Marty Carlisle Ministries

Do you occasionally wonder about this? Most folks ponder the meaning of life from time to time. Some consider it while holding a fishing pole. Others roll it around in their minds while sitting quietly in a tree stand in the woods or watching the ambers glow at a camp fire.

Paul certainly had it figured out. He said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil.1:21)That’s it. No cosmic reverie. No boring theological debates. Like a string of pearls, each word leads smoothly into the next, which taken together, is a priceless treasure for the heart. We blink at its simplicity. We nod our heads approvingly at its message. We agree it give us purpose and confidence. But then, our everyday routines kick-in again and we forget all about it.

But what if we were to turn this great Biblical declaration into a question? Or better yet, how about a “fill in the blanks”? Are you game? Let’s try it. Answer the following two questions.

1). For me to live is _____.

Sure, we know what the correct answer should be, but hold on. Nobody is looking. Nobody is judging. Think, honestly, as you read this, about what gets top priority in your life. And let’s understand each other, I’m not talking about work. We all understand vocation priorities. But what things interests you enough that you will suspend the rest of the day, alter your heavy schedule or drive fifty miles out of your way? How do these things interfere with your Christian obligations?

Here’s the gig. An honest answer describes your current relationship with God. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Turns out, each of us gives a detailed explanation about the meaning of life, everyday, whether we are aware of it or not.

I hear you. Conviction police—pull over! But here’s the other question:

2.) To die is _______.

Paul was speaking for himself when he answered “gain”. What is your answer? Does your heart rejoice, as Paul’s did, knowing that you will be with Christ which is far better? Or does your heart hesitate: “To die is…the end”?

Here again, if we are truthful, we have a truthful picture about ourselves. True, you could turn this page and forget all about the meaning of life for awhile. But seriously, is it wise to look at these questions with a blind eye? Have you been crossing your spiritual fingers and hoping for the best? Does your current definition of the meaning of life give you peace?

Converting Paul’s great declaration of faith in Phil.1:21, into a question is actually a useful thing to do for all of us. It confronts our priorities and gives us an accurate reality check about our spiritual life, or the lack of one. It cuts through the chaff and goes right to the heart of the matter: “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” (Heb 2:3).

Yep, Paul again. Here’s mine: It is GOOD to be a Christian!

What’s yours?

copyright 2007 by Marty Carlisle

When Shadows Meet Our Prayers

Ever had one of those…“night-before’s”? You know—the occasional long, sleepless night we experience when we are worried sick about what’s going to happen the next day.

The moon shines in our face through our bedroom window. The clock ticks ominously on the wall. Minutes pass like hours. Our quiet mundane prayers have become soaked in tears. Like Jonah, we feel as though our troubles have swallowed us up alive.

Who among us can say we’ve never had one of those…night before’s?

Jesus certainly had one. In fact, no one can ever know the depth of isolation He felt as He walked prayerfully among the shadows in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before His crucifixion. It wasn’t just the nails through His hands that worried Him or the inevitable stripes on His back that made Him fall on His knees and pray. I’m sure that was certainly part of it. After all, the Son of God was also flesh and blood.

No, the real despair that gripped the Savior’s heart was the imminent separation He faced with His Father. They had never been separated before. They had walked together in perfect love and unity. Jesus spoke to Him and about Him everyday. The Father reciprocated with a booming voice from Heaven confirming to all who had ears to hear that, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”

But now it was the…night before.

Whenever shadows and prayers face each other in the garden of the human heart, God has us right where He wants us. Helpless—totally dependent upon Him. You see, Gethsemane is a Garden every Christian visits whether we want to or not. It is the place where all our anxieties, fears and uncertainties are abandoned in favor of complete trust in God. It is where the flesh and the spirit duel each other to the death.

“If it be possible, let this cup pass from me–” the flesh cries out. “Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done.” the spirit answers.

“Night before’s” can be a scary and dark time. But it is our resolve to trust God, no matter what, that makes the sunrise over the horizon, dispersing the shadows and enabling us to face our difficulties with confidence.

