Just saw another one of those videos featuring photos from the ‘50s and a nostalgic song, and realized anew that there were two things that made my early childhood magical:

• Being loved unconditionally, and
• Being utterly and happily dependent upon my parents for everything

 
Of course, as we begin to grow up and strive for independence, that all changes. We start looking elsewhere for people to depend on, and for people to love us. Some of us turn our backs completely on the wonders of our childhoods, inexplicably rejecting even the idea of unconditional love and the joy of being able to depend on others.
 
But over the last two decades, I’ve learned that we can restore both states, as well as the lovely feelings that accompany them. In fact, they can be better than ever if we make a point of seeking the infallible and eternal.
 
How? Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God the Son – a relationship achieved by repenting of what He has said is sin, by trusting in Him to have paid our sin debt in full on the cross, and thereby being born again to become His child forevermore.
 
When we do this, we can rely completely on Him in this life, through good times and bad. After all, He is omniscient, omnipotent, and all merciful, and is in sovereign control of what happens to us every moment in our lives. Our circumstances may not always seem desirable to us at the moment, but Romans 8:28 tells us that He makes all things work together to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So we can count on Him to make everything turn out perfectly.
 
What’s more, the Bible tells us that God is love. He loves us not because of anything lovable in us, but because it is His very nature. His love is, in Greek, agape. It is sacrificial, permanent, unconditional. This, then, is love we’ve never before known; as wonderful as it may have been, our parents’ love for us was only a hint of what is available from Love Himself.  
 
Unconditional love and complete dependence upon our Creator: that’s what God’s children can look forward to experiencing endlessly in heaven. In the meantime, we can enjoy this wonderful state even now, in this fallen world amidst endless distractions. All it takes is remembering a magical childhood, and resting in the knowledge that it was only a shadow of the real thing – that the best is, indeed, yet to come. 

"His coffin was packed."

My first thought, when I saw this subject line on an email, was of ancient pagans who wanted their coffins, and their crypts, packed full of things to take along into the afterlife. 

But then I read this wonderful quote from All In: You are one decision away from a totally different life, by Mark Batterson. And I realized that this had nothing to do with occult visions of an imaginary afterlife; the author simply meant that the man who was his subject was ready at any time to leave for the Christian's ultimate destination. 

"A. W. Milne . . . set sail  for the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, knowing full well that the headhunters who lived there had martyred every missionary before him.  Milne did not fear for his life, because he had already died to himself.  His coffin was  packed. For thirty-five years, he lived among that tribe and loved them. When he died, tribe members buried him in the middle of their village and inscribed this epitaph on his tombstone: 
 
When he came there was no light.
 
When he left there was no darkness." 

May that be the legacy of every born-again Christian! 

I woke up this morning thinking about ants, how they create entire civilizations for themselves, organize their labors, build elaborately engineered structures for their populations, and so on – all, presumably, without battling such problems as sloth, greed, malevolence or even gluttony (I, at least, have never seen an obese ant).
 
My mind danced around the animal kingdom, considering the lovely songbirds that visit my feeders every day, the gorgeous but skittish little foxes one sees occasionally on long quiet walks, the nasty coyotes that communicate with each other at frightening pitch in the dead of night. I thought about how every critter does just what its Creator has commanded it to do – even our pets, designed, I believe, to demonstrate whose relationship with our Creator we should emulate (the dog’s), and whose relationship we actually do emulate (the cat’s).
 
I thought some more, and realized that we see displayed in the animal kingdom every facet of human life, society, culture and science – the very things that mankind takes such pride in, as if we had invented it all ourselves. (Some might say that worship is missing from critterly lives, but again I would point to dogs; don’t the best of them virtually worship their humans?)
 
Then I thought once again about the wondrous fact that each group reproduces after its own kind. Genesis 1 tells us, clearly and repeatedly, that God designed it that way. Why, it’s almost as if He knew man would devise the fable of evolution to replace Him and His explanation of how He created life, and decided to hammer home the point in the first chapter of the only Bible He ever inspired.
 
None of this thinking is original; creation scientists like the late Dr. Henry Morris have written volumes about such things. I was just pondering it because of a recent conversation I had with a long-ago acquaintance who waylaid every attempt I made to bring up the things of God. For instance:
 
Him: “So what have you been up to for the last 15 years?”
 
Me: “Oh, I’ve written a couple books about spiritual matters.”
 
Him: “How’s your sister?”
 
I might as well have said that I’d done nothing but sit around and eat bon bons for the two decades.  Although I bet a statement like that would’ve been followed up with a query about what kind of bon bons I enjoyed most.
 
