Forever

I'm amazed. No, more than that. Absolutely floored.

To live forever is incomprehensible. 

Yet, that's what is promised to those who love and follow Jesus.

"And this is the promise that He (Jesus) hath promised us, even eternal life..."

It makes me dizzy to think about it.  Forever- infinitely.

It's like a line from the old Geometry book. There is no endpoint. ( Remember that?:)

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“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

and no mind has imagined

what God has prepared

for those who love him.”

Can we pass by this priceless gift with an infinite warranty?


Photography by Paige H.

Life on Loan

The view was picturesque. The fields livening the wintered countryside with young green wheat. Stately pines standing like centuries. Rolling hills. Not a cloud in the blue sky. The sun spreading its late afternoon beams before the close of the day.


As I took in the beauty of the moment, the words of this majestic hymn began to play through my mind.

" I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise; 

That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies...

As I reached the last verse of this song, the words struck me in a way that they had never before.

 "Creatures that borrow life from Thee are subject to Thy care..."

Creatures borrowing life? I had never even considered that my life is borrowed from God.

When God created man, He breathed His own breath into him, supplying him with life. So, our breath, which is our life, comes from God.

Every- breath- I take, comes from God.

Imagine.

God gave me life. I take the breath that He has so graciously given me, and use it to dishonor Him. Oh, the horror...

"How?" you might ask. How many times have I wasted borrowed breath to satisfy selfish desires, speak thoughtless or senseless words that I would give anything to take back... Oh, how many precious moments have been frittered away with the inconsequential... How many times emotions have been wasted over trivial matters... It seems that I, or might I dare say, we completely miss the reason why our lives have been loaned to us...

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Father, please let me not waste the precious life that you've loaned me. Let my life, my every breath, give honor to You.

Press Forward and Look Up!

It was an exciting time in my neighborhood. At the tiny regional airport, not more than seven minutes from my house, our town welcomed many G5s and other size jets.  Not many planes come and go from this airport. If there are any, they are normally small training planes. So this was a rare occurrence.
Last week, in a larger city near my home, there was an event that brought many of these jets to our small airport.

 I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I absolutely LOVE flying and would like to be a pilot. With jets landing and taking off so close, I was ecstatic! The sound of them flying low over the house is quite thrilling. The excitement, surprisingly, even made someone (like my mom), who hates flying want to get in a jet and fly (that's an achievement)!

Last week, my eyes were constantly in the air scanning for the next jet overhead. I was continually running outdoors to see the next jet. I went to the airport many times to watch the jets land, get fueled and take off again. I was determined to see as many as I could. It was a spine-tingling, eye- popping, and literally an ear -popping experience.

 I was up-close and personal.

While keeping my eye on the sky, I knew there are things I must to do here on the ground before I can fly with a license. It is important to know the basics of flying. Without these basics, there would be a huge problem! I am currently taking online ground school flight lessons. The process is a bit tiresome and sometimes hard to understand. I just want to get in the air!

After a week-long of seeing many jets I realized that if I ever want to fly, I have to really buckle down, and get to work. All the watching encourages me, but I need to complete the training or else...
So I keep pressing forward with my studies so I can be up there too. The end goal is not that far off.

I am reminded that I am looking to the sky for something else- something a gazillion times as exciting...  I am looking forward to Jesus' coming and am expecting Him to come very soon. God has given us our ground school training book, the Bible, so that we can be ready to fly when He comes. If I don't study His book I can't still expect to fly with Him to His home in Heaven! I must daily study and learn what is in His book so that I can fly.  He said that His book tells us who He is.  Not only must I study His book but I must have interaction with the trainer.  More on that when I'm airborne.:)

Let's  press forward with our ground school training and keep looking to the sky!

~Joi

Watching the jets at the regional airport

Photo Courtesy of Jade 

Photo Courtesy of Sarah A.