HOT, HOT, HOT

    This last week or so has been unbelievable with the heat reaching to almost 50 degrees Celsius. We do not have air conditioning, therefore the only escape we have had is a couple of our friends. They have graciously opened their pool up to my family and me until this heat wave subsides. I watch the weather station and I see that in other places they are only getting rain. I find myself thinking. "Lord can you send a little bit of water this way.. Just enough to cool us for a short time." I am reminded of a time we went on a missions trip to the United States. On one of our stops, one of the pastors had said he would love to come over to Canada and visit us. His wife soon came back with "What?? Your going alone, I am not going to that cold, cold country. We herd several comments to this fact. Some actually thought we all lived in igloos. We would just look at each other and chuckle. Canada is far from cold in the summer. However this year we are breaking records and at this point, there seems to be no end to this heat.

    I find myself thinking about the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. (Luke 16:19-31) Lazarus was a beggar. He would sit each night at the gate of a rich man’s home. He hoped that the rich man would take compassion on him and offer him his scraps of food. That time never came because the rich man was too greedy and selfish. He only thought about himself and he did not care that Lazarus was starving. In time they both died and the rich man went to hell. It talks on how the rich man would call out begging for Lazarus to dip his finger into the water. He wanted Lazarus to bring him a drop of water to cool his tongue. He was in intense heat, but it was too late. There was no refuge. On these hot days maybe you have found refuge in an air conditioner or like me in a friends pool. When the day comes and you come face to face with God. Where will you find your refuge?
    There are many people who do not believe that hell even exists. Some believe the thought that once saved always saved. Others believe that hell will have different degrees of punishment for sin. The more sever the sin the greater the punishment. I have also saw people who believe that they will get into heaven through someone else’s good works. They believe well my family member believes in God and is going, and therefore I will go with them. Some believe that only sinners will be judged. My question is.. What if they are wrong?? Even Jesus himself believed in hell. I do believe that we will be surprised on who we see go to heaven and hell. I believe there are no degrees of sin. God sees sin as sin. He sees us all as sinner and he loves us regardless. The amazing part of it all is we do not have to suffer the heat. Jesus paid the penalty so we could find refuge from the heat.  I heard it once said that "until you believe in hell you can not actually believe in the bad new of hell. Therefore you will never be able to understand the good news of Jesus." The whole truth is whatever you believe, Jesus came down to earth to die on the cross for each and everyone of us. He paid the price so we did not have to pay the price in hell. We do not have to be in the heat. He wants to be our refuge. Not just for a short time but for eternity.

WHAT TEAM ARE WE REALLY ROUTING FOR ?

         My husband plays baseball every Thursday evening. He has been with this baseball league for a little while now. Last year they had a new team join the league. This team was actually a church team. Not just any church team but our church. I found myself many times routing for the church team over my husbands team. A few weeks ago the two teams met for a game. I was feeling rather tired and burnt out from a crazy week. I decided that I was going to sit at home and relax instead. I called my daughters cell phone to see how they made out. She responded back with, They lost mom. The church team beat them. My first reaction without even thinking was YES, WAY TO GO BARACUDA’S….(the church team) My daughter said "um mom. You do realize Dad’s team lost. You can’t be on both sides you have to chose one." I soon replied with oh yea "Yahoo Barracuda’s boo Twisters. Shhh Don’t tell Daddy. We had a quick chuckle between us.
       That night I lay in bed and her words kept coming to me. "You can’t be on both sides. It started to get me thinking. As Christians how many times in life do we find ourselves caught between two teams. I thought of many individuals that I have met, who like to play both sides. They say they love God and are followers of Jesus, However they still dabble in many things that the world has to offer them. We walk a fine line up and down the fence routing on the other team. I know I have found myself in these situations. Yes we go to church Sunday and do the right things but we find ourselves talking about others. We find ourselves putting that certain person down, when we should be lifting them up. We point fingers instead of praying for that person. We are quick to judge or quick to condemn. We do things that we know are not expectable in God’s eyes but somehow we find it expectable in our eyes. When we go to our work places and around our friends are we excited to share what God has done for us, or do we hide what team we are routing for. Do we walk the walk or just talk the talk. Are we open to what God wants us to do for him?

What team are we really on? When you take the time to look at your life where do you really stand?

Joshua 24:15 says "But if you refuse to serve the Lord,

then chose today whom you will serve."

God wants us to chose his team. He wants us to have a life that is full of his many blessings. He does not want us to perish. He loves us and is so crazy about us. In my daughters words.. "You can’t be on both sides you have to chose one." What team do you chose?