WHAT ABOUT TOMORROW?

JAMES 4: 13-14-15

"Look here you who say today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year.  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog, here for a little while and then it is gone.  What you out to say is, If the Lord is willing, we will live to do this or that."

What about your tomorrow?  Have you planned out your day or your whole life?  Have you planned for the kind of spouse you will marry and how many children you will have?  Have you planned you job or vocation?  Do you know for certain what town you will live in and what kind of home you will have?  Then there is the big question; how long will you live, to what age?  How will you die and of what cause?  At any given time we may have short, intermediate or long term goals, but, that is just a plan, not reality.  When ever you make a plan for tomorrow or for you life, remember the One Truth Today.  IF THE LORD IS WILLING, we will live to do this or that.  We are going to do this or that, GOD WILLING!

No one knows what will happen in their tomorrow.  How many times have you been surprised by events and happenings that dramatically changed your life?  Look back on your life and you will see that you are not really in control of the world.  The true nature of our life is like a wisp of smoke or a temporary fog.  We are visible for a little while and then we are gone.  Like fame and fortune we are fleeting, here today and gone tomorrow.  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  You do not!  WHAT ABOUT TOMORROW?  We will do this or that IF THE LORD IS WILLING!  If the Lord wants us to, we will live to do this or that.

This is a simple acknowledgement on our part that God is control of the Universe, the world and even our lives.  If our plans are in concert with His will, then they will occur.  Remember Julius Cesar thought he was the emperor of the world and a God, but in fact when he called for the census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus Christ, it was God that was in control.   We should never proclaim our future or be presumptuous and full of self conceit about our plans.  Boasting about tomorrow is just that.  When you are planning your tomorrows make sure you remember to add GOD WILLING or IF THE LORD IS WILLING!

TRUE WISDOM!

PSALM 111: 10

"Fear of the Lord is the foundation of all TRUE WISDOM.  All who obey His commandments will grow in wisdom!"

Do you consider yourself wise?  Did you ever watch the $64,000.00 question, or any other quiz show and become amazed at the amount of knowledge that a contestant had?  Would you call the contestant wise?  Perhaps you know someone with a number of degrees that has graduated from a college or university.  Do you think therefore that they are wise?  When you listen to politicians or leaders pontificate or argue among themselves, do you think they are wise?  The One Truth Today is to point out that TRUE WISDOM has a firm foundation.  Worldly knowledge or memory ability are not wisdom.  A parrot is not wise!  If  educated men were truly wise then why is there still disease, war, and chaos in the world?  What is TRUE WISDOM?

There is only one foundation and one true cornerstone of TRUE WISDOM and that belongs to the Lord.  The beginning of wisdom is the Fear of God.  That is correct, the fear, knowledge, and love of God are the foundation of TRUE WISDOM.  When we know the Word of God and obey His commandments we will grow in wisdom.  The reverent fear and worship of Jesus Christ the Lord God gives us the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.  What allows our wisdom to grow is the continual obedience and study of His Word.  The essential prerequisite for our being wise is to fear the All Mighty God.  If you fear the Lord you will listen to His Word and you will do His Will.  Does that describe you?  Do you have TRUE WISDOM?

Before you listen and believe any political leader, professor or teacher, television or radio personality, ask yourself this one question.  Do they know, fear and love the Lord God!   If they have no fear of the Lord and they do not love Him, then they do not even have the beginning of wisdom.  They have no foundation of understanding of true knowledge so why would you listen to them?  Do not be fooled by a fool!  TRUE WISDOM comes from those who have a foundation of fear, love and knowledge of the Lord.  If they obey His commandments they will grow in wisdom and should have your respect.  The world is divided into to two groups of people, those who fear God and obey His commandments, and those who reject God and refuse to bow their knees to the Living God.  The first group have wisdom and eternal life.  The second group have separation from God and eternal chaos and damnation.  Who are the fools and who have TRUE WISDOM? 

