Having Turned 65

It may be premature to write "having turned 65" when I haven't, and perhaps I won't. The only days guaranteed are the ones already lives, after all. But in the event I do turn 65, here are a few thoughts.

The chief thing is, make the most of each day because you don't know when one will be your last. I think of those who perished in either a shooting in the US or attack in Kenya or floods in Colorado or New Mexico or Mexico. How many expected to die when and how they did? And how many were ready to when the time came?

Moses wrote in Psalm 90, "Teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." He knew something about numbering days. After the revolts of the Israelites, God judged them and a whole generation perished in the wilderness. Not even Moses survived to enter the Promised Land--only Caleb and Joshua of the older generation had that privilege granted to them. (And if you don't think the Old Testament applies now, read 1 Corinthians 10:6-12.)

Take these passages to heart oh generation now living:

"So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir through Christ" (Galatians 3:4-7).

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

Think about this: because Christ kept the law perfectly, God can extend grace to us.

"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed'--for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for 'Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:9-13).

Aging gracefully and gratefully

"Aging gracefully"  seems to mean adapting to changes to our own bodies--or someone else's.
Aging gracefully is more than a physical thing for believers.
Aging gracefully means aging within the grace of God,
Holding fast to the Father with both hands--trust and obedience;
Holding fast to the Word in flesh and the word in print;
Holding fast to the Spirit who holds fast to us--our seal of present salvation and future glorification (Christ likeness).
Aging gratefully means facing the truth of His Word and embracing it:

Aging while Christian:

Psalm 92:12-15:
The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are in this tent we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Ye we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

When we fear God

When we fear God we
Tremble before His holiness
Are grateful for His sacrifice (which involved the Godhead),
Repent and obey and disobey and repent,
Revel in His Fatherhood once adopted into His eternal family,
Repent over and over again of sin for all sins are ultimately against Him,
Enjoy His forgiveness,
Experience His discipline,
Rest in His infinite unchangingness,
Bow before His throne in serve in worship and in praise to Christ.

At This Point

At this point in my life I reflect,
Attempt to connect
All I've known and done and planned,
Seeing in each God's sovereign hand.
Seeing not only sovereignty but good,
Grace and patience finally understood
As something more than theology and theory
But rest and strengthening when I grow weary.
At this point in my life taking stock,
I rejoice that on past present future God has a lock,
That my choices for good or sin,
Somehow will work so that we win,
That we persevere because of what He has done,
That whatever success I have is due to His Son,
That whatever failures I've experienced and will
God will gain glory to each yielding still,
So as I look ahead and back,
I know in God I'll have no lack
And so before Him bow
Worshipping in wonder even here and now.

A Little Matter of Eternity

One year we got many invitations to weddings, the next to baby showers. Those were occasions for joy. In the last four years, we have received more notices of deaths, including five in less than a month.

This got me thinking about a little matter of eternity. I'd guess that most don't give this much thought until or unless death touches their own family or that of close friends. Two years ago, I began to consider my mortality. I have since contemplated Psalm 90, 1 Corinthians 15, and 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10, as well as the passages below.

Not a Seven-Year Plan Now

Why that title? I set out the following two years ago; now it works out to a five-year plan. I picked seven years initially because I was 63 and predicated a seven-year plan on Psalm 90 (seventy years of life)

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

Philippians 2:12-13

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.


2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Galatians 6:9-10

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

2 Thessalonians 3:13

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

Body: improved heath to the extent possible

Soul: mind: supplement Scripture by reading better books and spending more time with those than on the computer; emotions: cultivate the fruit of the Spirit; will: do the three commitments above

Spirit: greater intimacy with the Holy Spirit at any cost

Eternity for the Believer

FOREVER will not be long enough
To worship Him
To know Him
To serve Him
To please Him
FOREVER will not be long enough
To walk with Him
To sit at His feet
To hear His voice
To do His will
FOREVER will not be long enough
To know Him fully
To worship Him rightly
FOREVER will not be long enough