Endgame Part 1

I woke up very early this morning with this word on my mind and it would not go away. Along with it came other thoughts pertaining to it and I finally realized that there was no use trying to go back to sleep and I might just as well get up and write. Let me explain something; I do not wrack my brain trying to come up with things to write. I have so much to do that it is neither necessary nor convenient. It just happens. I have a business that is doing quite well with no lack of work. I have a home that always needs some sort of maintenance or upgrade. I have a family that requires my time and attention so I have no personal need to do a blog and it does not provide any form of income nor fame so why should I do it. The Apostle Paul said "woe is me if I do not preach the gospel" It simply was something that was laid on him and he realized that he really had no choice in the matter. I feel pretty much the same. I am but a simple peasant with no claim to fame whatsoever. For those who do not know I only finished the 8th grade and made two attempts at the 9th grade and gave up. Before I became a Christian at age 32 I was taking Valium everyday, shooting myself with liquid B-12 and had to set with a traction device under my chin twice a day because the tension in my whole body was killing me little by little.
In one instant of time all that changed, How I came to the point of surrender is another story but when I made that decision there was no longer any question that there was a God and that He cared for me and that was all that mattered. Perhaps if I shared what my previous life was like from early childhood you would better understand why it meant so much to me to learn that God was not only real but that I mattered to Him. At that point nothing else mattered and it still does not. Yes life has important things that need our attention but there comes a time when we must recognize that we are not our own for we are purchased with price.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

New King James Version (NKJV)
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

There is no limit to what God can do with a vessel that is yielded to His will in all things. In a moment of time all that was weighing me down was gone. The pain in my body, the confusion in my mind, the rebellion in my heart and a whole host of other dreadful things were gone and a peace that I had never known settled over me. I had tried to quit smoking for years and had even gotten down to no longer buying or carrying cigarettes but still had that horrible nagging habit that just wouldn't let go. Every day I would go to work and the business next to mine was a saddle maker who rolled his own cigs. So I would go in and visit with him and borrow his makings and roll one and smoke it. Guess what? It would give me a tremendous headache that would last until evening but I would go in and do it again the next day knowing full well what I would face but I just couldn't cope with the craving for nicotine. The very day that I surrendered my life to Christ that craving vanished without a trace.

As I said before I know that I am nothing but God can do whatever He wants with nothing, He created the earth out of nothing and here's a scripture that is interesting on that subject.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29



New King James Version (NKJV)
Glory Only in the Lord
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

God is not interested nor impressed by our brilliance, education or wealth. If you had all the money in the world and offered it to God He would pay no more attention to you than that drunk down on skid row.
He is interested only in a heart that is surrendered to Him and with that He can do anything. Now I don't even know why I said all that because it is very much off subject from where I started but I guess in retrospect I felt it necessary for me to tell you that I don't think that I am a great thinker and that I just have to get my thoughts out there. Well then you might say " So you think that you speak for God? that sounds a bit arrogant doesn't it? My only answer is, I am just a reporter. These things come to me, I don't conjure them up and I feel compelled to write them and believe I would be disobedient if I didn't. They are there for those who may benefit from them and those who don't or won't need not read them and that is where I will leave it. I will continue to report as long as I have things to report and believe that I am to report them. There are things that I have known for a long time but have never felt that I was to say anything about them and my article on Eternity was one of those things but a release came in an unusual way and I have learned to follow the signs.

So what about the Endgame? Maybe now I can get to the subject that got me up at 4 am.
All that we see going on today around the world is leading to something that the Christian often speaks about but knows little about. I really wonder how many of today's professing Christians really know what lays ahead. I think most actually believe that nothing is really going to change except that one day they will stop breathing and will be ushered into the presence of God in heaven and will dwell there forever.
The forever part is true but there's much more before we get to the forever part. One must wonder about the why of it all. If God's plan was just to save everybody and take them to heaven then why not just do it now and get it over with? The earth is overflowing with evil and has for centuries and has only gotten worse. Human suffering is at an all time high, why not end it all now? I truly wish I had all the answers but I don't so I'm just going to report on those things that I feel I have been given.

