of encouragement” – I’m certain everyone loved talking with him as he lived up to that reputation!

Then, in the last book of the Bible, we find Jesus giving rewards to those who overcome in this life, to those who conquer life’s challenges by living their lives the way God design humanity to live.  To the church in Pergamum, Jesus said this:

Revelation 2:13
I know where you live – where Satan’s throne is.  Yet you are holding on to My name and did not deny your faith in Me.

They lived in a tough town that wanted nothing to do with God.  In fact, many were directly opposed to God and His designs.  But Jesus encouraged them to hold on to My name and not deny your faith in Me.  For those who persevere like this, there is an eternal reward:

Revelation 2:17
To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna.  I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

Tony Evans explained these special rewards like this:

Manna was the supernatural food God sent from heaven to sustain Israel in the wilderness.  This manna is hidden in that it is not available to all.  It represents exclusive sustenance and kingdom fellowship with God for Christians who …[hold on to Jesus and do not deny Him]…In the Roman world, a white stone was used as an admission ticket.  A white stone with someone’s name on it was a personalized, all-access pass.  This image, then reinforces the idea of exclusive, personal fellowship with God as the conquering Christian’s reward. 

If you earn this reward…Your name, written on the white stone, is a nickname that will be given to you by Jesus.  On top of that, you will be the only one who knows what the name is and what it means.  How personal is that?  How incredibly special and intimate to be named by the Creator of everything and the King of Kings!

This name will be an honor, based upon the message of your life.  Each of us has a unique story of struggle, and how God helped us to both overcome and conquer.  Our nicknames will reflect our stories, but thinking about earning this reward leaves us with a couple of questions:

What will my name be? or, perhaps more important, What would I like my name to be?

So live bravely, conquer your selfishness, and overcome sin’s challenges…and look forward to the day Jesus calls us by a special name and into an exclusive fellowship with Him.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

What's in the New Testament?

We commonly refer to the Bible as a “book” – in fact, it is the best-selling book of all-time.  However, the Bible itself is a collection of 66 individual books.  These books were written over approximately 1500 years, by 40 different authors, and in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors to write His words and His message to humanity.  Each author brought their own experiences, concerns, and writing style…and as such, we have a variety of literature types within the Scriptures.  The major division of the Bible’s books is between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  For this blog post, we’ll look at what God has said in the New Testament:

New Testament – This is a collection of 27 books which details Jesus’ birth, ministry, death on the cross, His resurrection, and the world-wide impact of these events.  They are divided into 5 different categories:

The Gospels – These 4 accounts tell of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection.  The only other historical contemporary to Jesus who had four biographical accounts of their life at that time was the Emperor Tiberius.  The gospels show a remarkable consistency for having been written by four different authors writing for four different audiences.  The gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

History – Just one book, Acts.  It begins with Jesus giving the disciples their mission to tell the world about Him, and then He ascends into the heavens.  The rest of the book tells how this mission was fulfilled through the early church.  It also reveals Paul’s incredible conversion to Christianity and his role as a missionary.

Paul’s letters – Not only did Paul take multiple missionary trips, bringing the gospel to several nations around the Mediterranean, but he also wrote letters to the churches he established and specific people he partnered with in ministry.  These books contain a mixture of Christian doctrine/teachings and practical advice on how to live like Jesus in a messed-up world.  Paul’s letters include: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

General letters – These are smaller letters written to larger Christian audiences.  They contain additional teachings and practical applications.  These letters include: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

Prophecy – The book of Revelation is God’s foretelling of the end of earth’s history and the beginning of Jesus reign into Eternity Future.  You’ll find lots of symbolism and references back to many Old Testament people and situations.  Whereas Genesis begins with the story of Paradise Lost, Revelation ends with Paradise Restored.

A few things to keep in mind:

The Bible isn’t a science text – but it does contain some science references.  The Bible isn’t a history book, but there’s never been an archeological find that has contradicted a historical statement in the Bible.  The Bible never claimed to be “the book of every explanation”, but it does contain everything we need to understand God’s love and design for humanity.  The Bible tells us of God’s original partnership with us, how we fouled it up, and God’s plan to rescue us from the mess we’ve made.

