PART 1

“Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust,
Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
Yet man is born unto trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.”

Job 5:6-7


THE MEANING OF OUR EXISTENCE IN THE WORLD

Why does mankind suffer? Why did God make us so weak and fragile? Why did God allow us to be placed in such seemingly hopeless circumstances?

God wants to teach us a simple lesson, a lesson that will stay with us throughout eternity. We only have a very short time to learn the lesson.

THE VOICE SAID, CRY. AND HE SAID, WHAT SHALL I CRY? ALL FLESH IS GRASS, AND ALL THE GOODLINESS THEREOF IS AS THE FLOWER OF THE FIELD:
THE GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER FADETH: BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD BLOWETH UPON IT: SURELY THE PEOPLE IS GRASS.
ISAIAH 40:6-7

I remember when my dad turned eighty years old. I asked him if he had ever thought that he would reach eighty years old when he was a boy. He answered me saying, “It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was fifteen years old.”

I replied, “It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was fifteen years old either.” At the time, I was over forty years old, half an average person’s life span was over, and it was then that I realized just how fast time was passing me by. It was then that I realized how fleeting my life was and if we ask any older person, time seems to go faster and faster the older we get. I realized then that someday, if God blessed me, I would live to be an old man breathing my last breath, and while looking back over a very long life, all my time on earth would only have been a blink of an eye.

If we fail to learn one lesson, we will be forever lost and separated from God. However, if we learn this one lesson, we will be joined with God forever, and we will have all eternity before us!

I am not going to keep you in suspense. The one lesson we must learn before we die is this:

GOD LOVES US … AND HIS “WORD” WAS, IS, AND FOREVER WILL BE, ABSOLUTELY RELIABLE!

THE GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER FADETH: BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOR EVER.
ISAIAH 40:8

We suffer hurt because we have left the protection of God’s everlasting arms. The reason for all the suffering in the world is mankind’s unbelief, or lack of trust, in God and His Word. It would appear that any child could learn this lesson: THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOREVER; however, it is the most difficult lesson in the world to learn. The whole purpose of this book is to show you how to learn this one lesson or how to walk in the spirit.

My hope and desire is that by the end of this book, you will begin travelling on a journey of excitement and wonder and faith, and by the end of your journey, you will be radically transformed into the very image of Jesus Christ, who is in Himself, the express image of God the Father. See 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Hebrews 1:3. You will learn how to agree with God, and you will learn how to walk with God.

Many modern day Christians tend to believe that after a person accepts Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior, the battle is over. They are right in one respect. Our battle against God is over! Once we confess the LORD Jesus as our Savior, we have passed the biggest hurdle in our relationship with God. We are no longer in outright rebellion and battle against God. We have seen the light. God has delivered us from the bondage of our enemy the devil. It is the first step on our journey to the land of promise, and like the old Chinese proverb states:

Every journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

However, even though we are no longer in outright rebellion against God, we are involved in a battle, and we still have a long journey ahead of us. We have simply switched sides and directions. We now have acquired an evil adversary and our war is with our flesh and against the Devil. The Devil will stop at nothing to prevent us from reaching our ultimate destination.

There are literally armies of angels and devils battling over every soul. We have taken the first step on our journey, and we have a long road ahead of us, we have a specific destination. Like the children of Israel, who fled Egypt, escaping bondage is not the end of the journey, it is just the beginning. We still must reach the Promised Land. Listen to Moses’ description of the Promised Land:

AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN THE LORD THY GOD SHALL HAVE BROUGHT THEE INTO THE LAND WHICH HE SWARE UNTO THY FATHERS, TO ABRAHAM, TO ISAAC, AND TO JACOB, TO GIVE THEE GREAT AND GOODLY CITIES, WHICH THOU BUILDEST NOT,
AND HOUSES FULL OF ALL GOOD THINGS, WHICH THOU FILLEDST NOT, AND WELLS DIGGED, WHICH THOU DIGGEDST NOT, VINEYARDS AND OLIVE TREES, WHICH THOU PLANTEST NOT; WHICH THOU SHALL HAVE EATEN AND BE FULL;
DEUTERONOMY 6:10-11

If our own salvation was the end of our journey, I expect once we publically declared that Jesus Christ is our LORD, and we believe that God has raised Him from the dead, a fiery chariot would come sweep us away and take us to heaven. However, we know that is not how it works. After we are saved, God expects us to bear fruit, not of our own works, but by trusting in His Word and relying totally on the life generating work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The destination for all believers is a place of perfect peace, perfect rest, and perfect trust in God.