Truth Number One:

Things of the Earth Grow Strangely Dim

Most near death experiences produce a different outlook on life.  Mine was no exception.  My situation changed my focus altogether.  When we die to ourselves, our gaze is steadily focused on the One who holds our lives in His hands.  Does this mean that when we die to ourselves, we totally forget about the cares and concerns of our families and take up a life of poverty?  No.

There are many blessings promised to God’s people in His Word and I am all for receiving any and all that He has for me.  But the Word also talks about getting caught up in the cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches, and about laying aside every weight that hinders (Hebrews 12:1).  I believe we must live a strategic life before the Lord and if He so chooses and knows that we can be trusted with wealth and resources then He will surely funnel it into our hands for that purpose.  When a person goes after God with all their heart, God will let them know where to draw the line on material wealth as well as directing us about how the resource of time is best spent.

I firmly believe that one of the reasons God told us not to compare ourselves with one another is because our strengths and weaknesses are different.  What might not be a stumbling block for you may hinder my faith.  We are also at different steps on the path of eternity.  What I may have grace to walk in may not be where someone else is walking and to impose that responsibility (or conviction) on them at the wrong time could cause serious damage.  We each have a different call.  God may have placed me at a gate that is a city apart from your post.

When the Lord convicts me about something in my life, I cannot just go running over to my sister and exhort her to rid of the same things in her life to make me feel better.  We walk in the light as we receive the light and as we are graced to walk in it (John 1:7).  I am responsible to teach the truth, but God does the convicting and through revelation brings each of us to repentance and the changes that follow.

The cares of this world and worrying about finding a speck in my brother’s eye pales in comparison to daily soaking up as much of Jesus as I possibly can, allowing His love to fill me to overflowing so that my life will be a light to all who see Christ in me, the hope of glory! (Colossians 1:27).  Through my crucified life, His light will shine and the Holy Spirit will do the work necessary to those with whom I am blessed to meet each day.