2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Here Peter is comparing new converts, in their spiritual lives, to new infants. I’m not sure how it is with infants in regard to their feeding practice. I assume that they naturally long for milk from their mother. But maybe not. Maybe they have to be coaxed or enticed to taste of the sweet milk. And the more they suck and taste, the more they long for it. Since it seems to be an imperative that a new believer long for the word, it may be that it is not a natural thing. We must develop a taste for it and discover His kindness—so that we may long for it and then “grow in respect to salvation.” That is, that we learn all about our salvation and grow into its fullness.
There is no better way to keep our focus on heaven than to read and meditate on heaven from Scripture. Here are a few good passages I picked out, followed by my commentary.
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
If we maintain a pure life now we will see God though our faith “in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). And we will also see Him in His full glory in heaven.
John 14:1-4
Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
We ought not to be troubled with our various problems in this life. If we believe in God and in His Son, we know that He (Christ) is preparing a wonderful place for us in the Father’s house in heaven. And He will very soon come to take us there.
Philippians 3:20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory…
Because He has made us citizens of heaven we are eagerly waiting for Him to take us to heaven and to change our earthly bodies into bodies of glory just like His own.
Colossians 3:1-3
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
If we are believers in Christ and have our citizenship in heaven, we are not to be bogged down and worried over things of this world. Instead, we are to keep thinking about and have our mind set on heavenly things (things that matter to God). For our old life is gone and our new life is now in Christ. He will protect us from all our spiritual enemies that are always out to destroy us.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Here is probably the best, or most descriptive, passage on the Rapture of the church. It tells us plainly that when the Lord comes to take us to heaven, He will first take up (and transform) those believers who had died. I believe this includes the Old Testament as well as the New Testament believers, for they all died in Christ. Then, after the dead are risen, all those who are alive will be taken up (and transformed) with the first group; and they all will meet the Lord “in the air.” We don’t know exactly where in the air they will be, but from that point they will all be transported to heaven to the Father’s house. Now we don’t know where we will be when He comes, but we can be sure of this: we will either be one of the dead ones that are raised, or one of the living ones who are raptured alive. I hope that comforts you.
Hebrews 11:13-16
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
NIV
The people of faith spoken of in Hebrews 11 did not receive the promise of heaven before they died, but all their lives they remained strong in faith. For they were always looking for a better county than they left. They longed for the promised heavenly country that they knew God was preparing for them. If we want to remain faithful to God until the end, we must also as these did regard ourselves as strangers on earth—not really belonging to this world, rather having our citizenship in heaven.
First, I will define what I mean byThe Evil Powers. Chiefly, it is Satan, the devil. Under him it is all the demons—the evil fallen angels. Then under them it is the evil people that follow and are controlled by Satan. They call themselves the “elite.” Most of them are billionaires. And they are always pushing for more money and more power. They are that group that is calling for the “Great Reset,” which will ultimately develop into world control by one leader.
Also, the reason why my title is on “America” instead of the world is because America is now the focus. And that is because they (the evil powers) reason that in order to control the world they will have to reduce the power of all nations; and that means that America will have to be knocked down a few notches—reduced in power and influence, until they are ready to be controlled.
Now here is what inspired me to write this post. I have been seeing so much evidence lately of things happening that would suggest that evil powers are at work to destroy our freedoms and our strength as Americans. Here are a few.
All things related to Covid-19
Oh, The Evil Powers were all over this. And if they didn’t cause Covid-19, they certainly knew how to use it to their advantage. We have seen how Dr. Fauci and others have set the Covid rules and put us all under a cloud of fear. And most of our governors have fell right in line with it, some telling us that mask wearing will be a permanent thing. And many are using their position of power to close small businesses—while the large businesses are allowed to remain open. And the most tragic thing is that churches have been forced to restrict the size of their congregation; and some have had to close.
The thing that bothers me most is how the media keeps advertising all the Covid deaths every day on TV. This is all for a purpose: to keep us under a cloud of fear, and to condition us to be controlled, so that we will be more and more submissive—submissive to a future dictator!
The Chauvin trial
I constantly ask myself the question: why is this so news worthy? It is always on the front page of the newspaper. And now the trial is on every major TV channel. Ironically, I don’t think that most people are that interested in watching it. Most people are sick of it. So why is it advertised so much? It is because The Evil Powers want it on. They are pushing it. They want Americans to watch it. Why? Because they know that it is inspiring racism and a hatred for the police—which will ultimately break down America’s power structure and morality.
Books
Americans have always been readers of books. And the Evil Powers know that. I like to browse the book stores in search of books I would like to read. And I have been noticing lately that many of the good books of truth are disappearing off the shelves and are being replaced by books that are lying to us.
Let me give you one example of this. Just a few months ago during the Trump administration I would see so many good, truthful books about the good side of Donald Trump and also books on the “Hoax.” Now all that is reversed. You will see almost none of those books, but instead the shelves are packed with books telling lies about Trump and also so many books on the Obama’s and the smiling Harris. So, you get the point. And it is interesting that whenever you see an Obama book or a Harris book or a _____ book on the shelves, it’s not just one or two of them. The book stores will put out a dozen or more. Why? Do they think the public really wants to read that book that much? Well, it is my guess that they put out the books they want you to read, not because they think you are interested in reading them. Conversely, they are removing the books they don’t want you to read—the books that are true.
But the book store people—the owners and the managers—are controlled by The Evil Powers. And they control what books they want you to read. And don’t you know that they don’t want you to know the truth. They want you to believe a lie. They want to deceive you and control you. And one of the best ways to do it is through what you read.
Be on your guard Americans.Look and see what is happening. Be on your guard against what is false and what is true. And the best book to read for truth is the Bible. Don’t let the devil fool you. Be filled with the Spirit—He is the Spirit of Truth.
As I sped down the hill on my new black Schwinn bicycle, a new assurance gave me an overwhelming joy. I was saved and I had a place reserved for me in heaven. This new assurance had come to me a few months prior, at a church camp, when my camp counselor explained to me from the bible how I could be saved. And then I knelt down beside him in his cabin, and prayed that Jesus would come into my life and take control of my life. Instantly, after my prayer, I received a new peace, that after I die, I would go straight to heaven. From that point on my life was changed, not because of anything external or because of changed circumstances, but because I had a changed heart due to a new life inside of me. I had Jesus in me and He had given me a new peace, a new assurance, and a new attitude about life. I felt new and clean inside. In reality, at age twelve, I really did have a new life!
We had recently moved from our Montevideo farm to a house in the city of Montevideo. I don’t remember anything about the move, or about the house we moved into, but I do have a few memories—besides my salvation experience at camp.
One of my clear memories was when I was on the wresting team in 7th grade. I always thought I was a good wrestler, since I always beat my brother. But I found out different. Either I was really bad, or the guys I wrestled were really good—probably a little of both. Anyway, I had a rude awakening.
Another clear memory was of the city swimming pool, which was only a few blocks from our house. It only cost 10 cents, and for that one dime you could swim there all day if you wanted. And some days I did just that. It was so much fun. There were two slides and also two diving boards—a lower one and a high one. The high dive was scary, but I did try it a couple times. It was in that pool that I learned how to swim. Mom insisted that we take swimming lessons, and we all did.
One other good memory of that place in Montevideo, was playing baseball with all the neighbor kids in a nearby park. I remember how easy it was to get a game together. We just walked, or ran, down the streets and yelled out something like, “Who wants to play baseball?” We seemed to always get enough kids to play. We played for hours at a time. And now that I think of it, we also played football. That was a little rougher, but I loved it. Those were the days!
Stephen Nielsen 