Choices



How long do I REALLY believe I will live? What I truly believe shows up in my choices. Any child might dream of being an astronaut, or a policeman, or a doctor. We celebrate those ideas when our kids are small, but when they start making decisions in that direction, we take them more seriously. When your kid voluntarily signs up for calculus, it is time to start paying attention! A parent becomes invested in a particular area of success when a child starts choosing to actually make a dream real. A dream is a something you hope for. Faith is a dream with actions put to it:


Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.


James 2:17-18 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.


The Bible is crystal clear that people will live forever. Heaven is coming to earth. Many dream of heaven, but actually have almost zero FAITH in it. Very few picture heaven here, with jobs, and trees, and wealth, and influence. The Bible says this is what heaven is like.


If I actually believe I am going to live forever on a renewed earth, my choices would plainly demonstrate it. My true faith in the area of living with Jesus forever on a new earth is easily measured by my calendar and my check book.


Jesus says that 401k's, savings accounts, stock market holdings, CD's...everything the world says is a good investment...is actually an incredibly foolish investment, IF I really believe I will live with Him forever:


Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5,6, and 7) says that I store treasure in heaven by giving it away secretly here. I store glory and influence in heaven, by choosing secretly the lowest place here. I store amazing clothing in heaven, by clothing myself in righteous deeds here.


How many opportunities for REAL wealth where I will live for trillions of years have I missed by keeping my gaze on what will SURELY be out of my grasp in 30 or 40 years?! No parent would be happy to see a kid blow a trust fund on toys they will outgrow or ice cream that would melt, but in many ways we do this literally every day!


Heaven is not a communist utopia. We don't all get the same white robe, get assigned a harp, and go float around on clouds for millions of years! Heaven is coming to earth, and when it does, there will be great (wealthy and glorious) and small (not nearly as wealthy or glorious) saints. Jesus is bringing rewards with Him based on obedience:


Revelation 19:5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”


Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.


My actual wealth, influence, and glory will be determined by how much I invested, in obedience (it is supposed to sting a little), in God's people, and the extension of His kingdom, here on earth:


Luke 19:15-17, 20-26 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’


“Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.


This is really the way it will be. Even the glory of my new body will reflect my obedience and the way I demonstrated my faith in and love for Jesus and His eternal rule over the earth:


I Corinthians 15:41-42 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.


The truth is, the earthly currency is quickly loosing its value, but there is a heavenly currency! The exchange rate between heaven and earth is like a hundred to one right now. It is a REALLY wise investment IF you REALLY believe you will live forever.


Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.


Every dollar I invest in heaven is earning a rate of return that is shocking.


Every dollar I hang onto right now is loosing value so quickly my head will spin when I enter eternity. I have never heard a dying man say "i wished I would have saved more." I have heard more than one dying person actually lament the way they missed the point of wealth just before they died.


To live and teach this truth is to choose greatness in heaven:


Matthew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.


Daniel 12:3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.

God, help me see my life the way you do!

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