Jesus suffered an unspeakable separation from His Father—something no believer in Christ ever will. Why? Because the Son of God faced His night-before with immeasurable faith. He stood in our place. He paid for all our sin. He secured the free gift of salvation to all who will receive it.

The shadows had been deep.

The night had been long.

But His victory was unstoppable.

So is ours.

Isn’t it GOOD to be a Christian?

Copyright 2008 by Marty Carlisle

By Marty Carlisle    

      Some people will just flat tell you:  There are some things worse than death.

     Ask Peter.  If you did, I’m sure he would say the worst time of his life began with his three denials of knowing Jesus. 

    It is difficult to imagine such remorse, isn’t it?  There are those of us who look with disdain at Peter’s conduct that terrible night.  Tsk, tsk, we hear them say. Many of us claim we would never do such a thing.  Peter can relate to that, too.  Having actually been there and done that, he would probably astound us by claiming that God isn’t interested in all those token pathetic promises we offer up to Him at the altar in recompense for our continuous ever-present guilt.

   Indeed as we read the account of Peter passionately vowing to Jesus that he would never forsake him as others would do, there is a part of us that wants to commend the over-eager disciple.  Way to go Peter, we cheer–that’s the spirit. If we didn’t know the rest of the story, we might be taken aback -just as Peter was- by the Lord’s response to Peter’s pledge of loyalty.  Jesus didn’t welcome it–not only because he knew in advance what Peter would do- but also because Jesus knew what was in Man.

   As Jesus solemnly disclosed that Peter would deny him three times before dawn, we get a disturbing glimpse at how meaningless our human pledges to God really are.  Faced with such a terrible prophecy, I can almost hear Peter’s follow up question to Jesus.  Peter didn’t voice it.  He didn’t have to.  The human question seems to leap out of the Scripture all by itself:  What hope do I have, Lord if I can’t keep a promise to you?

   Can you relate?   It is a question that echoes in hearts of millions of struggling Christians today.  It is a spiritual quagmire that harrasses the happiness and effectiveness of many believers. Maybe its time to settle the issue and get a few things straight in our minds and hearts.  Tuck this little nugget of truth into your heart:  God wants to reside in the strength of our passions more than in the weakness of our promises. He wants to be at the center of our desires more than in the frailty of our deeds.  Quite simply, God wants to setup house in our “want-to’s”.  After all, to err is to be human–someone once said.  The Bible says it better:  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom.3:23).

    Back to the story.  Some of us can only peek through our fingers at those Bible verses that describes Peter’s carnal conduct that night. It wasn’t as though Peter didn’t believe.  I think most of us would run to Peter’s defense about that–but neither are we inclined to excuse him.  Its just that, well, Peter was..frightened.  Challenged.  Intimidated.  These are emotions most of us can relate to.   Even so, we cringe as we read along–not because Peter’s faith seems to cave in under the weight of criticism and persecution–but because our own faith collapses under far lighter pressures and circumstances.   The story of Peter’s denials sharply confronts the worst part of our human character and it sickens us -just as it sickened Peter.  It is all too easy to see him in our minds eye, sobbing inconsolably on his bunk as he recounts his blunder over and over again:  One denial, two denials, three denials and -wait for it- the crowing rooster. 

      Has the rooster crowed in your life?  Be honest with yourself and remember that the rooster crows every time we fail to acknowledge Jesus as our Lord.  When we play the lottery, the rooster crows at our lack of faith that God will provide.  When we sleep in on Sunday morning, the rooster crows at our lack of discipleship to the Church He loves.  When we fail to tithe as we should, when we slack off in our prayer life, when the TV guide takes priority over our need to study His Word, the rooster crows……

       If you’re feeling a little guilty its okay.  In fact, its good news.   You see, God designed it this way:  Anguish over sin must precede accepted grace.  Real remorse -when its real- always becomes more than occasional abstract thoughts and distant memories.  It climbs in bed with us. It creeps into our dreams.  It sits down with us at meals.  Ask Peter.

