The Future has Arrived

 

           

A new decade is here! It’s difficult for me to believe the year 2010 has arrived. Speaking of the future having arrived, does anyone remember the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey? It was released in 1968 and the year 2001 seemed such a long distance into the future. 2001 has since come and gone.

The movie, 2010, was released in 1984. Now, thirty-six years later we are here! Time marches on whether we want it to or not, doesn’t it?

The Bible tells us to be ready for the future, but the future we need to be ready for is with God. The apostle Peter wrote these words: „In view of the fact that all these things are to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be? Surely men of good and holy character, who live expecting and earnestly longing for the coming of the day of God. True, this day will mean that the heavens will disappear in fire and the elements disintegrate in fearful heat, but our hopes are set not on these but on the new Heaven and the new earth which He has promised us, and in which nothing but good shall live. Because, my dear friends, you have a hope like this before you, I urge you to make certain that such a day would find you at peace with God and man, clean and blameless in His sight. Meanwhile, consider that GodÊs patience is meant to be manÊs salvation, as our dear brother Paul pointed out in his letter to you, written out of the wisdom God gave him. In that letter, as indeed in all his letters, he referred to these matters. There are, of course, some things which are difficult to understand, and which, unhappily, ill-informed and unbalanced people distort (as they do the other scriptures), and bring disaster on their own heads. But you, my friends whom I love, are forewarned, and should therefore be very careful not to be carried away by the errors of wicked men and so lose your proper foothold. On the contrary, you should grow in grace and in your knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ·to Him be glory now and until the dawning of the day of eternity!‰ 2 Peter 3:11-17 (Phillips NT)

In the meantime, until Jesus does return, we continue to live here on earth. So for 2010, the "future," here are a few suggestions that could possibly help us live a more fulfilled life.

Life:

1. Make more time to pray. This is your connection to God.

2. Remember that God is the Healer of body, mind, and spirit; doctors can only treat.

3. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God for it!

4. Do the right thing!

5. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

6. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful.

7. Smile and laugh more.

8. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

9. Forgive others as God has forgiven you.

Personality:

1. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

2. Stop trying to control things that you have no control over anyway—a waste of energy!

3. Don’t overdo. Know your limits and set your boundaries.

4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.

6. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

7. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone—don’t hate others!

8. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That can ruin your present happiness.

9. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

10. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.

　

11. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

Society:

1. Call your family often.

2. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay in touch.

3. What other people think of you is none of your business.

4. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

5. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

6. Each day do something good for someone else.

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants; eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

3. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

4. Live with the three E’s—energy, enthusiasm and empathy.

5. Play more games.

6. Read more books than you did last year.

7. Sit in silence for at least ten minutes each day.

8. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. While you walk, smile.

9. Sleep for seven hours.

FROM MY HEART TO YOURS

Whether it’s the present or the future, God’s love needs to be our compass. Commit His words to your heart: „Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Three things will last forever·faith, hope, and love·and the greatest of these is love.‰ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 (NLT)