The Eternal Perspective

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.  

(Jim Elliot)

 

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

New International Version

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

 

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

New International Version

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Giving or getting back

 Matthew 5:38-41

New International Version

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’] 39 But I (Jesus) tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.

Matthew 5:43-44

New International Version

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I (Jesus) tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Luke 6:27-28

New International Version

27 “But to you who are listening I (Jesus) say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

1 Peter 3:9

New International Version

9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Romans 12:17-21

New International Version

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

(Coals for their fire when their fire goes out)]

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

When shall I forgive?

We must keep our hearts free from unforgiveness.  Start your day beforehand forgiving before the need to forgive.  

When we forgive, we discover that we set the prisoner free, and that prisoner was you.  

 

Luke 11:4 A

New International Version

4 Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

 

Colossians 3:13

New International Version

13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

The winning move

It's almost impossible to convince an enemy, so don't make one.  Choose to overlook an offense.  

People are thin skinned and hard hearted.  God wants us to be tough skinned and soft hearted.  

The only winning move is not to offend.  

Use empathy.  Love looks past the bad behavior, but imagine the pain in their life.  Refuse to be pulled into an offense.     

Luke 17:1

New International Version

17 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.

Proverbs 18:19

New International Version

19 A brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city;
    disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.

 

Proverbs 12:6

New International Version

6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
    but the speech of the upright rescues them.

 

Proverbs 19:11

New International Version

11 A person’s wisdom yields patience;
    it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

 

Proverbs 10:12

New International Version

12 Hatred stirs up conflict,
    but love covers over all wrongs.

Difference maker?

 We cannot make a difference if we are not different.  

 

Matthew 5:11,13

New International Version

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

 

2 Corinthians 12:10

New International Version

10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God is Omnipresent.

God is Omnipresent.  God is always there.   

To grow our confidence in the omnipresence of God through worship.  

 

 

Psalm 139

New International Version

 

1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Isaiah 43:1-5

New International Version

43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.

God is Omniscient.

God is omniscient (all knowing).  

I develop my confidence in the omniscience of God through prayer.  

 

1 Corinthians 13:12

New International Version

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 

I don't know, but I know that God knows. 

 

1 John 3:20

New International Version

20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Your problem cannot be yours and God's at the same time.    

God is Omnipotent

God is omnipotent (all powerful).  

I must know that God is working in my situation.  We build our confidence in the omnipotence of God, when we study the Word of God.  

Colossians 1:16-17

New International Version

16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

God is doing something. When He is not doing something.  When He is not doing something, He is doing something.  

 

Job 19:25

New International Version

25 I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

 

Lessons from suffering

1. We must know that God can do all things.  

2. We must no speak of things that we do not understand.

3. We must not only hear about God, but we must experience Him. 

Job 42:1-5

New International Version

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:

2 “I know that you can do all things;
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.

4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
    but now my eyes have seen you.

Job 38:1-5

New International Version

38 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
    with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?

Job 40:3-4

New International Version

3 Then Job answered the Lord:

4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
    I put my hand over my mouth.

Are Bad Times Bad?

Suffering should develop, but distract us.    

Romans 5:3-4

New International Version

3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 

4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

James 1:2-4

New International Version

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 

3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

1 Peter 1:6-7

New International Version

6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 

7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

2 Corinthians 11:23-28

New International Version

23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 

24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 

25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 

26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 

27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 

28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

2 Timothy 1:7-12

New International Version

7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 

8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 

9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 

10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 

11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 

12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

 

Blessed are the Presecuted?

We have to walk out the Word of God when people don't want to hear.  When we follow God, persecution follows us.  

"All you who desire to live a Godly life will be persecuted."  2 Timothy 3:12.  

We must be content in persecution.  2 Corinthians 12:10.   In Matthew 24:9, Jesus tells us that Christians will eventually be delivered over to persecution for our relationship with Him.  

During persecution, we've got to remember the power of the presence of God. Isaiah 26:3.  The story of the furnace of fire is one such story. 

(Read Daniel 3)  

This story reminds us that we must walk according to the Word of God and not by the values of the world.  The world says that if you'll just compromise we won't persecute you. 

1. We must allow persecution to deepen our conviction.  When persecution arises, the devil is getting desperate.  During those time, we must increase the presence of God in our lives.  James 4:8A.  

2.  Satan wants to destroy your legacy.  If you're living for yourself, you're not a threat.  Satan isn't looking for injuries, but fatalities.  John 10:10.  

In Daniel 3, God used persecution to promote them.  In the fire, we are not burnt but refined.  Then, we'll inherit the Kingdom.  Matthew 5:10.