Tag / Jesus

by The Monahans

More Than the Sum of Your Parts

math-1547018_960_720 Not all of us are good at math, but most of us can manage the simple calculations of life. Adding up the pennies in our pocket, for instance, or subtracting the dollars from our wallets when it’s time to pay the bills. But it seems most people miss one truly simple calculation – one equals two.

That’s right….one equals two!  It’s very simple math, really. Since I grew up in the era of “show your work,” pencil-on-paper mathematics, I’ll write out the equation for you: 1H=2P.  Still don’t get it? It’s easy: one human (1H) has (=) two parts (2P). Get it now?

Assuming you are alone, when you look in the mirror you see only one being, right? But deep inside that being lives a soul. Everyone has one. And while they are joined as one right now, eventually the body will cease to exist and the soul will live on. The Bible says: “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

And Jesus clearly drew the distinction between body and soul in this statement from Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” This is a very interesting distinction, too, in that Jesus draws a comparison between man, who only has the ability to destroy the body, and God, who has the unique ability of being able to destroy both.

And the Apostle Paul, points out that the soul is either in the body as we are today, or with the Lord: “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

And our earthly striving for success is profitless if it destroys our soul: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) Think about that for a moment. What are you trying to achieve right now? Success at work? Money for retirement? Fame and notoriety? Is what you are seeking worth your soul?

Our soul is eternal. The body is not. Many people these days spend a lot of time focusing on their body. It almost sounds sinful when we learn of someone who isn’t visiting the gym regularly or running a marathon or otherwise pursuing fitness with some amount of passion. And it’s probably safe to assume people who work out on a regular basis are more fit than ever. But there’s a dirty little secret about people who are faithful in fitness: they’re all going to die anyway.

But when we “die” what is really happening is our soul is being liberated from our body. And our body, no matter what shape it was in just moments earlier, will instantly begin to decay. But our soul lives on and it is there that we will face our eternal reward. It is there we will give an account for every word, thought, and deed. For it is appointed to man to die once and after that comes judgment (ref. Hebrews 9:27).

It is there, when we are free from our mortal body and standing naked before our glorious Creator giving account for ourselves, that we will truly realize the value of our soul. But God already knows the value of your soul: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17)

So while many seem to believe God only wants to restrict, confine, or condemn; we see He really sets us free. For the person who accepts the love of Christ is free indeed: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

Have you recognized the true value and eternal nature of your soul? Do you desire to be truly free at last? Why not make today the day you ask God for His free gift of life? There’s no magic formula for this….just talk to Him….honestly.

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by The Monahans

Eventually, You Will Do This…

man-1394395_960_720  Connor had a dilemma on his hands. He took on a side job, helping someone with a building project. It wasn’t his normal line of work; he normally worked in a small company in shipping and receiving. But his dad was a building contractor and Connor had grown up in the business so he knew a thing or two about construction; and it wasn’t unusual for him to take on a few small side jobs; a little trim work here or there, perhaps. But this job was bigger, much bigger.

He wouldn’t have taken the job at all, but it was for a friend’s parents and it was originally going to be just a small addition. But one thing led to another and it turned into a much larger project. Nothing Connor couldn’t handle, though, and even working only evenings and weekends he managed to complete the work quickly enough to earn a bonus on top of his original quote. And just like that, Connor suddenly had a lot of cash in his bank account.

But when tax time came, Connor didn’t feel he should have to pay taxes on the money he earned from his side project. He had worked for cash, after all. And he had given up his nights and weekends for more than three straight months. Talking it over with Peter, his friend and coworker, Connor put it this way, “It’s my money. I earned it. I deserve to keep it. Besides, I spent most of it on that new truck of mine and the rest I put down on my house.”

“But it’s the government, Connor, they have ways of knowing these things,” Peter pointed out

“They sure do,” chimed in Sally, who couldn’t help but overhear the conversation.

And, indeed, the government did know about the extra money he had earned. They knew in two ways; the couple he had done the work for filed forms claiming tax deductions for the energy savings they would realize from the project; listing Connor as the contractor, of course. And financial records indicated that Connor could not afford his fifty-thousand-dollar new truck on his meager income as a shipping and receiving clerk.