LETS GET TOGETHER!

HEBREWS 10: 25

"Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some Christians do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of Jesus return is drawing near."

Some Christians do not believe that they need to go to Church or gather together with other believer's.  The One Truth Today points out what God thinks about the subject.  The real issue is whether it is possible to be a "secret Christian".  Jesus Christ gave His life for us publicly and He suffered the shame and humiliation of the death on the cross for us.  This act of love was done with full knowledge of the consequences.  If we are to emulate and be like the Lord then we too have a responsibility to be public about our faith and belief in God.  Yes there are circumstances when life and security are at stake and that must be taken into consideration, but never the less, we must not neglect our meeting together and encouraging one another.  

The day of the return of Jesus Christ is drawing nigh, LETS GET TOGETHER!

We are advised not to forsake one another or neglect the gathering together of the believer's.

Some Christians avoid Church.  They have many excuses and can tell many stories of why they no longer get together with other believer's.  They may not want to be admonished or warned by their peers.  They may not want to encourage others for a variety of reasons.  The problem is that they believe that they are smarter than the Word of God.  There is great peace to be found when you are surrounded by like thinkers and believer's who can reinforce the Word of God. Singing alone may be OK but singing with the Church is more inspiring.   No man is an island and God did not want us to neglect meeting together with the Church. LETS GET TOGETHER!

The world is becoming more evil and dangerous with every passing year.  The only place that you can truly find peace is in the Lord and in His Church, a strong tower to run into.  To make good decisions requires many counselors and where is the best place to find the right answers but with true believer's of the Lord's Word.  If you draw into seclusion, for whatever reason, you are not listening to the Truth of the Lord.  Self sufficiency can be a lonely place of seclusion.

To find the greatest joy, love and peace in this world listen to the wisdom in this scripture. LETS GET TOGETHER!

WE WHO BELIEVE CAN ENTER HIS REST!

HEBREWS 4: 3

"For only WE WHO BELIEVE CAN ENTER HIS REST!  As for others God said, in my anger I took an oath: they will never enter my place of rest."

If you want to know why the beginning of wisdom is the "fear of God", digest and learn this One Truth Today.  Only those who believe in God can enter His Rest!  Eternal life in Heaven is at stake for each of us in this scripture.  That is why there is peace on earth and in heaven for men in God's will.  That is why if you do not believe and accept Jesus Christ into your heart you will be eternally separated from God and will never enter His Rest.  Those who do not fear God are damned!  There is only one caveat to those of us here on earth who want to have eternal life in Heaven.  You have to "believe in God", accept His Word and have faith that the Lord will lead you to rest in Him.  If you are a child of God you will spend eternity in Heaven with the Lord!

God has declared that only those who believed and trusted Him, as a result of their reliance, will enter His place of rest.  God never lies.  This has been His plan from the beginning to Save us from our sin and give us eternal life as a result of His Mercy.  The plan is clear to all who will listen.  The problem is only for those who do not want to hear or believe in God.  God has taken an oath, "they will never enter my rest".  Non believer's will never enter Heaven and instead will be eternally separated from the Lord.  They will have no peace here on earth, or in the kingdom to come.  The place God has prepared for believer's can not be shared by those who reject Jesus Christ the Lord God.  If you are not afraid of this you are dead in your sin!

What a contrast of consequences to your choice of accepting or rejecting God.  We each have a personal choice to make and we are each responsible for our choice.  This is the most important decision you will ever have to make during your life.  Do you open the door to your heart and allow the Lord to come in and dwell with you and Save you?  Do you reject Jesus Christ, the Lord God and harden your heart to the Gospel, the "Good News", that Jesus Saves?

Listen again to the Word of God.  For only we who believe can enter His rest.  As  for others God said, in my anger I took an oath: THEY WILL NEVER ENTER MY PLACE OF REST!  Your choice, your consequence.  Do you fear God?  The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God!