      So what happened next?  The Bible tells us that in the subsequent days after his three denials, Peter returned to fishing–desparing perhaps that he could never be what God wanted him to be or do what God wanted him to do.  So Peter drudgingly returned to what he was doing before he met the Lord and submerged himself in fishing.  Fishing had always been more than a vocation. However menial and empty it seemed, fishing served a way of life.  Maybe somehow, it would serve him again and help him forget the aching hole in his heart. 

   As we all know, however, the fresh open air could not provide the absolution Peter craved. The fine mist of the sea on his sun-baked face could not make him clean.  We can easily imagine Peter neglecting his nets in favor of listening to the water lapping against his boat.  Peter’s eyes, once sharp enough to see Jesus walking on the water in the raging storm, now cannot behold the beautiful sunset melting over the ocean horizon.  Funny, how a right relationship with Jesus gives us vision.  If we could have talked to Peter during this bereaving time, he might have told us that happiness seemed to be amputated from his heart. He might have confided that his daydreams were becoming nightmares. He might have even rhetorically asked, what is sleep without peace?  If we could have asked him what his plans were for the future, he might not have responded at all.  After all, languishing the rest of his days at sea wasn’t anything to brag about.

   Tombs often taken many forms, don’t they?  There are some things worse than death.

   But Peter’s story has a happy ending–which means ours can too!  A glorious day came when Peter jumped out of his tomb–I mean, his boat. Do you remember what happened? 

    Peter had just pulled his nets aboard for the umpteenth time with no success when suddenly a voice from the shoreline shouted out instructions for him to lower his nets on the other side of his boat.  Peter probably looked but didn’t recognize the distant figure on the bank.  He followed the stranger’s advice anyway, (a sheer act of faith), and the catch became huge!  As he and the other disciples began pulling his nets aboard, it was John who whispered with baited breath, “It is the Lord!”

    I can see Peter suddenly standing straight up with searching eyes, can’t you?  I can see his heart pounding with the kind of adrenaline that only rescue from total isolation can inspire.  The Bible says Peter couldn’t wait to row ashore.  He dove into the water and swam joyfully to the resurrected Christ–forgetting his catch, his boat and his friends.  After all, the day was never really about fishing anyway. It was about the Great Fisher of men and longing to be caught in His net. 

      The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ changed Peter’s life forever. It still changes lives to today. Regardless of what heartbreak we have suffered or disappointment we have caused, we do not have to wait until we physically rise from the grave–to spiritually rise from our graves!  Peter certainly didn’t wait.  SPLASH!   Oh, it was probably the best swim of his life.

       The irony is worth repeating:  In many ways, the resurrection of Christ brought about a unique resurrection in Peter. He would never be the same again. His three denials had been like three nails used to crucify his spirit. Now, through the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, Peter became the first to truly experience the full spectrum of Old Testament remorse–and New Testament redemption.

     From that day forward, Peter said goodbye to his boat–I mean his tomb.

    Isn’t that what being a Christian is all about? 

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The Comeback Kid

What the Scripture says:

A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

And when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in the land and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my Father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.” (Luke 15:11-14)KJV

There is a vast difference between knowing who you are in Christ and becoming who God wants you to be.

It’s true. If I live to be 106, I will never forget the time my six year old daughter climbed in my chair with me and squeezed my nose. “Honk.” she said. She gave me a priceless smile. She had two teeth missing in the front. She was beautiful. She said, “Daddy, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

I remember how quickly my chuckle trailed off. In two seconds –flat– my daughter had successfully confronted all of my “adult frustrations” and so-called “complicated issues” in life with a simple question from grade school.

I gently patted her head and told her to go play with her brothers. I leaned back in my chair but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t concentrate on the football game on TV.

Here I was, thirty-two years old, a husband and father of three and this childhood question was still relevant to my life! It was disturbing to think about and embarrassing to admit, but I simply was not satisfied about two things:

1. What I was doing.

2. Who I was becoming.

Call it a mid-life crisis if you want but the fact is, I felt like a failure. I couldn’t snap out of it either. Days went by. Then months. One year later, the collateral damage my daughter’s innocent little question had inflicted on my self-esteem and personal confidence had become too great to ignore any longer.

