Tag: eternal

Buried Treasure

On By vickleaIn Admonition, promises, Scripture3 Comments

Here is a photo that I found online of people and a popular hobby, especially on beaches and areas where there were Civil War battles.

They are using metal detectors to look for “treasure.” What do they do with what they find? Many are collectors and go to shows to display all that they have found. We had a speaker come to our church group last spring who is a collector of bullets, parts of weapons and even parts of swords from the Civil War. Fascinating, but not anything I am interested in doing.

I read a devotional this morning about buried treasure off the coast of Florida that was salvaged in the twentieth century after being in the ocean since the 1600’s. It is amazing to me the persistence people have in finding things that are so deeply buried in the ocean and under all that sand.

Their persistence is especially amazing since they have a treasure right next to them all the time, but they are not even looking for it.

God’s words to us are like a treasure that we can hide in our hearts and keep forever and it will never rust or corrode. We don’t take it out to display to others, but it is there for us to call on whenever we need it. Sometimes, we can use His words to comfort or guide others. Sometimes, it is just for us to ponder and wonder at the awesomeness of God.

If you are looking for God’s wisdom as hard as you would look for buried treasure, then you would be able to understand the Lord better and His resolve to love us in spite of us. The fact that He treasures us and keeps us close to His heart should give us a clue about how much we should treasure Him.

Look at the last part of this scripture…God made mankind so that they would seek Him and find Him. But He isn’t hiding. He is always as close as the next prayer or words you say to Him.

If we are always keeping our heads down looking for the treasure on the earth, then we won’t recognize all of the gifts that God has already given us. Whatever treasures the earth has will not last, but God’s love, mercy and grace are forever gifts.

Back to the whole looking for treasure concept. Buried treasure is elusive and illusory. It may or may not exist, but the treasure that God gives is ever present and never hides from us. We have to spend time with God to avail ourselves of His wonderful treasure house of gifts that He bestows on His children. Rather than spending time walking around in a field with a heavy metal detector, just pick up your Bible and you will find treasure on every page.

I do want to be a treasure finder, but the treasure I want to find is eternal and life-giving. Hobbies aren’t a bad thing, but whatever you do, keep your focus on God and His Word because that is the true gold in your life.

Encouragement

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

God has been speaking encouragement into my heart and mind this week and I wanted to share some of that with you. There is a lot wrong with our world. We all know it and if you’re like me, you get frustrated over the condition of this fallen world and all of the effects that the rampant sin is having on the younger generation. But God has told me over and over that He is in control and will not allow this debauchery to continue forever. He has also encouraged me to live my life for Him in spite of what others are doing or saying. We are called to just keep on doing good deeds and saying good words until our Savior returns or until we die, whichever happens first. Thus when someone “of the world” annoys me, I want to be able to give them an encouraging and loving word because that is what Jesus would do and that is what He is exhorting me to do. When we think that chaos is reigning, we have to remember that it really isn’t…God is still sovereign and will one day show Himself in all of His righteous glory and power to the world that He created, the world that has fallen away from Him into the sin of following the idol of self-determination. In all of my musings, I am encouraged because in the end God wins. Like a long chess match in which the opponents are trying to determine the next move of their rival, God knows the next move and has an end game in mind…all for our good and for His glory.

May you let these words from this verse sink deeply into your heart and soul, touching you in all of the places that need to be healed from the daily wound of walking in this world. God bless you!

Fixing Our Eyes

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

I try to wake up each morning with praise on my lips, just thanking God for a new day and for the fact that I’m alive. Sometimes, though, my mind immediately goes to errands I have to run or appointments to keep. I have to wrestle my thoughts back into the corral of praise and focus on God and His goodness. Sometimes, that battle for control of my mind is harder than others. I have found that if I just roll over and lie quietly, focusing on God is easier for me. His love for me overwhelms me and my thoughts are naturally fixed on Him.

This was one of the verses in my devotional this morning. It’s hard to realize that as I look around, everything I see will one day be gone. Even I shall return to dust. However, if I look with my spiritual eyes, I see the promise of a bright eternity with God, with all things new, no sorrow, no pain and no sin or temptation. That kind of vision is one that can give us hope in spite of all that we see around us.

God’s promise is that His salvation and righteousness will last forever. He has bestowed on each believer the righteousness that His Son bought for us on the cross. It is not a fleeting gift or one that wears out, soon forgotten in the back of a closet or drawer somewhere. His righteousness is a robe that we put on daily, as we awaken and thank Him for His mercy and love and for His free gift of salvation. Fixing our eyes on God is not just so that we can have the right vision to start the day; rather, it is the way that we should go through each hour of every day, with the knowledge that this world is passing away but what we do with and for God is eternal.

Have a wonderful day and be blessed with the knowledge of His love for you that never fails!

Seen and Unseen

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

As many of you do, I sometimes find myself focusing on things that really don’t matter in the long run. Events happen, press in on my life and then fade away. Sometimes, they end up being so inconsequential that I don’t even remember them later. God, in His great wisdom, has addressed this issue of priorities in His Word.

If we focus on God and His kingdom, then our time is spent wisely because that is the kingdom that will endure forever. Our mindset as humans is to prioritize our life on earth and the ever-changing good feelings that we can get from having nice things or power or whatever that just does not last. In the end, the things that we cannot see, how God is working in the world and lining up things according to His will, is what is most important. There is a great battle brewing, but it is not between Republicans and Democrats or liberals and conservatives. Rather, it is between the forces of good versus evil and we have to be focused in order to choose the correct side to support. The evil side is cunning, drawing us away by subterfuge and outright deception. If we stay focused on God, I firmly believe that He will show us the great and marvelous things He is doing and the promise of an eternity that is beyond our imaginations. He will lead us in the direction we are to go and show us the steps to take. It’s all about focus and what we spend our time and energy on. Our life on earth is so short, although we don’t like to think about that. It ends with the blink of an eye or the whisper of the wind. But eternity with God is forever. Priorities are everything. Choose wisely.

Have a blessed day! I hope that this Scripture will help you as you meditate on the unseen and God’s glory that will be everlasting.