Homeward Bound

Something recent has come to my attention, I’ve come to truly appreciate this little item, that may seem so small but means so much….it’s the “lives in” verses “hometown” information option on Facebook. After recently moving to Santa Clarita to attend the Master’s College I myself changing my residency information on Facebook and noticed that I could put “hometown” and one my profile it comes up as “from.” Later that day a friend came up to my room and talking with my roommate said, “Never call this home, this is temporary.”

“The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”- 1 Corinthians 15:47-49

Too often we as Christians become comfortable with this world, calling it our home, living in it and sometimes sadly, of it. We do not think to ourselves enough to never call this world home, to remember that it is only temporary, we are not of this world, but rather we are of heaven.

The day that you repented of your old life and proclaimed Christ as Lord, placing your faith in Him for salvation is the day you left this world and became a citizen of heaven. Do we understand the cost of this citizenship? Do we understand the depth of which we have it? We have citizenship on three different levels:

1. Purchased- Christ, on the cross, paid the price for sins, taking on all the wrath God, purchased us for ransom, that we might become citizens with him. 1 Corinthians 6:20 mentions how we were bought with a price, we were bought from this world by Christ to become a part of heaven.
2. Birth- To enter into heaven we must be born again as Christ said to Nicodemus in John 3:3. To be born into citizenship is to have a natural right in it.
3. Adoption- The last level of citizenship is adoption, to be chosen, hand picked for the kingdom. We did nothing in this adoption, we were in no way attractive, and this is not something comparable to a family picking out the puppy at the pound. Rather Ezekiel 16 gives the description of us in verse 5 as those who, “No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.” In this state he chose us and adopted us as sons, to be in his kingdom.

We live in a world we are not apart of, set apart from those in it Philippians 3:19-21 states, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” So, if our belonging is not here but in heaven, what do we do now? We will be made glorious when he returns, so do we just live here now with the mindset of heaven? No! Rather we strive to live now as citizens! 1 Peter 2:11 urges us “as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” We are to run far from what this world is living for and live for heaven, acting like we belong there.

Spurgeon states that, “If, then, we are thus citizens of heaven, let our walk and actions be consistent with our high dignity.” Let us think through our lives, cutting out what looks of the world, what causes us to call this place “home.” As Christians we are not to be comfortable with this earth, but longing for what lies ahead, perfection, which is Christ likeness, so let us press on toward that goal keeping our mind on heavenly things.

As for Master’s I love it here, I take care of my dorm, care for those around me and follow what I’m called and told to do here, but I look forward and even long for when I can go home.

“Every Christian could have “heaven” as their hometown on facebook.’-Bobby Blakey

An Interest in Sin

So it’s been a rainy week here in Orange County and you know what I’ve realized? We are really into accidents. I mean think about…how often are we like “Wow what happened?....Did you see that accident today?....Look at that, what a mess!” People love seeing accidents, the carnage of it all, it is almost obscure to us…some almost mesmerized. Have you ever thought about why that is? I tried and their really isn’t a good answer!

“May we never take a dry-eyed look at sin, lest ere we have a tongue parched in the flames of hell.”- Charles Spurgeon

As I was driving in some heavy traffic last night from an accident, I began thinking about some people are so interested in other people’s sins just as they can be with these car accidents. We may sometimes want to know about other people’s struggles or sins so we can “pray for them.” Just as with the accidents why do we want to know so bad? Do we have a reason for knowing? There really is no good answer it ends up piling into a mush of gossip, because once we are privy to this juicy information we go to others and say “Be praying for so and so, they are really struggling with (whatever it is) right now.” Is that really carrying out what we see in 1 Peter 4:8-

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Cover means to make hidden, but by telling others and learning about it, this becomes uncovering. Charles Spurgeon also said on this area that, “he who is not angry at transgression become a partaker in it.” In what ways are you partaking in sin? Whether its someone else’s struggles with sin you want to information too, a tv show, a book, or maybe even that Star magazine you read only to “pass the time in line.” We should abhor sin, when we don’t we are saying that we are okay with it! We are warned in 1 John 2: 15 too “not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” May we work daily to not become used to the ways of the world but constantly see sin through God’s eyes.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”- Romans 12:1-2