I finally made a decision to turn my heart over to God and rededicate my life to Christ. It’s been wonderful ever since.

So let me pass the buck. What do you want to be when you grow up? Are you satisfied with what you are doing and who you are becoming? Are you worried that it’s too late in life for new decisions?

The story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 is compelling because he, too, had a moment of clarity about the direction his life was taking. Like many of us, he made all of his own decisions. He had done things his way. Yet the choices he’d made and his journey through life had taken him far away from home, light-years away from the good things that once nurtured him. Like many of us, I’m sure he thought it was too late for new decisions.

The pig-pen in which he found himself is a deserving metaphor that most of us can relate to. We all know and what is like to make a mess of things. We understand how it feels to look around at the life we are living and know that we could do better. We can identify with the Prodigal’s greed when he asked his Father for his inheritance—just so he could blow it. We are all too familiar with his life of riotous living. We can relate to his hungry, empty heart after the money ran out and the party was over. But most of all, we understand all to well, his reluctance to go home.

But even so, we cheer him as he rises out of the mud and grime and makes a decision that enough is enough. We nod our heads as we hear him rehearse his story on his journey back. We observe, perhaps with a tiny bit of envy, as he returns to a loving Father who truly understands.

This book is written for those 21st century prodigal sons or daughters out there–who are entertaining thoughts of returning home. It is written for the empty, broken heart that has only a distant memory of childlike innocence and motives that were once pure.

It is for the individual, that Christian, who has just plain blown it—who wants to go home because they have not forgotten who their Father is and where they really belong.

New lows can point us home and upward toward God.

It’s true. It’s interesting that it was only when the Prodigal found himself hungering for the same thing the swine were chewing on, that he finally decided to become his father’s son.

…and when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants. (Luke 15:17-19)KJV.

In the Scripture above, what did the Prodigal realize about his situation? What did the Prodigal say he would do about it? Has there ever been a time in your life when you ignored God’s leadership? What happened? The plain fact is, some of us, myself included, has to learn the hard way.

When we think about it, 2Chron.7:14 was the Prodigal Son’s greatest realization. By the time he’d blown his inheritance, suffered greatly in poverty and destitution, and made his journey home, he had humbled himself. His prayer came when he spoke with sincerity to his Father—perhaps for the first time in his life—seeking only his face. He had turned from his wicked ways.

For all practical purposes, 2Chron.7:14 was the code that led him home. It didn’t come to him while he was cramming his Sunday School lesson minutes before class or when he was falling asleep during the worship service. He woke up in a pig-pen. His glorious epiphany came at his lowest point—when he was wondering where his next meal would come from—or perhaps, his next fix. It came when he was worrying about perishing, being forgotten or disappearing entirely into obscurity.

When the Prodigal son finally returned home, he came back with far more than just the simple knowledge about who he was. He came home determined to become more than he ever had been.

You see, it is one thing to know you are a good basketball player. It’s quite another, to become Michael Jordan. It’s one thing to know you have an aptitude for algebra. It’s quite another to become Albert Einstein. Likewise, it’s one thing to know you have been saved. It’s quite another to finally, at long last, become a Child of God.

In 2Chron.7:14, God’s ordains identity and power in Christ for those few who are willing to do more than simply know we are God’s people. Jesus said if we had the faith of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. But having that kind of faith involves more than simply knowing what God says. Real faith, that is, the kind that can cause a tree to be uprooted and cast into the sea, requires personal application of God’s Word everyday.

Michael Jordan did more than simply know he was a good athlete. He decided one day to apply his life to the rules of the game and as a result, he dominated the world of professional basketball. It’s also true Albert Einstein did more than simply know his theory of relativity was correct. He decided to apply his life to the equations he knew so well and as a result, he redefined our physical Universe. So also, dear reader, great things await us if we are willing to do more than simply know God’s Word. If we’ll just decide—today—to apply our life to God’s principles, nothing will be impossible for us.

What does God mean by “break up your fallow ground”?

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he comes and rain righteousness upon you. (Hos.10:12)KJV.
What was your life like before and after you became a Christian?

