Beyond your wildest imagination

Beyond your wildest imagination!





In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a rich man and Lazarus.  The comparisons are as follows:

Rich man Lazarus
Very rich                     Dirt poor
Healthy                       Very sick
Successful Unknown 
Lots of support Only dogs helping him

These are huge comparisons.  But the story develops even further!

They both die and it seems the situation is totally reversed.  The rich man ends up in a place of torment and Lazarus ends up in a place of complete tranquility and peace.  Jesus in his story speaks these words about the rich man: …remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing.  So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish (Luke 16:25 NLT).”
I recently read a book by Ralph Martin that spoke of the same idea.
Eternity will be beyond your wildest imagination!  It will be what you were thinking to the nth degree. 
If you are with Lazarus in heaven, it will be beyond your imagination.  It will be more beautiful, more peaceful, more fulfilling, more exquisite, more, more, more—-beyond comprehension for us now.
If you are with the rich man, it will be beyond your imagination. It will be emptier, darker, more painful than you would ever imagine.  You could not be more lonely, sad, or  afraid.  Awful is a trite word used to describe that place.
Is this not then an occasion to run to Jesus and serve him with all your heart?



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning to hate your sin

Image
   John 5:13-15 (NLT) 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.   Lord give me grace, power, and effort to maintain a resilience against sin.  Sin is ALWAYS a dark path. It ALWAYS pays wages.  The wage of sin is death.  Sin will always hurt, always destroy, always wound—you, relationships, stuff, goals, etc.  It is a killer.  It is a wound-er.  It is a consumer of all that is healthy, strong, good, and perfect. Learn to hate sin. Learn to fear sin. Learn to run as fast as you can away from sin. Search deeply for hidden sin. Be disgusted with your sin.  Repent, repent, repent daily for your sin. Be afraid of your sin. Be petrified of your sin. Be worried ab...
Read more

Meditation

Image
Meditation I realize as we move on with this series that there are two things that need some clarification.  We already looked at the idea of silence and quietness—this week we will look at meditation.  Let’s begin by giving you the descriptions of the differences between these two disciplines.  Although from an outsider’s position there may be little or subtle differences, I want to help you process the vast difference between these—-and the immense benefit from both of these disciplines: Silence/ Quietness: Here the idea is shutting out your active mind —leaving lots of space for two things.  First, space to give your mind a rest, relaxing your mind.  It is a stopping of your mind from racing around solving all the problems of the world.  Second, giving space to hear from God! It is laying aside your agenda.  It is putting aside the debris, hurriedness, and hectic pace to relax in God’s presence.  Often music can help...
Read more

God is after you! And... for a different reason than you think!

Have you ever been pursued by a suitor—a lover—someone who is very interested in you? Was it pleasant to be liked?  Was it pleasant to be wanted?  Well, yeah—for sure.  Who doesn’t want to be loved? Who doesn’t want to be sought after?  Who doesn’t want to be appreciated? I do!  I am sure you do too! Did you know that is actually the message of Christmas—and the actual ‘story’ of the Bible?  It’s a story about God pursuing humanity. Too often when we think of God, or church, or the Bible—we think of behaving ourselves enough to get God’s attention.  Or, we think of trying hard to impress God—so that God would appreciate the hard work we are doing down here and give us His nod. Well, actually that is not true.  That is not the message of the Bible—nor the core message of Christmas.  It is actually the total opposite.  The core message of Christmas is not our chasing God—it is God chasing us! God is so in love with ...
Read more