So while Connor firmly and sincerely believed he should not have to pay taxes on this side project, the law said he did and the government soon sent him a letter stating just how much tax they calculated he owed, plus a small fine for paying late. But Connor ignored the letter, being so firm in his belief that he did not owe them a thing.

He eventually received another piece of correspondence from the government, this one a bit more emphatic than the last. The fine was bigger this time, too, raising the total he owed to a truly eye-opening amount. And again, despite the warnings of his coworkers and friends, Connor ignored the letter, sure that he did not owe them a thing.  And then something happened that Connor could not ignore. He went to buy groceries after work and his card was rejected. And when he went out to his shiny new truck, it was being hauled away on a flatbed.

Having called Peter for a ride, he arrived at home and found the notice on his door. The government had seized his home and all its contents. And as he sat down on the stoop in utter shock, the federal officers arrived with a warrant for his arrest. At least the jail would be someplace warm to spend the night. Turns out, tax evasion is a pretty serious offense, and though Connor didn’t believe it, he was now in the throes of some rather harsh consequences.

And so we see, despite Connor’s firmly held belief to the contrary, he was guilty of tax evasion and there was a penalty to be paid. In his case it was a severe one, and his disbelief didn’t in anyway change that reality. And so it is when it comes to Jesus, what we believe or don’t believe doesn’t change reality at all. Many people choose disbelief, ignoring the historical reality depicted in the Bible and rejecting the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. This isn’t all that surprising, actually, for Jesus said, “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

But the reality is that you will acknowledge Jesus is Lord, whether you choose to do it now, willingly, or later, posthumously. For God has told us that He “gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

We all inherently know we are not perfect, that we have done wrong. Our conscious convicts us of that fact, whether we will admit it to others or not. We are being disingenuous if we deny this. And there is a penalty to be paid for our wrongs, whether we want to admit it or not. But if we walk through the small gate and accept the redemptive work of Jesus, our penalty is paid in full. Are you ready to take the narrow road?

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by The Monahans

A Moment of Clarity

alcohol-428392_960_720 It was a Wednesday night and Joey normally worked third shift but one of his favorite bands was playing in town and he could go if he didn’t have to work, so he asked permission to come in late. Joey’s boss was all too happy to oblige him, so the arrangements were made. He still had to work, mind you, but he could go to the concert and show up late and all would be well. It was going to be a great night!

By this time in his life Joey’s persistent alcohol abuse had driven away most of his friends, so he really had no one to go with. No matter, he’d go alone and was bound to find someone there he could hang with. Music always has a way of bringing people together, even strangers, if only for the night. And Joey was adept at hanging in bars with live music, looking like he belonged. One might even say he had a sort of charisma in such environments. Conversing with strangers at music events had pretty much become his entire social life.

But Joey still had to show up for work afterward, so he really couldn’t drink, and that was a bit of a problem. With a modicum of genuine concern about his alcohol consumption, but mostly to save a failing relationship, he had first tried AA a year earlier, but he didn’t really think he had a problem so the attempt was short-lived. In recent months, Joey was perhaps more convinced he might have a problem, but tonight could be his chance to show that he could stay in control. However you sliced it, though, Joey’s predicament came down to the fact that a concert was hardly any fun without some kind of buzz on but he couldn’t very well show up to work drunk.

Now those of you who have had any kind of chemical dependency problem will immediately understand the plan Joey formed to deal with the dilemma he found himself in. To the rest of you, it may just seem ludicrous. To Joey, it was pure genius! If he acted fast enough, it couldn’t fail. So he proceeded to chug down four beers in rapid fashion and then drove rather quickly to his concert destination before the full force of those four beers could take effect. And just like that he had a buzz on, was at the concert venue without having received another DUI, and he was ready for the show. All he had to do was drink plain Coke the rest of the night and he’d be sober when he got to work. No problem!

Then, standing there waiting for the band to start, the thought occurred to Joey that just one more drink wouldn’t hurt. So he ordered one. And as he drank it he struck up a conversation with a couple he was standing near. With a certain, easy fluidity, Joey began to share his knowledge of the band, the familiar songs, the shared memories of concerts past. His new found friends were just as big of fans as Joey was. Some jokes were told; some laughs were had. Some weed was smoked. Wait….what? Joey hadn’t planned for that possibility. He had long ago given up the stuff, but for some reason when that joint was offered to him this night, he took it without thinking and enjoyed a long, satisfying toke. And then another.

