SESSION NOTES:

We had a great workout. We did battle ropes, leg work, and did a trail run. Two new members came out, I am so grateful for that. Even more so that my words of faith at the end had personal meaning for them. That makes everything worth it. Its why I do this.

Word of the Day (WOD):

Eternal

I was fortunate that I was never one of the spiritually dead of this world. That said, I always had one foot in the door of God’s will and the other foot in this world. In short, I served two masters. You can’t do that. Trust me on that one.

Sooner or later one of those masters in going to come calling. It was almost the devil, but God stepped into my life in a monumental way and saved me from a life that would have only ended in bitterness, disappointment and maybe even eternal damnation.

In my opinion I think it’s actually much worse to serve two masters than to be one of the spiritually dead.

That said, I often wonder why so many people remain dead to the spirit of God within them.

I think that’s because God is a bigger story than most people can imagine. Its so big for most, they cannot realize it, and how hard it must be to believe in the possibility that God could step into human history, into our story through His son Jesus Christ.

To actually take on flesh and blood and become human. That’s a lot to believe.

If I could pinpoint the source of all this, I’d say it’s because we are temporal beings living in a temporary world trying to grasp the eternal.

Andy Warhol, the pop icon of the 1960’s once said, “I’ve got these desperate feelings that nothing means anything.”

Its those feelings of emptiness & desperation – that that nothing really means anything & everything we’re doing in this life is probably just a waste of time.

Its amazing actually that he said that, because here you have this guy who’s attained everything in life imaginable. The fame, wealth, recognition, etc. that all of us want

And yet he has this desperate feeling that none of this means anything – at all.

I think we’ve all felt like that. Felt as if you’re just trying to find something that matters. Something of significance. Something that gives you meaning.

The thing is, it doesn’t matter whether its fame, more fame, wealth, more wealth, or power, or more power – no matter how much you have it always somehow leaves you empty.

The trap here is we see ourselves as temporary beings. Even many Christians fall into this because
the temporary nature of this world gives us this momentary meaning of everything. And what we desperately want, what we strive so hard for is something that we can touch and see and feel and taste.

We’re so satisfied with temporary things. We dream of them. They are our life goals. The reason we get up out of bed each day and work so hard.

Dreaming of owning mansions, travelling the world, private jets, fabulous cocktail parties. We feel so satisfied by these things.

Even the things that are not supposed to be temporary, like love we move on from. From relationship to relationship to relationship – we’re never fulfilled, but we’re so satisfied.

We really do see ourselves as temporary beings. And how can you believe in a forever love if you’re just a temporary being? I’ve been there and have some broken dreams to prove it.

Its just human nature, to do everything we can to distract us from the harsh reality that everything in this world has an expiration date including us. But there’s always the next new temporary experience waiting for us tomorrow, and the next day and the next, on and on and on – filling us for the moment before it evaporates like a drop of water in the eternal sunlight of our souls, leaving the same old barren, empty landscape within us. When Jesus spoke of springs of living water flowing from within us, this is what He’s talking about. (thank you Holy Spirit for those words)

But why do we keep looking for the eternal in the temporary?

it’s like a shell game and every time you pick a shell there’s nothing underneath. Then another shell – nothing. And another shell – nothing. And another…

It’s because we’re looking everywhere except where it is.

If that sounds really oversimplified – it’s not.

I love this point from Pastor Erwin McManus, its very fitting – Did you ever wonder why Jesus made declaration, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He did it to let us know that when we find ourselves abandoned and so empty that he understands exactly where we are..

Solomon felt with way too at the end of his life. If you study Solomon you know he wrote 3 books, roughly in chronological order with his life. Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.

At the end of his life, despite his Kingdom & all his wealth, 700 wives, and 300 concubines, he begins the book of Ecclesiastes with:

“The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”

Thats pretty powerful. In a sense Solomon felt just like Andy Warhol. Maybe we could all take a lesson from that.

So where is it then? Where are we looking but just can’t find it.

Where God placed it – within you

He placed the eternal within us, but somehow we’ve lost it. And that longing that craving that
frustrating never-ending desire to find a reason to be alive – that’s your soul saying you were born for the eternal but all you’re feeding it is the temporary pleasures of this world.

God didn’t send Jesus into this world to give you principles to be a better human being, he didn’t come to upgrade your status life, he didn’t come to make life a little easier –

He came to convince you that what you think is life is just existence at best.

And when you invite God into your life, when you enter into relationship with God, he doesn’t just make you better – He makes you alive.

He’s trying to convince us that we’re not just temporary creatures with an expiration date, but we
are eternal creatures created in his image & likeness. That’s huge. But its so hard for God to convince us of this.

We were created by God for love, created for hope, created for laughter and joy, created to enjoy the beauty and wonder of this world (His creation).

This is controversial, but I am convinced now that stress & anxiety and depression and fear & despair in life is your soul’s longing for the eternal that’s lost within you. I lived my entire life with depression & anxiety and nothing I ever did could fill the emptiness & despair that crippled my life. It cost me everything, relationships, jobs, the people I loved most.

When I was saved, it didn’t happen immediately, but gradually over time as my eyes were opened to the eternal truths of the Lord, depression & anxiety faded, and now a little less than a year later I do not suffer from these anymore. I thank God every day for that. I have such an unbelievable feeling of fulfillment in my life, in my soul. I can’t put it in words really.

Jesus died on the cross & rose from the dead, so that two thousand years later we could know this truth.

If you’re looking for that which is lost, that eternal, that fulfillment, that peace – I promise you, the path will start with one simple declaration:

“Jesus, I give you my life.”

When you say those words, you’re choosing to cross that line of faith, to go from darkness into light from spiritually dead to etnerally alive.

You’ll find a brand-new life, and one that for the first time in your life will feel like you are living a life that matters.