OH GOD!

HEBREWS 1: 8

"To the Son, God says, Your throne OH GOD endures forever and ever.  You rule with a scepter of justice."

Many have trouble with the idea of the "Trinity".  After all our mind is not God's mind and it can be difficult to grasp the idea of "three God heads in one".  If we separate them we can easily see God the Father.  We can even understand that Jesus Christ is both the Son of God and the Lord God.  It is not difficult to comprehend that the Holy Spirit is God found everywhere, including in our hearts.  Placing them together as one entity is a more difficult proposition for our finite minds.  To the simple mind of man, how can three be one?  Our One Truth Today is meant to help us to grasp what God is trying to tell us.  Remember God is infinite and not finite, His mind is above our minds.  To understand we need to have faith in His Holy Word!

Listen to what God is saying to His Son, Jesus Christ.  God said, "your throne OH GOD endures forever and ever".  In essence the one God head is declaring to the other God head, that you are God.  They are one and the same, sharing the same throne and the same scepter of justice.  We know that God is speaking to His Son Jesus Christ because He said so.  We know that God addresses Jesus Christ as "OH GOD", and this confirms to us the three part nature of the One True God.  In the beginning was the Word, or Spirit, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, confirmed that the Spirit became Jesus Christ who God calls His Son, OH GOD! Thus we have the "Trinity".  

Later in this chapter of Hebrews God says to His Son, "In the beginning Lord you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands".  So the Son was from the beginning and is called Lord.  The equation is simple even to the human mind, Jesus Christ is the Lord God and was from the beginning as the Word or Spirit.  Some may choose not to hear the Word of God and may reject the Trinity but the Word is clear and not ambiguous.  The purpose of this scripture is to make certain that we can say without hesitation that Jesus Christ is the Lord God.  OH GOD, thank you for this truth today.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the One True God!

GOD SPOKE IN MANY WAYS!

HEBREWS 1: 1-2

"Long ago GOD SPOKE many times and IN MANY WAYS to our ancestors through the prophets.  Now in these final days God has spoken to us through His Son."

All mighty God wanted to talk to us.  How could He do it?  It is true that the heavens declare the "Glory of the Lord", but how did God communicate with man?  God is omnipotent and omniscient, and He is omnipresent, so being all powerful and all knowing and always present He found a way.  The One Truth Today points out that God spoke through the Prophets.  In fact God spoke through His Word by over forty authors in both the Old Testament and the New testament! God now speaks through His Son Jesus Christ the Lord God.  We need to listen when God speaks to us.  Jesus Christ now speaks to all generations and to all people.  We have God's manual for our lives in the Holy Bible, if we will just read it and then put it to work in our lives.  GOD SPOKE IN MANY WAYS, in order to save us and give us eternal life!

In the last days, after many revelations from separate writers, God revealed His Son Jesus Christ .  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  We could Listen and Learn from God! The Bible is the record of the Lord's life and the Prophets words becoming reality.  The God that made the universe and inspired the Old Testament authors, now became a God/man and Spoke directly to us.  We have learned about God using our five senses in the person of Jesus Christ.  God spoke and the apostles gave us a record of what He did and said.  So the scripture for today is correct when it points out that, GOD SPOKE IN MANY WAYS!

We are so fortunate that God speaks to us and cares about us so much that He would send His only begotten Son to Save us.  God loves us and wants us to know about Him and His thoughts and His Word.  To him who has an ear, listen and hear.  To him who has an eye let him see.  To those who are searching for God and the Truth, let them come.  To those who are thirsty for knowledge and righteousness, let them come and drink from the fountain of Life.  God did not just whisper to you.  God from the days of old has spoken to us in many ways and at many times and then He even gave us Jesus Christ the Lord God.  God is not hiding from you, are you hiding from Him?  You have no excuse if you do not know God.  GOD SPOKE IN MANY WAYS!