The Urgency of Eternity

I returned home from church today in a really strange mood. At first, I was dying to talk about what David Platt had preached on this morning at the Church at Brookhills, but then something inside of me just wasnt' right. I couldn't put my finger on what I was feeling, I couldn't understand how come all of a sudden the fire I had felt fizzled to almost nothingness in an instant. I guess I could say the devil was at work within me, because the sermon this morning was on "The Urgency of Eternity." The urgency to spread the Gospel because there is 4-5 BILLION people who are on their way to hell at this very moment. The devil was trying to tear me up inside, to discourage me, to wear me down, to distract me from the mission. The mission that I accepted the day I trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior. Not knowing what or why I was feeling practically worthless, I just got on the internet and began looking for scholarship money in places I had not looked before--hospitals. I sent a couple of emails requesting information about the scholarships, hoping that a few might turn out as possibilities. As I was looking, I realized that this was not what I wanted to be doing...not what I wanted to be doing at all. I wanted to be worshipping God through the reading of His word and singing of songs. So I decided that I wanted to go BACK to Brookhills for the night service...which is exactly the same as the morning service, but maybe I missed something...maybe there was something that I needed to hear again, so it could sink deeper into my dry and weary soul. I know knew what else was bothering me this afternoon...I was hungry and thirsty for more and more of the Word of God..I longed for MORE.

And now comes the hard part, the part I dealt with during the sermon. Hold on, because there is alot! :)

How much breath do I waste talking about temporal things? How much? Lately, it's been all of it. Lately, I've worked alot, with the same co-workers and have I mentioned their need for a Savior because they are dying? No. I haven't. I remeber talking about where to would be the best places to travel in Europe and how much I want to go. I am not promised tomorrow, why in the world would I be planning for a vacation many years down the road?

I can tell you why. Because I have been so focused on self-centered ambitions. I have tried to hold Christ in one hand and hold everything else in this world in the other; I have refused to let go, refused to completely throw my life at the feet of Jesus and surrender all to Him. I have been worried about what I want to do with pharmacy, where I want to work, where will pay me enough to pay off my school loans, how many kids I'll have, what their names will be, or who I can hang out with after work that I have completely forgotten WHY I am here.

I am here to spread the Gospel. I am here for the sole purpose of pointing others to Christ.

I should be burdened-heavily burdened-because I realize that people all around me are dying. People are dying..and yet I find something else to talk about! WOW! Lord, may my mindset be changed. May I gain an eternal view, instead of a worldly view. Make heavier my burden for the lost, deepen my compassion and love for those around me. Help me to trust the power of your Gospel, the power of YOUR NAME...YOUR HOLY AND PRECIOUS NAME--JESUS.

To Die is Gain...To Die Is Gain...To Die IS Gain...IT IS GAIN!

It is gain, because I will be sitting at the feet of Jesus gazing at His Beauty. I will be completely mesmorized by HIS GLORY that I will never want to look away...for all of eternity..and it will be AWESOME.

Revelation 4:8-11

"And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they NEVER CEASE to say, 'HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!' And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'WORTHY are YOU, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created ALL things, and by Your will they existed and were created.'"

Another thing that just gets me everytime is Acts 20:22-24.

And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself,

IF ONLY

I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

If ONLY I may finish the course-- I do not know what awaits me. I do know that it will be worth it. It will be worth every pain, every joy, every heartache, every disappointment, every good time and every bad time. As long as I am telling/pleading/and urging others to turn to Christ as their Savior, then my life will count.

Worth It All by Rita Springer

Revelation Song by Gateway Worship