Reading The Last Chapter First

One concern for me from the start about writing a blog is that anyone who might read it would do so by starting at the latest post that was written because of the way it is layed out with the latest post at the top. Where my concern lies is, that what I say in the latest post might be misunderstood without the context of what I said in previous posts. It is like reading the final chapter of a book first and trying to figure out what happened to lead up to that point. What would it be like if we lived our life backwards? What if we started out with knowing the results of all of the experiences we had gone through; learned all of our lessons; accomplished all of our tasks; had all of our disappointments; experienced all of our joys; then we lived our life backwards knowing the end result and purpose of each experience we were going through before we went through it. I often thought of something like that. How would our life change if we were able to even glimpse into the future, and see the end of whatever it is that we are trying to decide about now? How many times have you heard, or maybe even said yourself, "If I only knew then what I know now, I would have done something different." Well, perhaps then remembering that will help the next time we are faced with a decision to do something or not, or even if it seems like something we really wanted fell through, and we think we lost out on a great opportunity! Sometimes, we do actually get the chance to see what the results might have been had we made a different choice. Choosing one job over another, only to find out the other company closed its doors, and you would have been out of work. Or even a lost love, only to find out some dark aspect of their personality come to the surface that saved you a lot more trouble than the heartache you endured. One of the most major changes that took place years ago in my Spiritual understanding (that I refered to in an earlier post) had to do with getting a new perspective on the Sovereignty of God! I remember vividly the day that it happened, and it is something that I will never forget. I finally saw the absolute final authority in every detail of every aspect of every part of the entire universe being subject to the total and final Sovereign will and purpose of God! Now, knowing that beyond a shadow of a doubt, and actually living it every day on this Human Journey are sometimes two different things, though less and less which brings me much more peace! We are all familiar with the verses that remind us of His loving care such as in Matt. 10:29 " Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father." NIV. Or the next verse "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Which I am told means, not that He knows the numbers of hairs on your head, but rather He has assigned a number to each hair! (Only in my case, there is much less numbering to do!) Anyway, while we easily agree with the all knowing aspect of God concerning something like that, it amazes me how quickly we take it away when it comes to things like trusting Him in other aspects of our "Human Journey". I don't mean trying to work up faith to buy a new Mercedes on a VW budget! Paul says in: ITim 6:8 "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." And oh how much more blessed we are than just the basic neccessities. But how about trusting God when things seem at their worst? Perhaps a job is at stake, or a doctor's report is due, or some posing threat to your well being? Oh, sure I know the feeling too! But that is why I wonder if any of it would concern us if we could see into the future at the final outcome, and read the last chapter? So, now what about instead of us having to read the last chapter, or even the next chapter of our life to see the outcome, if we were able to trust that God not only knows, but that every detail is purposed to take place exactly as He planned from before the foundation of the world! Ah, see it is being able to give God that much sovereignty, is where most people have a problem. What about free will? Oh, my, I said it. And I do intend to delve much more deeply into that issue in future posts, but for now I will state clearly and emphatically I do not believe in man's so called free will one bit. I will agree that we have a will, but it is definately NOT free. It is in bondage either to sin or to righteousness. More on that later... Let me finish up this post by opening a proverbial can of worms, and explaining the one glaring truth that I came to know which set me free from that day on, and that is simply this, that the Devil was not created to be an angel, who rebeled, and then gathered 1/3 of all the other angels only to be cast out of heaven into some pit, who then disguised himself as a serpent who usurped God's plan by deceiving Eve in the Garden, who is now trying to trick the rest of the human race, and drag them all to hell with him! The devil is a created being of God's, design purposed for the task to which he has been assigned. Jesus said; speaking of the devil; that he was a thief and a liar from the beginning. The word beginning used there means origin, so he was not some fallen angel, as faulty tradition would have you believe! Every detail of creation and the so called fall in the garden was part of the ultimate purpose of God right from the start. Jesus is NOT plan "B". I used to skydive. I did it for 15 years, and have just shy of 1100 jumps. I mention it because on the reserve handle I wrote the words "Plan B". The reason I needed a plan B was because there was no guarantee that plan A would work! But let me tell you that God only ever had or has, or needs one plan, and that plan is guaranteed to work! Many people because of faulty traditions accuse God of messing up. They judge his plan based on their own lack of understandings because they don't KNOW the truth. They think that because they believe He already messed up, He can't be trusted not to mess up again. My intention is to cover this in more detail, but I will finish this post by declaring this fact, God is not subject to time like we are. Time is a part of creation like everything else. We have to wait for time to pass to find out the end of a thing, God is the beginning AND the end. He does not just know how something will end, He planned the ending before He even began it, and then purposed it to run it's course exactly as planned! The last chapter has already been written. We don't have to read the last chapter first, we just have to trust the One who wrote it!