CHANGE Has and Is to COME

As we approach the end of 2009, no doubt many minds are filled with mixed emotions generated by our memories of what is past, our experiences in the present, and our concerns about what the future holds. If we each just look back over the past 7 months, we can see so much has happened in the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months by which we measure time.

Most of these things were so routine and ordinary that we barely noticed what was taking place (i.e.: going to work, getting paid, paying bills). But amid the regular occurrences there were some highs (i.e.: births, graduations, marriages, birthdays, anniversaries, vacations) and some lows (i.e.: sicknesses, surgeries, accidents, layoffs, breakups, deaths). These once-in-a-lifetime experiences can best be processed by viewing them through the eyes of faith in the light of God’s truth.

You see, as the truth of God is progessively revealed to us, we are being transformed. Without the revelation that brings inspiration and understanding, we exists very much like a lowly larva. We crawl around on the earth, merely surviving on what we can glean from the dust of natural life, hoping to avoid being consumed by what is bigger than we are.

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Then we discover who Jesus is to us. The Christ in us becomes the hope of glory by which we somehow rise from the natural and enter the realm of the spiritual. Our faith becomes an invisible cocoon in which we encase our lives. There we live, hidden from the comprehension of those still living only a natural life.

Those around us ofeten don’t understand us anymore. We have become foreigners to the old way of living. We are changing from the inside out. Sometimes it seems to them we are trapped by the limitations our faith imposes upon us. There are things we don’t do -yet. Places we can’t go – right now. To the world around us these restrictions make no sense.

They don’t understand that we are no longer larva, merely existing. We are pupa. And like pupa, we are in a transitional state of being. We are not what we used to be, but neither are we what we ultimately will become. We are developing into something totally different from what we once were.

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This metamorphosis is not quick, easy or beautiful to observe. It does not allow us to have a carefree experience in a community. When we were larva, we had lots of company. But now that we are in the Christ, we must adjust to being alone a lot. Even though we know we are not the only ones like us, we each must go through our own personal transitions of repentance and reconstruction. It is something we will be doing until we die or when Jesus Himself returns to earth.

Believe it or not, we are all nearing the end. Each passing moment brings us closer to our appointed time of expiration. All the while, the world, our flesh and the devil are beckoning to us to leave the cocoon of our faith prematurely. Sadly, some people have abandoned their faith. What they discover is that trying to live without Christ – especially after you’ve gotten to really know and love Him – is much, much harder that it would have been staying with Him.

A pupa who is not allowed to complete the process emerges from the cocoon unprepared for its destiny as a butterfly. It can’t become a larva again. It has wings, but they are not fully developed so it can’t fly. It now has neither a mouth by which it can eat natural things nor an antenna by which it can retrieve nectar from the flowers. Its lungs are not fully developed so it has difficulty breathing. Instead of being destined to fly, it is now destined to die! What a tragedy!

That’s how it will be for those who reject God in order to follow the devil. They can’t merely be sinners who can always be saved by grace. They are rebels and reprobates. They know God is real, but because they have not developed a relationship with Him, they can’t enjoy that knowledge. They are no longer satisfied with natural life, but they don’t have what it takes to receive spiritual life. As Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown sang, they have “No Air”. Instead of being upgraded to being like Jesus, they must spend eternity separated from God in eternal torment.

But we do have a choice! If we remain in the faith of God until His appointed time, we will be the church triumphant! A pupa that stays in the cocoon will one day come out a beautiful, fully developed, ready-to-fly butterfly! A person who keeps his/her faith in Christ will one day both see Him as He is and be just like He is! We will be pure, holy, blameless, undefiled, powerful beyond measure, glorified, wise enough to judge angels and rule the world with Him in righteousness, witnesses to the final defeat of all His enemies, blessed and a blessing to all creatures everywhere throughout eternity. Anyone in their right mind would never trade all of this for the false hopes offered by the devil and those who follow him.

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In conclusion, I urge you to live in faith. Trust in God and His Word, not in people and their promises. Remember your future as you live in the present. When you are tempted to return to the old way of thinking, remind yourself that there is nothing behind you to return to. What is past is past. Only God knows what the future holds. So live each moment in thankfulness – the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, the bitter and the sweet. Know that nothing that happens to you can overcome the One who lives in you.

Through life’s tragedies, He is transforming you for your transition into His ultimate triumph! Change HAS come and IS coming!! HalleluJAH!