I hope and pray that this brief description is helpful to you…perhaps even spurred some questions or curiosity about a book of the Bible you haven’t read in a while.  I’ll end with Paul’s encouragement to his protégé, Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We must grieve

Jesus begins His “Sermon on the Mount” with a series of blessings referred to as ‘The Beatitudes’.  Even if you’re not familiar with the name, I’m certain that you’ll recognize several of them:

Matthew 5:3-10
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

This is an easy list to breeze through…at least for me it always has been.  I was recently challenged with a speaker’s focus on the second blessing:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Which side do you see yourself on…the person who mourns or the one who brings comfort?

Honestly, I have always pictured myself as the one who brings comfort – which breaks down to com-fort and means to “bring-strength”.  I can see myself as one who brings strength to those who are struggling…but I didn’t see myself as someone who would need to receive comfort.

The acts of mourning and grieving are necessary to our lives, but we generally don’t like them very much.  So what do we do?  We tend to stuff our feelings and avoid any opportunity to evaluate or process them.  We use a variety of terms to describe how we expect it to feel: messy, sticky, uncomfortable, out of control, never ending, lonely, depressing…I’m sure you could add a few of your own.

Most of all, deep down we fear two things: that if we start to mourn, it will never end…and that if we really grieve, no one will come to comfort us.  Just the thought of being forever alone in our grief is enough to scare us into avoiding it at all costs.  We’d rather spend a massive amount of energy and time pretending that we’re fine instead of facing both our fears and our grief.

But that’s not what Jesus promised, is it?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Look also to what David wrote about God:

Psalm 56:8
You Yourself have recorded my wanderings.
Put my tears in Your bottle.  Are they not in Your book?

God knows where we have been.  He knows the heartache we’ve experienced.  He’s not only seen every tear we’ve cried, but He’s carefully collected them as well.

God offers another promise – this one is announced at the opening of New Jerusalem in Eternity Future:

Revelation 21:3-4
Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them.  They will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  Death will be no more, grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

Did you see that?  God Himself will wipe away the tears from your eyes.  But how can He wipe away tears we refuse to cry?  How will we find comfort if we refuse to mourn?

We must grieve.  Not just when a loved one dies, but any loss we experience – the loss of a friendship, a job, our innocence, our dreams, a season of life.  Even when we let go of good things so we can focus on better things, we still need to grieve.

When grief comes, don’t avoid it – lean into it.  Your mourning won’t last forever.  In fact, leaning into it will bring it to conclusion, even if we don’t feel that way right now.  Avoiding it will guarantee that the unresolved grief will linger with you for the rest of your life.

God promises blessing and comfort to those who mourn.  Will you trust Him with your tears?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

When the state of the world has you down

Is it just me, or does every year feel heavier?

Maybe it’s part of growing older, but it seems like each year is full of more bad news, more bad circumstances, more bad actors in government, and more people making bad choices that hurt others.  Overwhelming no longer feels like a “sometimes” word…it’s become the norm for many of us, with the exhausted pigeon meme aptly describing our lives.

For those of us who believe in Jesus for eternal life, we have a great comfort available to us – the promises made by God in the Scriptures.  Whenever the state of the world has us feeling down, we often turn to verses emphasizing our heavenly future to give us both comfort and perspective:

Philippians 3:20
Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

There are many other verses that look forward to eternity future, where God tells us about our glorious destiny together with Him as an encouragement while we wait for that time to arrive.  But when dwelling on this truth, I’ve detected a subtle undercurrent of self-centeredness in myself and, based upon the behavior of many other Christians, I don’t think I’m alone in my selfishness.

Oftentimes, when I think about eternity future…my focus is very me-centric.  I don’t like the pain I’m dealing with now, so I can’t wait until the day that all pain is gone.  I don’t like the government leaders I have right now, so I look forward to when Jesus will be the one in charge.  I don’t want to live where so much hate-filled rhetoric comes from so many people, so I want God’s eternal peace now.  I’m tired of all the ignorance, fearmongering, violence, and selfishness I see online and in the news…and I’m just ready to go to heaven right now.

All those things about eternity future are true, and God has promised that future to those who believe in Jesus for eternal life…but we tend to forget that we were once part of the crowd we now want to leave behind:

Titus 3:3-8
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.  We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

This is a trustworthy saying.  And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.  These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Paul’s instruction for Titus’ message to his churches in Crete is clear – Don’t forget where you came from.  They have the same opportunity to be saved as you did.

