God wants us to know what's coming.

I'm starting to study the book of Revelation to share with some friends.

I was struck by the first verse. 
Here is the first half of it,

                           "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."  Revelation 1:1a

This verse shows us that God wants His people to know what is coming. 
This may be more general in nature than we would like but, nonetheless, He wants us to have a heads up on what's coming.

A couple observations about this:

• He is aware of what the future holds.
• He has chosen to allow this future to play out. 
• He has even chosen how much to let us know about what will happen.

I usually shy away from the "prophecy nut" side of things but I see the importance being informed of what is coming.  Especially since God made a special effort to make sure we had access to this info. 

Read this verse...

"Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." Revelation 1:3

There is blessing in being exposed to and seriously considering the content of this book. 



Ryan

Why I NEED the Bible: Reason #7

It is important to me that my life matters.


One of my biggest fears is wasting my life on things that don't matter. 


I remember noticing it in adults when I was a child. It was like somewhere along the way they quit.... they just quit.


At one time, they had a reason for striving, for getting out of bed in the morning but somewhere along the way they lost track of it. Somewhere along the way they traded living for existing. 


This became such a fear for me.  That I would lose heart... that I would settle.. that I would become "realistic".  I feel the temptation to do this on a regular basis.... to settle for some level of normal and quit pushing forward. And I especially feel this when I think about how many times I have failed. There is a natural gravity to just shriveling up and quiting.  Life is such an uphill battle that when we stop advancing we just start rolling back down the hill. 


The Bible is what helps me to stop this "quiting" process in my life. 


When I read things like this, "I pray that...you may know...his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms." (from parts Ephesians 1:18-19) it forces me not to settle.  If this is the power that is available to us, then settling isn't an option. 


God will keep changing us. 
He will keep redeeming our lives.
He will bring His power to bear in and through us. 


Here's another reason why I NEED the Bible:


    7) It helps me to not quit doing what matters. 


Ryan

A few disturbing thoughts about Hell.

This is not something that anyone likes to think about.

The possibility that there is a real place called Hell is terrifying... It's disturbing.

For me, knowing Jesus and experiencing the life that He gives have always been the motivating factors in my relationship with Christ.  You could say I've been driven by the more positive aspects of following Jesus. However, there has always been in the back of my mind the reality that Hell exists.

It's not just that this place exists but that people that I know and love have the possibility of going there. 

This possibility is haunting.

When I was in Bible school I once heard a teacher say something like this:
If you say that you believe that there is a real, literal Hell that people go to if they don't have faith in Christ and you don't share your faith then you can only draw a few different conclusions about yourself.

1. I don't really believe the Bible and the reality of hell. 
2. I genuinely don't love people.
3. I care more about avoiding rejection than I care about people avoiding hell.

This was a disturbing wake up call for me.

If Hell is real and Jesus is the only ones who saves people from Hell then if I love people I have to tell people about Jesus.  When there is no urgency in me to talk about Jesus then I either have a faith problem or a love problem.

Hell is a tough subject that is no fun to talk about.
However, it wakes me up to what will matter forever... my own destiny and the destinies of those I love.  

Ryan

For more on this subject:

• Come to the "Hell and Hereafter" class, Saturday, January 14th @ 7pm at Grace Church Bath Campus.   
• Check out Francis Chan's book called "Erasing Hell".

Why I NEED the Bible: Reason #8

Our society at large has a lot of beliefs about who and what people are, here are just a few examples...





We are consumers... which leads to a "what's in it for me?" mentality, ultimately, leading to rampant materialism.
    
 OR


We are just another animal... which leads to a devaluing of human life and, ultimately, injustices like the sex slave trade.

     OR

We are machines... which leads to an emphasis on production and, ultimately, a form of slavery.

These options that are presented by the culture and the others like them are pretty terrible. 
Fortunately, the Bible opens up another option for us...


We are beings created by a loving God... which leads to a high value of life, a special dignity to humanity and, ultimately, a genuine love for people. 




Here is another reason why I NEED the Bible:

    8) It helps me to see the true value of people.  

Check out this passage...

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
 

Psalm 8:3-5

Ryan

Why I NEED the Bible: Reason #9

My experience growing up involved multiple divorces.

Divorce is one of those events that creates confusion and instability in those affected by it.

As a teen and young adult, I struggled deeply to know who I was. 
I was desperate to understand where I fit, what I was made for and basically why I was on the planet. 

I didn't realize it at the time but all of this sent me on a quest for the answers to these questions.

It wouldn't be until I started discovering what the Bible says about me that I found any reasons that were worth believing. 

I had attempted to define my life through accomplishments, through my friend group, through gaining the respect of others and through intellectualism.  After pursuing each of these for a time, I made it far enough down each of these roads to know that going any further wouldn't satisfy what I was searching for. I felt the purposeless of each of these pursuits.

So as I began to follow Jesus, I started stumbling across statements in the Bible (many of which I will develop in later posts) that were addressing the questions that I was desperate to answer.

It told me who I was, where I fit, what I am made for and why I am on the planet. 

This is a hugely personal reason why I NEED the Bible:

     9) It tells me who I am. 

Ryan

Why I NEED the Bible: Reason #10

There is something that happens to me when I interact with the Bible.

Usually when I approach the Bible, I am thinking within the realm of what I want, what I can see and generally what is best for me. 

When I start to read it begins to change my view of the life. 
It convinces me that there is a better way to live.
That it is better to serve God than to serve me (I make a terrible god).


Reading, thinking about and believing the Bible puts me in a different ballpark. 
It's not like it just tweak's my perspective on life... it completely transforms it.

The Bible shows me what matters in life and what really doesn't. 
It teaches me how to navigate through life when it's complex and seems foggy.
It gives me guardrails that help me from driving my life off of a proverbial cliff.

So here is reason #10 for why I NEED the Bible: 

    10) It transforms my perspective on life. 


For an example of this, see yesterday's post called A few lessons learned from a weekend screwup.


Ryan