God begins 2Chron.7:14 with the phrase, if my people. It is a kind of proposal that can only be seen clearly from a pig pen or when we’re stuck in a rut. It is an opportunity for us to apply ourselves to a very specific action plan that will close the gap between ourselves and God and lead to a successful life. As with any proposal, there are two sets of responsibilities. There are ours, (i.e., humbling ourselves, praying, seeking His face, and turning from our wicked ways), and there are God’s, (i.e., hearing from Heaven, forgiving our sin, and healing our land). God does not expect us to be responsible for His end of the deal. God must come through and keep His Word or He can’t be God!

But what’s true for God is likewise true for us. We cannot be wishy-washy about our responsibilities which God clearly spells out for us. If we drop the ball, or lay in our bed, or pursue other interests, we cannot expect God to reward us.

In 2Chron.7:15, God says something truly extraordinary. “Now, mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.”

God has made His offer.

He has laid out his proposal.

He’s waiting to see what you and I do next.

It is time that we become the kind of Christian which the world cannot ignore any longer.

Summary
Whatever you have planned for your life, true success simply will escape you unless God is leading you:

O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (Jer.10:23)KJV.
Though its certainly true God is mysterious, I believe it’s equally true that God would rather not be. The Bible, and its entire message, is all about revealing Himself to us through Christ. God wants us to develop a spiritual aptitude for understanding His heart. He wants us to know where and when we can look for Him and to instantly recognize His presence when He shows up.

Through our intimate relationship with God, our lives are transformed, our priorities are changed and our personal potential is unlocked. A bigger and more exciting future awaits us and it all begins with our own initiative.

Take your own public poll sometime on a busy street corner somewhere and ask ten people whether they are going to Heaven or not. You’re guaranteed to get some interesting responses.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll probably hear:
At least one will become defiant and claim there is no Heaven or Hell.
Two will insist nobody can know for sure until we get there.
About five will say, “Well, I certainly hope so!”
(There’s always one who belligerently claims they are going to Hell to party.)
Only two, or at best, three out of ten, about 30% will answer with a confident, “Yes, I’m going to Heaven.”
Almost half are merely “hoping they make it”. Read the rest of this entry »

The “Burning Bush” Experience

What the Scripture Says:

“And when the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest, is holy ground.” (Ex.3:4-5)KJV.

Cozying up to a crackling fire underneath the stars will do wonders in opening our senses to the deep things of God. Moses would certainly tell us that.

Of all the wonderful exploits God accomplished in the life of Moses, everything tracks back to the burning bush. Moses’ great life of spiritual faith began with a personal encounter with God when he was alone in the desert.

Some Christians contend Moses’ burning bush experience with God was strictly for Moses and that it isn’t likely you or I would ever encounter such a sight—and I wholeheartedly agree. It isn’t likely you or I will ever stumble upon such a sight.

The point is, Moses’ encounter with God was entirely unique to him and his circumstances. He was a shepherd who abode in the desert and therefore it is reasonable that God would meet him in his element. God will likewise meet you and I—in ours.

Great personal things happen to those Christians who seek after great personal encounters with God in prayer.

It’s true. Like Moses, all of us should have a single life-changing experience with God in which everything in our spiritual lives tracks back to! It should be a moment in which God manifested Himself to us in some sort of dynamic way which changed us so much and to such a degree that nothing would ever be the same again.

For many Christians, that moment came when we were saved. Our salvation experience was so deep and profound that we remember the exact date, time or situation we were in when we encountered Him—just as Moses did. For some of us, that “burning bush” moment came when we are baptized. For others, God spoke to us during a powerful revival which compelled us to rededicate ourselves to God. For still others, it may have come at an unusual time, perhaps during a troubled period in our lives which caused us to fall on our knees and cry out to Him.

However it comes, our own personal “burning bush” moment with God should be an unusual and perhaps unrepeated instance in which we heard from God and not necessarily God hearing from us.

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors, (Pr.8:34) KJV.