Paul wants Titus to stress these things because remembering them and living out that new identity in Christ is excellent and profitable for everyone – not just for believers, but also for those who are still foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved.

So yes, we are to look forward to eternity future.  We can draw hope from knowing our destiny is secure in God’s promises.  But don’t let our eternal status lead us to feeling superior, smug, or above what’s happening in the world around us.  When we are careful to devote ourselves to doing what is good, we point them toward the God who saved us.

Because…at one time we too were just like them.  Don’t forget where you came from.  And don’t forget that the only reason for our salvation isn’t because of us.  It’s all because of His mercy.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

God from the machine

Ancient Greek and Roman plays were often complex stories – layered with situations and personal tensions in order to create circumstances of comedy or tragedy for the main characters to work through.  One particular motif was to simply pile on the problems, one after another, until there was no chance for the characters to find resolution or peace.  Despite any efforts of the characters to find a solution or rescue themselves, all their choices only made their circumstances worse.  Then, suddenly, a new character would be introduced – a Greek or Roman god – who would enter the scene, miraculously fix everything, and restore order. 

The god would make a grand entrance, either lifted on stage through a trap door or hoisted over top to be lowered down to the characters by a crane.  The use of the grand machine entrance was to bring the audience wonder and astonishment as the god’s influence changed the lives of the characters.  As such, this plot device to rescue the story or characters became known as Deus ex Machina – literally, “God from the machine”.

Our world feels a bit like that kind of plot line, doesn’t it?

Wars rage across the planet and on our news feeds.  Natural disasters have hit hard this year – flooding, mud slides, wildfires, earthquakes – at the cost of many lives.  Political tensions are running higher than ever, as yelling and name calling has given way to violence and assassinations.  These things are happening across multiple nations, but the volume continues to increase, louder and louder.  Social media, once hailed as the modern way to connect with others, consistently causes division and stokes animosity.

Despite all our best efforts, technological advances, and great intentions, there are days when the light at the end of the tunnel appears to be getting smaller, even fading out.  You may question if there even is a light in the distance, anything other than a foolish hope that humanity will one day get our collective act together.  Because, in the end, despite all our energies spent, death overtakes every one of us.

But…what if the ancient playwrights were on to something?  What if their use of the Deus ex Machina motif was actually tapping into a deep cry from our hearts – that we know we need to be rescued?

It’s through Jesus that our rescue is made available.  He offered eternal life to anyone who would receive it as a free gift (John 3:16), and He repeatedly promised that He would one day return, providing a rescue to all who had believed in Him for eternal life.  Even the last words Jesus speaks in the Bible attests to this:

Revelation 22:20
Yes, I am coming soon.

How soon is “soon”?  After all, it’s been nearly 2000 years since Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead.  Although this seems like a long time to wait, according to the prophet Isaiah, the wait will be worth it:

Isaiah 25:6-9
On this mountain, the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the people a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine.

On this mountain He will swallow up the burial shroud, the shroud over all the people, the sheet covering all the nations.

When He has swallowed up death once and for all, the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.

On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us.  This is the Lord; we have waited for Him.  Let’s rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

One day, death will be swallowed up in victory.  God will overcome the darkness and rescue us from our hopeless situation.  But not only will He fix everything on the large scale, He will also individually fix us – wiping away our tears and removing our disgrace. 

At that time, we will all agree – it was worth the wait.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite: Trusting enough

In the last month, I’ve looked up multiple times and wondered: “How about now God? Is it time…yet?”

I needed this reminder.

Trusting enough
Originally posted on March 23, 2017

Turn on a news broadcast or read through the headlines on any webpage, and it’s easy to get discouraged about the direction the world is heading in.  Despite humanity’s best efforts and good intentions, we continue to slide down the slope toward self-destruction. 

I am reminded of Jesus’ last words in the Bible, where He says

Revelation 22:20
“Yes, I am coming quickly.”

And I think how quickly is quickly?  How bad does it have to get?  How many more atrocities will God allow us to inflict on one another before He steps in and says “ENOUGH”?  How much more opposition will we have to deal with until God finally rescues us?

Despite warning Timothy about the difficulties, and instructing him on how to deal with them, Paul didn’t want Timothy to totally focus on how hard his task was or how long it would last.

1 Timothy 6:13-14
In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in His own time. 

Timothy’s “mission completed” point isn’t when he thinks Christ should be coming back, instead it is when God the Father decides…which [He] will bring about in His own time. 

