What really matters?
This week in the Dispatch:
In Quick Hits: Some things just don’t change
The Harbinger ll in Books
We are #4 and this week’s AM Podcast
Insights: An Invitation to a Journey
A Challenge to focus on “God's purpose for your life”
A final thought on “pencils down”
This Week’s Quick Hits:
In listening to the scientists on the TWIV Podcast, some things with COVID-19 just don’t change. Wear your mask, wash your hands, social distance, and don’t eat inside at restaurants.
But DO order takeout from restaurants and eat outside on their patio. We need to support them. When this is over, I want my favorite restaurants to be there!
If you are trying to figure out all this stuff in the news about the power of social media companies and how they affect us, catch The Social Dilemma on Netflix.
Book:
The Harbinger II by Jonathan Cahn
Jonathan Cahn is a Messianic Jewish rabbi, based in Wayne, New Jersey, which is about 20 miles from New York City. Last year I read The Harbinger, a New York Times Bestseller written in 2012. The Harbinger is a fictional story that parallels the prophecy about ancient Israel, which was eventually fulfilled in the eighth century BC when Israel was destroyed, to the 9/11 terror attacks against the U.S. in 2001. He calls these events "harbingers." These harbingers show a connection between ancient Israel's destruction and a possible coming destruction of the present-day United States. The Harbinger II picks up where the first book left off with more on 9/11 and continues through the current pandemic. The book is fascinating and very thought provoking. It’s the prophecy book I reference this week in Insights. The question for all of us is, “If Jonathan Cahn is right, how do I respond?”
Podcast
The Awesome Marriage Podcast ranked number 4 in the latest Top 15 Marriage Counseling Podcasts You Must Follow In 2020! Thanks so much to all of you who faithfully listen.
In this week’s podcast we talk about Finding Your Safe Space Friends, those friendships where you can really share what’s going on in your marriage - the good, the bad, and the ugly. How do you cultivate those relationships and why are they so important?
Insights
For the next few weeks, I want you to go on a journey with me. I can’t exactly tell you where we will be going because I’m not exactly sure where we are going. The journey may make sense and it may not. We may end up at a destination and we may not. It’s just a journey. Over the past few months I have read four books on social justice, six books on politics from both sides of the aisle, and one book on prophecy. It’s been a lot to process and a lot to continue to process. Strangely, the catalyst to this journey was not any of those books but the book Take Your Life Back, by my friend Levi Lusko. The 40-day interactive journey has challenged me in ways I did not know I needed to be challenged. It’s helping me work through the content of the other eleven books I referenced above.
The idea of inviting you along this journey came today as I read Day 35 of Levi’s book.*
“You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” James 4:14.
Levi talks about an experience most of us have encountered as we pursued education: The moment at the end of the test when the teacher or professor says, “Pencils down.” The test is over and we are faced with the reality of how well we did on it. Then Levi says, “Here’s the truth of it: life is a timed test. We’re all living against a deadline. The Bible tells us that a moment is coming when God will say ‘Pencils down’ to each of us. ‘It is appointed for men to die once, but after this judgment.’ Hebrews 9:27.”
When God says “pencils down” to me, will I be scrambling to fill in a few more blanks or will I set my pencil down with confidence? What makes the difference? Will what I accomplish in this life matter if I have not fulfilled God’s purpose for my life? My journey has taken on a new sense of urgency. I am using a new-found filter to help me discern what really matters and what really does not. It’s helping me focus more on the eternal than the temporary.
Here is what I mean. The temporary is focusing on little irritations from those I love the most; the eternal is loving them unconditionally. The temporary is focusing on what I am comfortable with; the eternal is focusing on what is best for all God’s people regardless of color, social status, or political affiliation. The temporary is my selfishness; the eternal is God’s grace and mercy. The temporary is a vapor while the eternal remains in this life and the next.
You and I both still have our pencils in our hands. The question then is, what are we writing?
* “Take Back Your Life,” Levi Lusko, Thomas Nelson 2020.
Challenge:
What is the difference in your purpose for your life and God’s purpose for your life?
Are you taking the time to discern between what really matters and what does not?
Final Thought
What is one thing you can begin doing today that will make a difference when God says “Pencils down” to you?
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