As I was thinking, I determined to write it all down. I hope as you read this today that you will truly ponder these thoughts. I want to be very clear today in what I am writing about because I am saying them out loud as I write to you today.
I will be 73 in a few months. I was born in Tampa, FL, and grew up there and in Brandon. Throughout my life, I have observed what has and now is occurring in our nation. Like many of you, I lived through wars, and rumors of wars. There have been troublesome times and perilous moments. Yet, the country has found a way to stay together and work through what is happening.
However, the country in which I grew up and the communities that make it up have changed. Some much more than others but in all there has been change. Change that has been a little and change that has been a lot. Change is good but not all change is good or even necessary. Change for the sake of change is a fool's errand. The idea that there must be change and then identify it as progress is a fallacy. Holding onto the present or even going back will reestablish a firm foundation in which to go forward.
We are all going forward as we go through this life. I know I have and I have learned much. I have made mistakes and learned from them. I experienced successes and have cherished those moments and certainly wanted more. Certainly, there have been other times and regardless we all have experienced the ups and downs of life.
One of the things we will hear today is that we can either go forward or backward. These are political terms to impart a thought to conclude that going forward is good and going back is bad. Honestly, we all know that common sense says we need to at times go back and other times go forward. It is simply not an either-or because neither will meet the needs we have.
We are all familiar with the words we hear each day. Hearing them all our lives and if not careful they can start to mean something they were not intended to mean. This is what is known as rote memorization or learning. This idea has been around for many years and in different forms of use. Examples are Pavlov, Ebbinghaus, and even Aristotle regarding association to effect a thought. Today we are seeing this play out in ways that can and would change who we are as civilizations and the human race.
Definition, structure, and rules are critical to how civilization and the human race function and exist. Take for example who we are as a nation. If you would, please click on this 50 second Video
Now having heard that explained we know that we are a Constitutional republic. We are not and can never be a democracy. If we do, we perish as a nation. This is speaking to specifically our political structure.
So when you take this further then the following means more than it may have ever done before for some. We read the words of Jesus Himself in John 3:16-
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The word I want you to see here is the word perish. In the English language Merriman-Webster defines it as to become destroyed or ruined: cease to exist
In the Bible, the word meaning is that of separation, departure, cessation, completion, destroy, die, loss.
So Jesus says that existence continues however not in the same form as before. To perish is not annihilation which means the state or fact of being completely destroyed or obliterated as seen in Merriman-Webster. The person who dies without Jesus Christ as their Savior does so perishing for eternity.
There is a wonderful old hymn of the faith that says "when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus we’ll sing and shout the victory". This is a song and a promise for the saints and not the lost.
I don't know where you are in your spiritual life, but I hope you know Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you don't, I pray you will do whatever is necessary to find out more today. If I can help, send me your contact information to info@ElbertNasworthy.com
I will reach out to you and I will answer any question you have. I'll tell you what you need to do to accept Him today.
In God's Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
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