And why could Timothy trust God’s timing?  Ephesus wasn’t an easy place, it was a melting pot of sinful cultures.  There were popular views about God that were completely false.  There were people in charge that didn’t even acknowledge God.  And there was plenty of opposition to Timothy defending the true gospel message.  I’m sure there were times when he would have thought “Ok, God…You can send Jesus back anytime time now…”

In the next sentence, Paul reminds Timothy of who God is.  Do you think this resume supports God sending Jesus back in His own time?

1 Timothy 6:15-16
He is
the blessed and only Sovereign,
the King of kings,
and the Lord of lords,
the only One who has immortality,
dwelling in unapproachable light,
whom none of mankind has seen or can see,
to whom be honor and eternal might.
Amen.

In addition to remembering our good confession, the way Timothy would keep going with his mission was to remember who gave him his marching orders. 

Since God gives life to all, do I trust Him with what He says I should do with my life?  When I read through the God’s resume in verses 15-16, do those attributes convince me that God also knows what He’s doing when it comes to the timing of Christ’s return?

Instead of wondering “How much longer?”, our question should be “How can I trust Him today?”.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We met at the community table

A few weeks back, our youngest son came to visit for the weekend before my wife’s birthday.  On Sunday, after church, we decided to go out to eat.  We were all craving breakfast food, and we eventually ended up at First Watch.  We had been there a couple of times before, and the food is excellent.  But as we walked up, I groaned.  They were obviously very busy, and there were people waiting outside for a table.  I really wasn’t in the mood to wait for what looked like at least an hour, but we went up to their reception desk to ask anyway.

The place was packed.  Waiters and waitresses zooming around everywhere.  “Yeah, it’s going to be a while,” the reception lady told us.  Then her face changed, like she got an idea.  After looking back over her right shoulder, she asked us, “You only have three people, right?”  “Yes,” I said.  What she offered next completely caught me off guard.  “Well, you could take a seat at our community table.  There are three seats open there.”

I had no idea what a community table at a restaurant entailed, but I was happy to grab a seat and get some food.  She led us back to a long, tall table with four tall chairs on either side.  There were two women facing each other at one end and a family of three at the other.  Just enough room for my wife and me to sit across from our son. 

We were completely surrounded by strangers; close enough to bump elbows and have to shift drinks and plates around so everyone could manage their food.  Everyone politely smiled, saying hellos and good mornings.  The waitress brought us menus, and as we scoped out what we wanted, we realized that our new neighbors had already ordered some of what we were considering.  That right there started multiple conversations about recommendations and personal favorites.  From that point on, you would have had no idea that the people sitting around the community table didn’t know each other just an hour ago.  Sometimes the conversation involved everyone, other times three different discussions were happening at once.  We talked about colleges (our son and the family’s daughter were going to different local universities), travel (the father was from Italy), career choices (the lady to my wife’s left was in the army, the mother to my right had held a variety of interesting occupations), and sports (football vs futbol)…anything that helped tell the story of how we all ended up a community table, eating breakfast for lunch on a Sunday in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Everyone else at the table finished before we did, and we ended up leaving before anyone else came to the community table.  We left with stunned smiles on our faces, wondering exactly what we had just unexpectedly experienced.  We couldn’t quite wrap words around it, but we all agreed – that was cool.

Experiences like this make me think that I got a glimmer of what heaven is going to be like.  There are going to be scores of people we’ve never met – each with a life story of how they ended up there.  The tie that will bind all of us together will be that we believed in Jesus for eternal life (John 3:16), but how we came to that point and how God worked in our lives will be fascinating. 

The same John that recorded John 3:16 was later given a vision – a revelation – of what the future of humanity will be like.  When thinking of our community table breakfast, one of things John saw comes to mind:

Revelation 7:9
After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

What a sight that will be!  I can’t wait to see it…and I’m also looking forward to eating at that community table!

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We all want something new

This week is always a weird one.  The world seems to breathe a sigh of relief after the Christmas craziness is done and it won't gear up for the New Years hype for a few more days.  It’s a great time to take a breath, find some rest, and think about bigger questions than we normally have time for, due to the hustle and bustle of our normal rhythms.

Is this life-stage different then you thought it would be? 