So anyway, that’s what got me to thinking about the wonders of the creation and how willfully ignorant we are about God. And once again, it made me ashamed of myself, seeing how I must have handled even a hint of God talk before I met Jesus Christ for myself. It also renewed my fear for friends like this, headed as they are toward a hellish eternity unless the Lord succeeds in getting their attention and saving their souls.
 
How stupid we humans are. And how wise and loving were those who, under the inspiration of God Himself, sounded such terrifying alarms in the Bible.
 
Consider the apostle Paul.
 
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” he warned in the first chapter of the book of Romans, “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 
 
“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”
 
Key takeaway? When we stand before Him in judgment, we will have no excuse for having missed Him, and having proclaimed our own godless views of the universe.
 
Or, as the prophet Isaiah capsulized it in chapter 5 of his self-titled book, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”
 
So okay, my friend, you don’t want to give God a place in your thinking? Fine. And you love the earth? Great. How about spending some time looking in its direction.
 
Consider, if you will, the ant.

HERE’S HOPE: Why does God delay when we pray? None of us fully understands this mystery, but here are some observations to consider.
 
Delay causes evil doers to become over-confident so God can position them for greater defeat. Remember Pharaoh and the army of Egypt that drowned in the Red Sea?
 
Delay removes all possible saviors and solutions but God Himself for a greater finale. Remember how Jesus waited until both Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus were dead before arriving on the scene?
 
Delay increases our trust in God. It forces us to develop our faith "muscles." Remember how the walls of Jericho did not fall until the 7th day of marching and the 7th time around?
 
Delay thins out the crowd. It causes the faithful to become clearly evident. Remember how God diminished Gideon’s army before the victory could be accomplished?
 
God’s ways and thoughts are higher than our own. Regardless of what you are facing, though God delays, let us not lose heart or cease crying out to Him.
 
Here’s why—-“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:7-8 ESV)
 
MAY HE FIND US FAITHFUL! “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1 KJV)

​Marsha Headley is author of Prayer Dynamics, a 31-day Prayer Journey, and co-author of Decisions of Destiny.

Dear professing Christian,
 
Once again, you have tried to set me straight on the character of God. You have let me know that He is nothing but love; that He adores just about everyone, regardless of belief or lifestyle, because after all He made each of us just the way we are; and that your take on Him is uniquely valid, because He told you these things personally, as opposed to those of us who believe that ancient and obsolete tome known as the Bible.  
 
And that, as usual, is the end of the conversation. You have no interest in discussing the matter further.  
 
Which makes me really sad, because it makes God sad. It is His will, you see, for “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). He is in fact “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
 
But I know this is irrelevant to you, as a scripture-free theologian. So let's instead delve more deeply into your worldview.  How do you answer questions like these? 

• Why is there suffering in the world? Is this God of yours unaware of it, not being truly omniscient? Is He unconcerned about it, not really being love? Or is He incapable of stopping it, being a power or two short of true omnipotence?

 

• If the Bible’s moral dictates can be safely ignored, then who decides what’s right and what’s wrong? You? Your friends? Your political allies and heroes? Or is it just a subjective free-for-all, wherein we each get to decide for ourselves what’s right or wrong based on our deepest thoughts?

 

• If so, what happens when your idea of “right” conflicts with someone else’s?

 

• If Jesus' atonement for man's sin applies to all without regard to our relationship with Him – if in fact we can deny Him entirely and still go to heaven – then can we just go on rampantly breaking His law? Do we even have to be kind to one another? Are adultery, murder, theft and idolatry among the acts that are perfectly okay with Him? If not, where is one to draw the line?

 
The thing is, no human being has ever been able to come up with coherent, consistent and non-contradictory answers to such questions simply by thinking about them, or by listening for voices from heaven. There is in fact only one source that does answer them all coherently, consistently and without contradiction, and that’s the Bible.
 
Which leads me to a number of things I’m dying to ask you:

• What if you’re wrong?

 

• What if you must indeed be born again to see heaven (see e.g. John 3:3)?

 

• What if there really is no salvation apart from repenting of what God defines as sin (see e.g. Luke 3:3)?

 

• What if your denial of Jesus as He revealed Himself really will result in His denial of you before the Father (see e.g. Matthew 10:33)?

 

• Are you so sure of what you believe that you’re ready to persuade a holy God that He should let you into His heaven for all eternity?

 
I’d love to hear your answers to all these questions. I’m not trying to win an argument here; my sole motive is to persuade you to hear the gospel gladly, and to become heaven-bound through repentance and trust in the Savior.  
 
Sincerely,
Kitty