And one more drink. And the band started, some high-fives were exchanged, and Joey bought a round for his new friends, and another joint came by, and another round of drinks.

Things got a little fuzzy from there; Joey was very drunk and slipping into a black out. One from which he would not emerge until sometime later, when he was exiting his car in the parking lot at work. What exactly happened during the time span from the band’s first encore to the very moment Joey was standing in the parking lot at work will forever remain a mystery; the byproduct of an indulgent night of heavy, mood-altering consumption. But right at that very instant, still in a drunken stupor, something happened. Joey had a thought, a premonition perhaps, or maybe a revelation. In AA they call it a moment of clarity. And Joey just had one.

He was at work, drunk. His boss was going to be angry. He really didn’t have any friends left. He hurt inside; loneliness and isolation had become the feelings that dominated his daily life. He couldn’t go on like this. There had to be something better. Something more. And at that juncture, Joey was suddenly sure life would get better if he stopped drinking. And he was all at once willing to go to any lengths to make that happen.

In the volume, Alcoholics Anonymous, we read the text, “We learned we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery.” And this is exactly what Joey realized. And what he did. The following day, after sleeping off his latest drunken debacle and resultant pathos, Joey attended an AA meeting. That was Friday, June 7, 1991. And, praise God, he hasn’t taken a drink since.

No addiction is too big for God to fix, and no person has sunk so low that God cannot save them. The authors of Alcoholics Anonymous wrote: “What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God.” Indeed, I am confident that you will find, like Joey did, if you seek God, that He is more than able to deliver you. But you are likely to also need the help of your fellow man. In most cities, there are recovery meetings available through your local church. So if you are in a church, check with them.

Other resources are also available. Here are links to some of them. I encourage you to take the bold step, like Joey did, of reaching out to one or more of these. I am confident you will find the help you need:

Alcoholics Anonymous

Celebrate Recovery

Adult & Teen Challenge

And for those who may love someone suffering from addiction: Al Anon is almost certainly available in your area.

May God bless you and keep you. As always, if we may be of further service, please do not hesitate to drop us an email at: ReignDropsBlog@gmail.com

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by The Monahans

Sunday’s Coming!

Sundays Coming 3 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.  (Matthew 27:65-28:15 NIV)

There are a couple of aspects of the Easter story that warrant deeper examination. Starting with verse 27:65, let’s understand that the Jewish leaders understood perfectly well that Jesus had predicted he would rise from the dead on the third day. They didn’t believe he would really rise, but they understood this was what he said and they feared a conspiracy that would incite the people even further. If you missed our blog on conspiracy theories concerning Jesus rising from the dead, you can review it by clicking here.

The Sanhedrin was so concerned that they sought relief from Pontius Pilate. Pilate thus orders Roman guards to seal the tomb and to guard it closely. Now one simply has to ask, what kind of stone sealed Jesus’s tomb? Was it the ultra-rare (for the time period) disk-shaped stone or the more common cork, or square-shaped, stone? We do not know for sure, but since the tomb Jesus was buried in was borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea, a common man, it is most likely the stone was of the square variety. You can read more about this in an article published by the Biblical Archeological Society; click here.

Now either way, round stone or square, it would have been a very heavy object and thus quite difficult to move, but since it was likely the square variety, all that much more difficult, requiring several men. But before they could even think about the tools and effort required to move the stone, they would have been confronted by the Roman seal. The seal was a sign of authentication that the tomb was occupied and the power and authority of Rome stood behind the seal. Anyone found breaking the Roman seal would suffer the punishment of a very unpleasant death, quite probably upon the cross just as Jesus had died. And we can imagine that those who may have wished to steal Jesus’ body would have just observed for themselves the agonizing way in which he was killed. It is reasonable to hypothesize that this would certainly have acted as aversion therapy for any would-be grave robbers.