That’s a pretty loaded question, isn’t it?  I mean, after all, this is the first time you’ve been the age you are now.  If we’re honest with each other, we’re all just kinda figuring it out as we go along.  So, let’s take a minute and think through this together.

Any time I have thought through where I’m at in life, I am also challenged with thoughts of the things that I would like to be “better” or “newer”.  And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing – while comparing ourselves to others can lead to jealousy and envy, there is no harm in wanting aspects of our own lives to improve.  When things are better…or better yet…when things are new, there’s opportunity for growth and enjoyment that wasn’t there before.

Living in a fallen world means that everything is tainted by sin and its decaying effects.  The brokenness, the fear, the death…they all are drenched in the feeling of “it’s not supposed to be like this” but we know we can’t fix it either.  The Apostle Paul wrote about this feeling in his letter to the believers in Rome:

Romans 8:22-23
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.  Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits – we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

We, along with all of creation, long for the day when everything is set right…when the redemption and rescue that only God can bring finally arrives.  Until then, we groan in eager anticipation of that day.

And that day will come.  Jesus promised He would return.  I know it’s been nearly 2,000 years since He made that promise – but time passed doesn’t negate His word to us.  When God gave the Apostle John a glimpse into the future, a vision of what Eternity Future would be, John heard the words that we all long to hear:

Revelation 21:5
Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.”

Everything.  New.

That sounds so good.

Take advantage of this "different" week.  Do the one thing you've been putting off for so long... take some time and think about where you are in life right now.  What new things can you partner with God to do in 2024, while you look forward to His promised return?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

For my son - The greatest reward possible

My youngest son has officially finished high school and is getting ready to embark on the next phase of his life.  As I am nostalgically thinking of that time in my own life, I am also thinking of the things God has taught me since then.

This is the second post in a three-part series where I am remembering lessons I have learned later in life that I would love for my son know now...

I chose this post because for many years as an adult Christian, I had no idea about the incredible, eternal future God has in store for those who believe in Him for eternal life and choose to spend their earthly lives intentionally and intimately connected to Jesus.  God’s eternal rewards are great, and I hope my son earns many of them.

The greatest reward possible
Originally posted on September 26, 2019  

Assuming you had the necessary skills and the opportunity, what is the biggest earthly prize you would aspire to?

Maybe it’s directing the highest grossing movie of all time…or Quarterbacking your favorite team to a Super Bowl victory…or building a business up from your garage into a global empire…or perhaps you are content to win the lottery and retire to a private island.  What would be “the ultimate prize” for you?

How does thinking about this feel?  Scary?  Overwhelming?  Unrealistic?

As those who believe in Jesus for eternal life, we know this present life will continue on with Him into Eternity Future.  While there are big dreams and opportunities to be had here and now…we should also wonder if there are eternal opportunities that God has made available to us.  In God’s revelation to John, He reveals a big one:

Revelation 22:3-5
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will worship Him.  They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

They will reign.

Those words carry a weight to them, and they should.  To reign means that a person has obtained or has been given the authority to rule, to lead, and to preside over the lives of others.  While we fully expect Jesus to reign in Heaven and over all creation…John tells us that in addition to Jesus, His servants will reign.

Servant Kings.

Those words don’t seem to go together, but it is exactly what Christ taught to His disciples.

At one point, Peter struggled with comparing the life he left behind with his choice to follow Jesus as a disciple.  He could have believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, continued to work the family business as a fisherman, and still gone to Heaven.  What Peter struggled with was seeing the tangible benefits to accepting Christ’s invitation to intimately follow Him in Discipleship, to living his earthly life learning how to imitate Christ.  Let’s drop into their conversation:

Matthew 19:27-28
Then Peter responded to Him, “See, we have left everything and followed You.  So what will there be for us?”  Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Notice that Jesus does not rebuke Peter for asking this kind of “What’s the reward?” question.  Jesus replies that there is a reward – a reward of authority – to those who have followed him.  Jesus didn’t say that this magnitude of a reward was available to everyone who believes…rather those who will be great at the renewal of all things are those who, after believing, have spent their earthly lives learning how to imitate Christ.

Learning to imitate Christ, the greatest example of a Servant King, is what will qualify His servants to reign forever and ever.

You and I have the necessary skills and the opportunity to do the same.  Will we follow Christ now so that we, too, can become Servant Kings in eternity future?

Keep Pressing,
Ken