At The End?

People talk about being at the end of their rope. When that is the case there is the need to keep hanging on. Some may get frustrated standing at the end of a line. However, if where that line is leading is good, one should remain in it. And here we are facing the end of a year. It seems that 2008 passed by very swiftly. For our family it has been a year marked by many good things, but also by some difficult losses of family members. Still, God has been good and sustains because we know that the ends we sometimes face in this life are really not the end at all.

The minutes, hours, days, months, seasons, years, decades, etc. are how our life here in this realm is marked off. It all means something to us and marking life off in such a manner keeps a lifetime from overwhelming us. Accepting life in the daily doses with which God brings it is best. (note Matthew 6:34) That is the Wisdom of God Who is not limited by time, nor does it mean to Him what it does to us since to Him "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." ( 2 Peter 3:8 ESV)

As we face the end of 2008 we are probably hopeful for 2009 and it shall be so if it be the Lord's Will. ( James 4:15) In that sense we are not actually looking at the end at all, but rather to a NEW BEGINNING; one that will bring its own NEW BLESSINGS and NEW OPPORTUNITIES to live to the glory of God and serve the purposes for which He has given us life.

When "teEn-MAIL" began solely for our teens here in Port Townsend, Washington (USA) March of 1998, I did not realize what God would make it become and how many people I would eventually connect with around the world to bless my life. Besides those who read "teEn-MAIL" at the website -- and the number only God knows who receive it from others -- there are currently 763 addresses to which it is e-mailed from our computer on a daily basis. (This is also besides those who have connected through a yahoo group site.) I have not kept record of all subscribers since "teEn-MAIL" began, but since March of 2004 over 1000 new subscribers have signed up through the website in Arkansas. Your continued interest, words or encouragement, and prayers have been a great personal blessing in my life.

Think about the truths you FIRST BEGAN to learn when you came to know Christ and the salvation in Him. Remember the comfort, hope, joy, and peace that became yours in light of the cleansing of your sins by the power of Jesus' blood. Keep in mind the eternal hope that the abiding relationship with Him also brings.

John encouraged those to whom he wrote. . .
"(24) LET WHAT YOU HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING ABIDE IN YOU. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. (25) And THIS IS THE PROMISE THAT HE MADE TO US -- ETERNAL LIFE." ( 1 John 2:24-25 ESV)

Though Jesus exhorted that it is those who stand firm to the end who will be saved ( Matthew 10:22 & 24:13), the end is not the end for those who believe. The end of things here is but the beginning of an UNENDING ETERNITY with Him. May God be forever praised!

Have a great day KEEPING IN MIND GOD'S UNENDING BLESSINGS!
Carl

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