Iron Man Oikodome - "departure"

Dear Bros in Christ, Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Brothers in Christ, this monthly devotional is sent and meant to be an encouragement to all and to build up and edify in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oikodome means "Builder". The Lord has put this on my heart to send out a monthly Iron Man Oikodome {oy-kod-om-ay'} to build up and encourage the men who love and follow Jesus Christ in their walk with Him. Hebrews 3:13 "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." PRAYER REQUESTS: If you have any prayer requests please send them and I will send them out to the bros for prayer, if privacy is needed I will send in a discreet way. AUGUST 2009 “DEPARTURE” 2 Peter 1:10-12 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. The last thing we tend to ever think about is our departure date even as we are growing in Christ everyday knowing our ultimate goal is to be with Jesus. As we get older these departure thoughts come to the surface of our thinking more and more and in a more profound way and I am referring to departure for the moment as it relates to this side of our life in the human concept of life, but all that seems to fade away when we put it into perspective and realize even though we depart from this life and earth we will be supplied an entrance abundantly into the ever lasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ- so run to not only finish the race but to win the race too! Bro look for the entrance to be so lavishly or abundantly supplied we will think it is fit for a king and we are undeserving- well we are undeserving but perish the thought bro, the Lord is going to do just that for us in fact He has already done this for us when this time comes, the Word says “for so an entrance will be supplied” as in already done as believers and receivers of Christ Jesus and, because our election already took place before God formed the earth He chose us for Himself and that makes our call to be abiding in Him. Now back to these Departure thoughts as I was saying; when some of us were younger or for some you may be yet young, now the thoughts of death never entered our thoughts in a deep thinking way and if they do it is because someone else brought them up or there was a recent death in your family or circle of friends or the news maybe. But as I reflect back in my younger years I never looked at death as closely as I do now perhaps because I am on the furthest side of past middle age…. And there are more years to look back on than possibly there are in the future. This past couple years or so I have experienced more deaths of family, dear friends and church family than any other time of my life and you may be experiencing this too and that makes me look and think about Departure even more so. It seems like people are dying all around us some maybe unrepentantly or they never realized maybe that they should get right with God now, not later and that there is a place we all are going to after we leave this earth it will be heaven or hell no other way- there are no other choices- Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life and also that we don’t know the day or hour some will leave very un-expectantly and some it seems at a young age.

I think often of where I will be when the Lord calls me home; will I be taken in my sleep to never wake up or driving somewhere or some freak accident or will some disease take me home or will the Lord allow me to live to be some ripe old age…. Should you or I be taken home to the Lord where will He find us in that day? Will we be sharing the Gospel with some poor soul; will we be making a soul richer by introducing him to Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of all? Will we be too busy thinking of and doing what we think would make a great exit strategy for our Departure? That would sure keep us on our toes occupying our time trying to be doing the most desirable thing that would please the Lord Jesus Christ upon our Departure but, not knowing the day or the hour though… but always thinking man I hope the Lord takes me doing this or that, or will we be found in some compromising situation that sheds suspect on who we really are or who we are thought to be, you always hear folks say- I never knew that they were into that or had such a wild side or thought that they were capable of that, they just never seemed like the type to do that and the list goes on…. Training as a Chaplain a few years back- we spent a day with the Coroner and you would be amazed at the weird and perverted things some people have been doing when they departed this Earth. Where will you be in that day? That is a question we should ask ourselves frequently? This thought of Departure is entering into my thoughts a lot as of lately having lost so many dear ones that were family members or dear friends including a good friend’s dad and as you get older all the ones you love are family really. Some have been in their fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties; more than half of these I have known were in their fifties- now that gets your attention I know it did mine. That hit home like a grand slam and made me think and seek God more saying Lord I want to always be right with you in every way everyday. I don’t want a second to go by with any (sin no matter how small I might think it may be sin is sin in Gods eyes) un-repented sin; David set a good example for all of us trying to always have a heart that sought repentance, he shares this in Psalm 51. Lord I do not want to be doing things that are not above reproach and doing anything to not honor you. I do not want to walk away from or into an argument or situation where I have not reached out a hand to extend mercy, forgiveness, love or an opportunity to show humility to honor God. You might have an ongoing battle with a family member or neighbor or some altercation on the highway- where will you be if God takes you home in the middle of one of these Bros??? Stay close to the Lord always and especially just in case you get an early Departure Ticket, that way you will always be ready and it will be a short trip into His arms. In the 2nd Epistle chapter one verses 13,14 & 15 of Peter He talks about his Departure and says:” Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding [you], knowing that shortly I [must] put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.” He is leaving a written legacy as a reminder and he knew that his Departure would be forthcoming at some point. I believe also it is an important reminder from Peter as long as he is around he will be reminding them the believers as we too should be stirring one another up as a reminder and a legacy to our life following Christ Jesus and also the way we should look at our Departure not so much from the standpoint of when or how we will depart that does not matter, but we definitely want to be glorifying our Father in heaven at all timesleaving a godly legacy by stirring one another up in the things of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be above reproach in our lives so that we are prepared for our final Departure at any given moment, because we don’t know that time, but it is close and with that in mind just keep following Jesus closely- not from afar bros, we know what happened to Peter when he fell back little by little…

