had been reading the book daryl gave to me.
it speaks into my heart.

The glory of God is man fully alive -- SAINT IRENAEUS

as we know that God's offer to us is life, eternal life.
when we hear the words eternal life,
most of us tend to interpret that as "a life that waits for us in eternity."
But eternal means "unending, "
not "later."
the Scriptures use the term to mean we can never lose it.
It's a life that can't be taken from us.
the offer is life, and that life starts now.
i used to think eternal life means after die go heaven.
but it's more than that.

we ourselves had no idea that we were born into a world a war,
a great battle involving all the forces of heaven and hell and played out here on earth.
we won't understand life,
unti we come to terms with war as the context of out days.
we tend to misinterpret 90% of what's happening around us and to us.
it becomes very difficult for us to believe that God's intention toward us are life abundant.
it may even be worse when we begin accepting some awful things about God.
car accident - "God's will"?
broken family - desired by God?
questions begin popping out in our minds.
Where is this abundant life that Christ supposedly promised?
Where is God when we need him most?
we start to doubt our place and come to question God's intentions toward us,
and we lose track of the most important things in life.

before he promised us life,
Jesus warned us that a thief would try to steal, kill and destroy.
God intends life for us,
but right now that life is being opposed by a thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy.
yes,
the offer is indeed life,
but we're going to have to fight for it as there's an enenmy in our life with a different agenda.
this is the war that the world is having.
but why don't some of us see it?
if there's glory to our life,
why don't we see that?
why do we struggle so much,
and where is that life God offers?
the reason we don't see clearly because we don't see with the eyes of our heart.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16 - 18)

i asked myself questions,
is there really eternal life?
i doubt.
yes,
i doubt.
this show my faith is not strong,
it's shaky.
i look through the promises God gave us in the bible.
i wanna believe them,
and build up my faith too.