God has existed forever and so has His universe. Why He permitted imperfection to exist in the first place no one will know until they are with Him in eternity and then I suspect we will be amazed at His wisdom. I know that everything was created by Him including the angels and Satan was the highest ranking angel. They were created and dwelt in His presence. It is very difficult to imagine being in the presence of the most benevolent and loving being in the universe and still having evil thoughts but that is what the Bible tells us about Satan. He became jealous and his heart was lifted up and he desired to be like the Most High God. Sorry, not going to be allowed here, out you go. He had already gotten one third of the entire host of angels on his side when God stepped in and said "enough,We will have order here and you must leave and everyone who has sided with you must leave also".

Now heaven is much more than we think of it as being. Imagine the universe beyond the dimmest star that you can see. It goes on and on beyond there too. Heaven is not one small location nor is earth the only place in Gods creation that there is life. Can I prove that? Science has been trying for generations to discover that but if they would only read the scriptures they would know. Jesus said to His disciples "Other sheep have I that are not of this fold". When He said the words "This Fold" He was speaking of the newly established fold of Christianity on Planet earth. So where are the other sheep? Somewhere out there in the universe. The Bible reveals many things that scientists took a long time to discover. Another example is that there is no single heavenly body that is the same as another and here is the scripture;

1 Corinthians 15:41



New King James Version (NKJV)
41 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.

It is so easy to pass right over so much in scripture and that is one of the reasons that you should not read it as you would read a book. The Bible must be read and studied thoroughly mingled with prayer because it depends upon the Holy Spirit to reveal the hidden things. They are not really hidden but are spiritually discerned and without the Spirit's involvement you will never see it. And let me say something about prayer while I'm at it. Most Christians don't pray enough and some don't pray at all and I think the reason is that they simply don't understand prayer. Prayer is assumed to be getting down on your knees, folding your hands and closing your eyes and trying to concentrate on saying something holy sounding to God. There are indeed times needed when you do that but the word "Pray" is simply translated as "Ask" as in to speak or make a request to another. You can speak to God at any time and any place and it is not necessary to close your eyes either. What God wants is your complete attention and devotion and when you speak to Him about everything then you also have His attention and devotion. He is far more devoted to His child than His child is to Him. Think about it for a minute. As a parent aren't you thrilled when your child asks you for advise and actually wants it and will follow it? As often as possible I like to provide scripture so that you don't think that this is just off the top of my head. And I can assure you that when I provide a scripture that it is already tested and I know that it is true and works. Here's one to back up what I'm saying about prayer;

Proverbs 3:5-7


New King James Version (NKJV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,


And He shall direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.


Footnotes:
a.Proverbs 3:6 Or make smooth or straight

It is so easy to simply see these words as poetic musing rather than instruction about talking to God about everything but that is what it means. When I got into the habit of talking to God as though I could see Him and He's right beside me life began to go so much better. I would have to spend the rest of my life writing  to describe all the neat experiences that I have had because of the relationship that has grown out of that practice. It seems that I have taken a lot of rabbit trails in the process of this article but when I write it just flows and I cannot always follow the original intent and I have to believe that there is someone out there that needs whatever has been written. If I tried to stay on track exclusively then it would be me and not the Spirit and that must never be. I am going to take up this subject in a second article because this has become rather long and already into a second morning and I'm out of time.

In closing I have one thing to add. The reward system in God's kingdom is like the ultimate pyramid system. You know what I mean, the sales system where you start out selling something and then you get someone else to sell it also and you get a portion of their sales and then they get someone else to start selling and you both get a portion of their sales. Well in the kingdom of God it works in similar fashion but you don't even have to become a salesman. If you simply take the time to forward one of these articles to someone else and they are drawn to Christ as a result, there is a reward for both of us. Even if they are not immediately drawn but some years later they remember something that was said in the article and they finally wake up and turn to Christ  the result is the same. I don't know how God manages to keep track of all this stuff but He does. How does He keep count of all the hairs in your head when you lose so many every day?

Again I will provide a scripture so no one thinks I'm making stuff up.

1 Corinthians 3:6-8



New King James Version (NKJV)
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

So when you forward this or any other spiritual article to another person you are either planting an original seed or watering a seed that someone else has planted. Or else maybe that person is already a Christian but is struggling with issues and this somehow helps them, the result is the same. Once again you have added to your heavenly account. I bet most of you out there never thought of this. It's like an almost effortless way to store up treasures in heaven that will last for eternity. Of course I expect that you will use Godly wisdom in determining if these things are true and will not lead anyone astray.

God bless you all as we seek to please Him and follow the narrow path to it's ultimate destination.

john