Great things and more in store.

The Problem

What is your view of heaven? We live is a generation where the youth do not know where the church is coming from and if we don’t know our history then we will not know our destiny. Muganda

Barry Gane in his book Building Youth Ministry: A Foundational Guide; proposed that, “there is still a crisis over identity, the lack of a sense of belonging. They [the youth] search for meaning through secularism, materialism, and Humanism. I personally think that it is not just a youth problem. We all from time to time look through the wrong lenses to find our true identity and we often reflect the wrong image because we are all mirroring the world. A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home. Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them in the Father’s house. Those who accept the teachings of God’s word will not be wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode.… Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise of God.

Ellen Gould White, The Adventist Home (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1952), 541–542.

Here we are at the end of another year, where is our focus, on what have we fixed our gaze. I have noticed that is possible to be so focused on something that we do not see what else is going on around us. Short shortsightedness is a problem. We seem to be nearsighted we are not able to look past what is presently facing us. As a philosophy, secularism seeks to interpret life on principles taken solely from the material world, without recourse to religion. It shifts the focus from religion towards "temporal" and material concerns. we are seeing through the wrong lenses and what’s the big deal with Covid19 is it that we are surprized almost 6000 years ago the prophet of the Lord wrote, Deuteronomy 28:58-62. The world want to put God on the shelve the world see what they want to see but we really can’t see, we are fixated, the world is shortsighted.

Not only is the world secular in its thinking it is materialistic, and humanistic philosophy is the order of the day. The unfortunate thing is, that these philosophies have infiltrated the church some way or the other; cause the church to not be able to see well. We are seeing through the wrong lenses, and this where we find ourselves in the text. 9 But as it is written:

i“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Co 2:9.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: Be Wise about … the Christian Message (1 Corinthians 2)

This verse is often used at funerals and applied to heaven, but the basic application is to the Christian’s life today. The next verse makes it clear that God is revealing these things to us here and now

There were problems in the Corinthian church, First Corinthians is the New Testament’s “problem epistle.” In it Paul deals with a series of problems that existed in that young church, introducing each new issue with the phrase, peri dei, translated in our versions as “Now concerning,” or simply, “Now.…”

The problems sound like a catalog of problems experienced by local churches today:

• Division in the church (1–4).

• Discipline (5–6).

• Marriage and divorce (7).

• Doctrinal disputes (8–10).

• Misunderstanding of spiritual (charismatic) gifts (12–14).

The Teacher’s Commentary 129: 1 Cor. 1–4—A United Church Family

In addition, the letter touches on the role of women, the importance of the Lord’s Supper, and on the centrality of the Resurrection in Christian teaching.

Lawrence O. Richards, The Teacher’s Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987), 839.

The Solution

You see the carnal mind in not able to discern spiritual things because it is worldly and secular and Humanistic. to the carnal mind the gospel of the kingdom is foolishness. 1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but the letter was addressed to the Corinthian church. Is it that the church was carnal? yes it was. It may be the same today. Wise/wisdom. In 1 Corinthians 1–4 “wisdom” (Greek, sophia) is the perspective from which a person deals with the issues of life. Humans are “foolish” when they fail to realize that their notions must be subjected to divine evaluation. Only when a person abandons what seems wise by human standards to accept without hesitation the divine viewpoint as revealed in Scripture can he or she be truly wise.

Paul uses Isaiah 64:4 to assert that people cannot understand the things of God through human faculties (compare Isa 52:15; 65:17); they must rely on the Spirit graciously given to believers by God (1 Cor 2:10).for those who love him Emphasizes that God grants insight regarding His work to those who follow Him and do His will.

John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), 1 Co 2:9.

Lawrence O. Richards, The Teacher’s Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987), 839.

That’s the solution we need the Holy Spirit in our lives. The work of redemption involves consequences of which it is difficult for man to have any conception. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. As the sinner, drawn by the power of Christ, approaches the uplifted cross, and prostrates himself before it, there is a new creation. A new heart is given him. He becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. God Himself is “the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:26. And “whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Romans 8:30. Great as is the shame and degradation through sin, even greater will be the honor and exaltation through redeeming love. To human beings striving for conformity to the divine image there is imparted an outlay of heaven’s treasure, an excellency of power, that will place them higher than even the angels who have never fallen.

“Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, … Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose thee.” Isaiah 49:7.

“For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Ellen Gould White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1900), 162–163.

The Transformation

Here we are given an opportunity to draw near to God through prayer and study of His word. you see the eyes that don’t see are the eyes that don’t look to Jesus the song writer says turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. The ears that don’t hear are the ones that Jesus describes as children in a market place. Luk 7:32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

The things the that God has prepared for those that love Him does not enter the hardened heart.

What’s your decision today?

the Christian? surrender you gift to God so that he can use you in the new year. Put aside differences and malice and arrogance, surrender your heart today.

What’s your decision today?

the secular man or woman? You need the Lord material things can’t help worldly wisdom fails to give you peace. Jesus is the Prince of peace and He says come, Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.