What is important is not where we will be physically but where is our heart spiritually located when we are called for Departure? It may be time to check the *1020 (*location) of your heart, there is an awesome manual you can do this with, it was written and created by the Creator of us all, so that we could get a correct reading on our hearts and minds in the things of God, take it from Him He knows everything! He wrote the book, our beloved Bible the Word of God Almighty. We do still wonder how it will happen, but what really matters is where we are going when we depart- into the arms of our loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Sure the most desired place for any of us is to be at during this final Departure is serving the Lord when that day or hour does come, we want to be working for and rightly loving our Heavenly Father, taking care of His business. Whatever unfinished business we leave on this earth the Lord will take care of that for us. He will mend the hearts and comfort the broken hearts of those left behind He is the only One that can do that. He created each and everyone of us and knows us intimately and knowing that I can’t think of anyone better suited to leave the details to than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He alone will make the final Departure time and date, just be ready in case He calls you when you are least expected. Place your trust and hope in Him alone. Sometimes it can be sad thoughts on this side of death- but in the twinkling of an eye the other side might be something like- this, imagine seeing and being with the Lord Jesus Christ as He hugs you and wraps His loving arms around you & pulls you in real close to Him and tells you “See I said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” and I meant what I said. Welcome home son or daughter! Well done my good and faithful servant I love you! The love He has for us seems inexpressible in our thinking realm because of our limited capacity but thank you Lord Jesus for Your unlimited capacity of love for us and towards us. I guess the best way for us to understand the capacity or gift of the love He has for us is to reflect upon what the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross for you and me, He died for us shedding His blood to cleanse us from all our sins, serving our needs rather than His own, meeting our needs though His Departure from earth was only temporary as our stay on earth is temporary He rose from His Departure and came back again and then departed to live eternally forever in eternity and in our hearts. He departed after taking our place on the cross to be resurrected and lives forever, just as we will someday live forever with Him- that is love bros, we have that love, that hope, that promise and even then it is more than we can fully and totally comprehend, but we can see the depth of the never ending love He has for us in this offering of love by our Savior Jesus Christ. No matter how close our departure day or hour is on this earth we know the love that is waiting for us to receive us and that truly will be something to behold and totally beyond our comprehension and imagination or in our wildest dreams we cannot conceive what He has in store for us, when he calls us home it will be the sweetest call and as we are following Him we will be in the perfect position to answer that call and it will be the most perfect thing we could ever imagine, can you imagine it bro! 2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Corinthians 5;1-8 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed,

having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So [we are] always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Our Departure is our final act on this earth following Jesus Christ but our first act arriving in His presence for eternity in the twinkling of an eye bro, amen! In His love, Daniel Wright Iron Man Oikodome Proverbs 27:17 To have your email address removed from future mailings please reply to [email protected] and type "PLEASE REMOVE" in the subject box, thank you and God bless you!