Friday, April 20, 2012

Try To Imagine


Try To Imagine-1 Corinthians 2:6-19

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: 

“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him” –  but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Try to imagine that God sees past, present and future all at the same time.  Try to imagine what God’s “secret wisdom” is…  “a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.”  Try to imagine that God already knows what’s going to happen everywhere and every “when” on earth, 24/7/365. 

Try to imagine that God has searched your heart and he knows you… that He knows when you sit down and when you get up… that He perceives every thought that runs through your head all the way from heaven, and that He does so without your opening your mouth to express those thoughts… that He knows everything that you do, where you go, whether you’re going somewhere or whether you’re lying down… that He is familiar with every single one of your habits… that before a word is on your tongue, God knows it completely.  (Psalm 139:1-4)

Pretty awesome, isn’t it?  Now, try to imagine this… God has things planned for you that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived”.   Perhaps the toughest one for any of us to comprehend is that God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1) 

Have you ever wondered what heaven is like?  Most of us do, at least a little.  The problem is, we don’t have any frame of reference for what heaven is like.  So when we imagine it, there’s always some of what we know on earth incorporated into our thinking.  But the truth is, “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived” what heaven is really like.  The only thing we know for sure is that Jesus is there, and so are all our friends and relatives that we love who were saved before they passed away.  What it looks like… what we’ll do there… well, we just have no way to know…

Now, why think about all these things?   Because this old world can be a rough place to live.  Even those of people who have what others perceive as “good” lives have to contend with things that try their minds and spirits and emotions.  It doesn’t matter who we are, we are not immune from trials.  And even when we’re not suffering one trial or another, we still have difficult decisions to make.  We have to contend with our health and that of our families… We have to make decisions about where to live and what to eat and what to wear and where to work.  And we have to deal with those same things when our jobs disappear for one reason or another.  We have to deal with relationships, and we have to deal with people who turn on us or betray us or hurt us in some other way.  And, sometimes, we have to deal with the death of someone we love.

If you’re finding this old world tough to deal with, remember this… if you are a born again believer, the Holy Spirit is living within you to guide you, to teach you, and to comfort you.  Knowing this and knowing about the eternal future that awaits you should give you hope and the courage to keep going in this life.  Just remember, this life came to pass, not to stay… This is not all there is… and what awaits us is more awesome than we can possibly imagine.

By Bonnie Ricks: Dogwood Ministries, Inc.,

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