Before she passed away, my 92-year-old grandmother kept a little cross-stitched saying on her coffee table which said, “Talking is sharing, but listening is caring.” It’s hard to find a more concise formula for building relationships than this simple nugget of truth. Listening to God when He speaks to us, is the ‘caring portion’ of our love relationship with Him. It’s what moves His heart. Like Moses, each of us needs a personal life changing experience with Him. The trick is learning how to get alone with Him and to tune into His Word.

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb, (Ex.3:1).

Every time I read that verse, the word ‘backside’ jumps out at me. Why would the Scripture go to the extent of mentioning the ‘backside’ of the desert especially since the desert itself meets and exceeds the criteria for getting alone with God? The answer is simple: To better hear from God, we must make a deliberate effort to tune in to Him in prayer. In fact, Moses’ example of retreat to the backside of the desert almost speaks better to our generation than it did to his. Our noisy culture today simply doesn’t cater to our need for quiet reflection. To have it, we simply must detach ourselves from our normal circumstances and surroundings. To open our minds and hearts to God we might need to divert off our normal beating path just as Moses did.

Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt, (Ex.3:3).

Moses didn’t just happen to find himself in glorious solitude with the Lord. He made a huge adjustment: He temporarily suspended his agenda and opened his heart. He released himself of his normal routines and made himself available to hear from God.

An open heart is a listening heart.

Its true. My wife, Sharon, and I have been married almost thirty years. She deserves a medal. She claims I have a condition known as, “selective hearing“, that is, I hear only what I want and I have a tendency of tuning out everything else. She becomes terribly angry with me when I keep making endless requests of her, but I won’t slow down long enough to listen. This was one of my many personal dysfunctions which went unchecked for long time. When our marriage began to suffer as a result of my hearing problem, it would take Sharon’s tears to get me to stop and pay attention.

During all that time, she would try to get me to listen, using every tactic she knew of, but every now and then she would startle me with an emotional outburst—“Will you just stop for a minute and listen to me please?” It was like getting hit with an emotional bolt of lightening. She was hurt.

Not listening is an un-loving thing to do in a relationship. It was only when I took the time to get alone with her that I was better able to tune-in and listen to what was weighing heavy on her heart. The same is true in our spiritual relationship with God—that is, many of us as Christians have a “selective hearing” problem. We are constantly making endless requests of God but we won’t slow down long enough to listen to Him. Consequently, it doesn’t take very long to find ourselves outside of His will.

Has the following ever happened to you? Sometimes, after I’ve closed my prayer—prematurely—and proceeded to get busy doing something else, a face, or a name, or a need will go through my mind that I forgot to pray for. When this happens, it is God’s way of saying to us, “Will you just stop for a minute and listen please?” If you will, you just might detect God’s grieving Spirit. Not listening to God when He speaks to us through prayer, is an unloving thing to do in our relationship with Him.

Copyright 2008-2009 by Marty Carlisle Marty Carlisle Ministries

I still remember my grandparents church.  Wooden pews.  Thundering organist.  Robed choir. Scorching sermons. Tender altar calls. 

As a 12 year old kid, my job was to be Johnny-on-the-spot with the hymn book.  I would hold it out so my grandfather could see it and sing as loud and as reverent as I could.  Most of the sermons went over my head but the hymns -hey- that was my bread and butter.  That’s where I learned about the love of Jesus, the blood He shed on the cross for my sins, and the glorious day when we would all be together in the Promised Land. 

In recent years, however I’ve noticed that some of these beloved hymns depict Heaven and the Promised Land as the same place.  It wouldn’t be much a stretch to say that most Christians today believe Heaven and the Promised Land are synonymous.

The truth is, there is a striking difference between the two:   Heaven is later.  The Promised Land is now.  

Heaven, as we know, is a place where all Christians go after their life on earth is over, to live with Christ in ever-lasting peace and rest. In Heaven we will cease from our labors and God will dry every tear. There will be no more sickness, death, or conflict. Heaven is a glorious place where our Enemy cannot enter. 

