It is such a foreign concept to us that in the Garden of Eden, that nakedness was normal for Adam and Eve… but to also be walking WITH God? WOW, MIND-BLOWING… Isn’t that just seeming like a dream state?! Being Adam and Eve were born of God, nothing was needed to clothe them (yet), not even their thoughts (nor ours). It would be good to be THAT open with God, especially since He already sees us. No clothes, No nothing and No nonsense either… And you know what? NO pockets either – NO phones, NO wallets, NO money, NO needs, NO baggage, NO WORRIES.
Thankfully we return to this in Heaven – but it won’t be in nakedness – in Heaven we will be clothed with a cover of fine white Jesus-gifted purity. No stain remover is more powerful than Jesus Himself. Yes, covered. No tears and no need to look back either…
Dust to dust means no way to carry that baggage (or those riches) to Heaven. Even though there are pockets of dust in our lives, our lives return to dust and our dust has NO pockets. Wise Solomon said: ‘Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.‘
Ah… the future… But can we live with and walk with God now too? YES!!!! And His Word helps us each day – brings us time with him – precious time… ‘GLADNESS OF HEART’, that we CAN carry thru life and enjoy as a gift from God. We can find satisfaction in our labor. ‘This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.‘
My laundry room roof, I am considering and experimenting and praying, but not obsess$$ing (I don’t think) about the leak. And I could continue to just live with it ‘as-is’, or fix it. I found a trustworthy person as a contractor, PRICELESS, who is also a new Dad, PRECIOUS baby just weeks old, and a PASTOR too, What’s the odds???, HAHA GOD! PROVISIONS PROVISIONS PROVISIONS!!! PERFECT PONDERING PARTNER for PATCHES and POSSIBILITIES, roof and otherwise.
Some decisions in life have to be made on the spot, some are ponderable for a while, like this roof, and some decisions in life seem tough to make, and some are just best given to and worked out WITH God, but all the while you yourself put in the work to weigh the options. That’s the Bible Study he (pastor patcher papa) just presented and told me about, from Acts, for casting lots… This is his teaching, so I give him credit: that these apostles (after Jesus arose in the Book of Acts, chapter 1, verse TWELVE on) discussion of whom to replace Judas with, and they had two really good choices. They vetted the requirements for a core replacement (like having been there from the beginning, walking with Jesus, etc)… They had good choices, and they got to the point where they put in. All the work and both would have been fine. So at that point, they said, “Okay God, we’re going to let you pick”. And they casted lots which is not random knowing God would pick. (See, that’s probably also why I’ve not won megamillions, that God didn’t will it and that I didn’t buy a ticket, haha!!!. not going to win it if you aren’t in it!) Ah, casting lots was after good choices had been presented, win win. Ah, like picking between 2 flavors of ice cream that are both good choices but you only get one. Ah, like fixing the roof now or fixing the roof later, both technically are fixing the roof, just when…
Let me add my extra pondering to this pastor’s discussion of ‘casting lots’… Why, at that point, was it important for God to choose the twelfth apostle, a replacement HE KNEW He would have to make? Because He planned TWELVE: there’s TWELVE everything, TWELVE apostles, TWELVE sons of Jacob/Israel and yeah, TWELVE gates in the walls of the NEW JERUSALEM (Book of Revelation), in the New City that comes out of God’s Provisions for eternity. Cool. People don’t know what eternity will be like, they say, but if we read and walk with God, we do get this glimpse! It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Rev20:12-14)
God picked a place to restore the 12th before it has even been built – like laying down the foundation of the world. Yes – like Jesus being with God and being God at the beginning and Jesus knowing He Himself would be the cornerstone to build us into a NEW Kingdom with Him, to be the replacement, to be ransom for us in sin and death, to BE a New Covenant, IN ADVANCE for Adam’s fall, then placing in a Good Foundation to build again. A Shepherd AND a Sheep.
Cool. God spent His most precious resource, His Son, to rebuild HIS GLADNESS OF HEART, being with us in eternity. Cool… let’s re-read Ecclesiastes 5, wise Solomon with all that money but lost gladness, let’s apply this in our lives – let us not hoard or squander wealth but put it to use for God’s good – and for our money – just enough – let us accept it as a laborer and not be burdened with mega millions. Let us keep giving away God’s Gladness.
Live happily – be Glad for God’s Goodness Wins. Let us be COVERED IN GLADNESS always.
Amen
Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 Riches Are Meaningless
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.
I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.
Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.
This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
Acts 1:12-26 NIV
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
(With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his place of leadership.’ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Debbie Upper 