And then there were the Roman guards. The Roman “guard” was typically a sixteen man unit that followed very strict rules. The guard members could not sit down or lean against anything while they were on duty. If a guard member fell asleep, he was beaten and burned, but he was not the only one executed, the entire sixteen man guard unit was executed if only one of the members fell asleep while on duty. Applying some rational logic, it is easy to conclude two things: 1) it would likely take more manpower to overcome a Roman guard than even to move the square stone. A battle like that would not have gone unnoticed and would have resulted in casualties and loss of life, none of which are reported. 2) This elite and well-trained military unit would not have simply fallen asleep as such a dereliction of duty carried far too great of consequence.

So it is quite easy to see that both logic and reason compel us to the conclusion that something miraculous occurred, just as the Bible describes. People today do not seem to like to consider the possibility of the supernatural when it comes to Christianity, though they might watch ghost stories on TV in deep consideration of the possible reality they represent. Yet here we are, with every known detail begging the conclusion that Easter Sunday represents exactly what the Bible proposes. That an angel of the Lord came down, rolled the stone away while simultaneously striking terror into the otherwise fearless Roman guard, and then delivered to the disciples and the two women named Mary a message about where to find the resurrected Jesus.

So with Easter time upon us, shouldn’t this be the year you accept God’s free gift of salvation by admitting your wrongs and confessing faith in the resurrected Savior, if you haven’t already done so? And if you have, I hope these words provide yet another reason to pursue your faith with renewed vigor and purpose, for the mission field is vast, and the workers are few. But Jesus has promised to be with us until the end of the age, and He has commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations. It is certainly our privilege and honor to do so.

May you have a blessed Easter season, secure in the hope and love of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Risen Savior!

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by The Monahans

Help!

woman praying to GodI awoke that morning groggy and tired. It couldn’t be that time already. It felt like a suit of weights hanging on my body as I crawled from my bed. The familiar dread hit me hard. I didn’t want to go back to work. Work had become unbearable in the past few months. The atmosphere was toxic. I had never worked in a place so full of turmoil. There was a constant atmosphere of stress and I felt like if I made one mistake I was going to be hauled into the boss’s office and harshly reprimanded. I first noticed this the very week I started there, but I discounted it in the hopes that things would improve over time. They didn’t. One particular woman seemed out to get me. I found out later that her friend was the one I had replaced in my position, so it seemed she was bent on seeing me fail. I found myself crying out to God for help on a regular basis. I began to wonder if I was asking too much of Him.

Do you ever feel like you need help but might be asking too much from God?  There have been many times in my life when I have felt this way; this job I had being one of those times. I think the majority of us have seasons in life when all we can do is cry out to God; where serenity and happiness seem out of reach. If this is how you feel today, don’t agonize over it. God wants us to reach out to him always, and especially in times of need. The Apostle Peter instructed us to “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:7.) The truth is, we can never ask too much from God.

I have had to cry out to God numerous times, when life or work or events have overwhelmed me. But God is faithful and always there. When I was in that job, I had a lot of turmoil around me, it seemed like the enemy was using everything and everyone around me to bring me down. It was so stressful it was impacting my health. I recall how God lifted me out of darkness and provided the assurance I was going to be okay, and through Him I could see there was light at the end of the tunnel, even though often it did not feel that way. Sometimes we are so focused on the darkness that we forget to seek and look for the light. In Psalms 3:1-5, David cried out to God in his time of need “Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’ But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.” The same God David cried out to will help you, too!

Strengthening my relationship with God has been the crucial factor for me in learning to handle these types of situations when they come along. I have found that while praying is important and essential, I still must do even more if I expect to experience the fullness of God’s work in my life. My experience tells me that it is difficult to realize the power of God if I am only sitting around waiting for it to happen. The Bible provides guidance on the things we need to do to strengthen our relationship with God. James 4:8 tells us “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” How do we draw closer to God? Prayer is one way, but I find spending time reading my Bible is also crucial. Having quiet time in communion with the Holy Spirit is another. It is important to do all of these things, for in this way we strengthen our relationship with Him.

Faith requires action. If we are making the attempt to draw closer to God and seeking a deeper relationship with Him, He is able to work in our life. Path corrections cannot be made if there is no movement. Give God your momentum so that he can direct you. Keep praying. Keep seeking. Keep praising and thanking Him. God wants to raise you up out of your circumstances. Strengthen your relationship with Him, and He will direct your path.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

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