And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, (Ex.3:8)KJV

Every single one of these truths, correlates perfectly with what the Bible says about Heaven—but not the Promised Land. If we know anything about our Bible, we know the Promised Land is an earthy place that God has given the nation of Israel—but unlike Heaven, it was entrenched with enemy nations. The Promised Land was a place Israel had to take by force. To possess it and even to keep it, they had to maintain a constant state of military awareness, that is, they had to keep an eye out for enemy nations that might invade their land. They had to remain constantly vigilant. Often, they had to go to war with God leading them, to keep enemy nations out of the Promised Land.

That’s not Heaven. When you and I enter into Heaven in the glory of Christ we will do so without confrontation or altercation. There will be no wars or bloodshed. There will be no quarreling or conflict. Personally, when I get to Heaven, I won’t have to fight anybody to take my seat. There will only be spiritual worship, eternal peace and rest. 

1. The Bible says we enter Heaven by faith alone. We can neither earn nor fight our way there.

2. But the Bible also teaches us that faith alone wasn’t enough for Israel to enter the Promised Land. Entering the Promised Land required faith and obedience. Disobedience cost the nation of Israel to fall into captivity and lose their land flowing with milk and honey. 

If Heaven and the Promised Land are the same place, then we’ve hit upon a major Biblical discrepancy. Is the Bible in error? Of course not. The Bible is perfect and infallible. There are no errors. This can only mean the apparent inconsistency is in our minds and not in God’s Word. We need a new perspective. 

As Bartimeus needed his eye-sight restored, and Paul needed spiritual vision, so also we need a new perspective about our own personal Promised Land.

If it’s not Heaven where is the Promised Land? 

For the Hebrew in Old Testament times, the Promised Land was the fertile land in Canaan. For the Christian, in today’s New Testament times, it is everywhere our feet touch the ground after we are saved—and not before. It is all the blessings God wants to pour into our life as result of being His child. 

The Promised Land, today, is our parenthood, our vocation, our careers, our schools, our neighborhoods, our communities and our nation. When God “hears from Heaven”, He gives us new eyes to better see our marriages, our relationships and our children’s minds. And just like Israel, a close examination of these fertile things in our lives, reveals our Enemy already occupies them.

What an eye-opening thought about where the Promised Land is located for the Christian! 

Indeed, when we finally see the full extent to which Satan is entrenched in our lives it can be downright scary. Israel had a similar experience when Moses sent Joshua, Caleb and a delegation of men to scout the land of Canaan which God given them. Their eyes feasted upon the fertile land, but they also saw enemy nations already living there. They returned back to the camp with an intimidating report:

And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the chilren of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. (Nu.13:27-29)KJV.

The report of seeing the “children of Anak” in the Promised Land was especially disheartening. The Anakim race was a people known for their great size and strength. The Promised Land was not going to be handed over to them simply because God had given it to them. It has to be taken. It was not going to be easy.  

Sound familiar? Our marriage, our careers, our credibility, and our children’s minds are not going to be handed over to us by Satan simply because we got saved and baptized. Such things are certainly counted as our portion of our Christian Promised Land, but they must be taken by spiritual force. Sometimes it might appear to be a daunting task.

I like Caleb. He is one of those “can-do” Christians. He is the sort of person that is hard to discourage—all because he knew the God of Israel had given them the authority to take the Promised Land and that God would be with them through the “taking process”! 

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants therof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Nu.13:30-33)KJV

Imagine how powerful and unshakable we would be as Christians if we believed as Caleb did.

It is too easy to thrown in the towel and concede our blessings to our Enemy. I believe it is a cowardly thing to abandon what God has given us simply because the devil has a good hold on it. Caleb refused to concede anything of the Promised Land to the enemy—and his words showed it. 

If Israel’s story teaches us anything, its that humble obedience to God is the key to personal prosperity. Its what opens the door to the Promised Land by giving us unprecedented power over our Enemy. Moses would be the first to testify to this one immutable truth. Remember what happened to him? You and I will certainly see him in Heaven, but his disobedience to God closed the door to the Promised Land for him, (Nu.20:7-13).

When God “hears from Heaven”, He’s saying to the Christian exactly what He instructed Israel, “Behold! All these things I’ve given you. Go, and take what I have given you.” 

Does your spiritual life with Jesus reside in a land flowing with milk and honey? Or are you just barely getting by, living in the same spiritual desert Moses had to settle for? 

In Old Testament times, it was never God’s desire for Israel, His chosen people, to struggle forty years in the desert. He had better things in mind for them. But their willful disobedience caused them to become a wandering, destitute nation–with no place they could call their own. Even after they conquered the Promised Land, further disobedience forced them into captivity at the hands of their enemies. They lost it all, yet through it all, they were always God’s chosen people. 

Likewise it is not God’s will that we as Christians should become personally ruined and destitute—wandering in a spiritual desert with no direction. God has better things in mind for His people. Many Christians today have their salvation intact, but they are facing a closed door to their Promised Land. The good news is God will hear from Heaven and that no act of obedience will go unblessed.

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Sticking To Your New Year’s Resolution

By Marty Carlisle

 

  Ever made a New Year’s Resolution and then broke it within a week?  Or say, within 24 hours? 

  If you want to increase you ‘sticking’ power then check this out:

 

  When Cortez arrived in the New World with his fleet, in the spring of 1519, he stood on the sandy shores of Cuba with a bold decision to stay. To help finalize his decision, he burned his ships, essentially making it impossible for he and his men to retreat. As a result, Cortez succeeded as a conqueror in the New World.  

 

  Success is the heart of any New Years resolution isn’t it?  Nobody makes a resolution with visions of failure. We all dream of success. But unfortunately, for many of us, when we arrive on the sandy shores of our new resolve, we sail back in our ships at the first hint of difficulty.

 

  The story of Cortez is not in the Bible, but it’s an inspiring story nonetheless.  It is a definitive example of making a commitment—and sticking to it. Cortez didn’t know what it would require for him to succeed. He only knew what it would take to fail—and that’s exactly what he burned.

 

  Likewise, the key to your success this year might depend on what you’re willing to burn.  For some of us, will power alone isn’t enough. We need a whole new set of circumstances built into our decision, which will prevent us from caving-in.

For example:

 

  *Want to stick to that diet?  Change your circumstances by filling your refrigerator and pantry with healthy food only. You’ll be able to better manage your weaker moments if the bad stuff just ain’t in there. Take a different way home from work or school to avoid that fast-food place that tempts you.

 

 * Want to kick the smoking habit? Change your circumstances by consulting your doctor and/or shrink up your budget so you can no longer afford them. If your budget is like mine, you’re probably thinking right now that there isn’t any room for your budget to shrink. But crunch the numbers anyway. You might be surprised.

 

*Want to escape an unhealthy relationship?  Change your circumstances in such a way that you are less available to that person. Change your cell number. Avoid certain places they frequents. If all else fails, try relocating. (Move to Antarctica if you have to.)

 

*Want to stop charging up your credit cards? Change your circumstances by never taking them with you. If it is not in your wallet or your purse–you can’t reach for them in your moment of crisis. Or better yet–clip them. Make that call and consult a credit counselor.  

 

 

*Want to attend church with greater fidelity?  Change your circumstances by joining a prayer group.  Make a public profession of rededication and ask the church to call you when you miss!  Find a prayer partner who will help pray for strength and hold you accountable. Volunteer to be involved in a church activity–or if God is leading you, try teaching a new class.

 

  Just remember, according to Cortez, a strong, unmovable and determined RESOLUTION has no contingency plan for retreat.  If your new decision has a back door—brick it up. 

 

  The simple truth is, we can’t receive anything new unless we are willing to drop something first. In the Bible, Lazarus had to drop his grave clothes before he could step back into the sunlight. Paul had to drop of his fine standing as a Pharisee before he could become an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  And we certainly know the Prodigal Son didn’t bring the pig pen with him when he came home to his Father. 

 

   Some ships are meant to be burned.

  

   So, here we are…  

   Like it or not, 2010 is ahead of us. So is the challenge of your new resolution. .

   Whatever it is, be sure to pray and ask God to intercede and help you stick to it. He will empower you if you ask Him.  

   He’ll give you exactly what you need to succeed.   

  Isn’t it GOOD to be a Christian?

 

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