Book Review for “All Things Different” -Fiction

51b5+iGuwoL[1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008F1RKMW?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008F1RKMW&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

I so enjoyed “All Things Different”. A great emotional ride about relationships, good and bad, loyalty, family and love. This isn’t an easy weekend read, you’d miss most of the undercurrents. The story is told through the eyes of a high school boy. Not a lot of dialogue, but lots of insight on peoples feelings and thoughts. You need to read this one with some Kleenex close by. I give it 5 stars and will be checking out more books by Shawn Underhill.
Still free on Amazon Kindle version.

The Dead Do Not Inherit

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An inheritance is for the living. When you go to hear the reading of the last will and testament of a person who has passed on, the room is not full of corpses. Instead it is full of the living relatives, and beneficiaries of the deceased.
God says that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ, (Romans 8:17). He also says that we are seated in Heaven with Christ, (Ephesians 2:6). God gave Adam everything. Adam gave it over to Satan. Jesus took it back on the cross and went to hell to even get the keys to Satan’s eternal home. At Jesus’ death on the cross-we inherited everything from Him. At His death, a New Testament came into being. We inherited the Kingdom of Heaven, as well as all things on this earth. We don’t have to wait until we die to have Heaven. Heaven isn’t just a place. It’s a Kingdom. Jesus is the King, and we are His royal family. Heaven is ours, now! Salvation and everything that comes with it, is our now, isn’t waiting for us to die. Only the living receive an inheritance.
Jesus didn’t die to bring us to Heaven. If that was His only purpose, we’d be there now. Jesus came to bring Heaven to us, here on earth. His Kingdom needs to be enlarged. That can only happen if we stand in our rightful places as sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have to accept the inheritance, use it, and do what God asks us to do-love Him with all our hearts, and to seek and save the lost. It’s not just for our benefit. We are to heal the sick, raise the dead and set the captives free. That’s our job. We can sit around a pray about it, (and prayer is wonderful!), but God wants us to act on our faith. We are Royalty with authority.
No longer say, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” You were a sinner, and you were saved by grace. But if you have accepted Jesus and his finished work on the cross, you aren’t a sinner any longer. Sin is the nature of another kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. It’s no longer our nature. We have the nature of the King and the Kingdom that we submit ourselves under. God has made us brand new creatures, our old nature is dead, all things are new.
So what’s allowed in heaven? Is guilt, condemnation? Of course not. Then you can’t be guilty or condemned. You are seated in Heaven with Christ. He took our guilt. It’s gone! Now only one is judged, and that is Satan. He is judged guilty. His attacks against born again children of God is unlawful. Jesus followed all the legalities in getting our inheritance for us. Satan can find nothing in us to accuse us of to The Father. The Father only see’s us as righteous. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, yes, so that we can turn back to God, but He also convinces us of righteousness. He constantly reminds us of who God is and who we are in Christ. Jesus redeemed us from the curse and reconciled us back to right standing with The Father.
Does that mean we never sin? No-but if our hearts are given over to a New King, He is quick to forgive and chooses to forget. He doesn’t hold it against us. If we aren’t guilty is that the “ok” to sin. Paul says, “God forbid,” to that. All things are lawful, but all things are not beneficial. The closer we get to Him, the less we will sin. You’ll see that things that once tempted us will no longer pull us away from God. Don’t let Satan, the world, or even your own flesh tell you who you are or what to feel. Only God sees us for who we truly are. He says you are accepted in the beloved. He calls you blessed. He has called us sons and daughters. You aren’t who you once were. God didn’t scrub us clean-He made us brand new. He didn’t remodel or remake, He built you brand new from the foundation to the attic and filled you with good things!

Keep Walking

Luke 13:31-34 “The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk to day, and tomorrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”
The Pharisees had been trying to trap Him into saying something they could call Him on. They had just berated Him for healing a woman on the Sabbath, and now they are “warning” Him not to go into Jerusalem, saying that Herod would kill Him. (They didn’t want Him there, too many people to see His undeniable proofs of who He was). But it was Jesus’ response that pierced my heart today. “Tell that fox, I am working at my Father’s business! And I will be perfected.” Perfected sounds great right! He is talking about His death. Then He goes on to say, “I have to go to Jerusalem because prophets don’t die outside of that great city, and I am not there yet, so I will walk, and walk and just keep walking until I get to the cross.” Is He bitter? No, He cries out for Jerusalem in His love. They have spurned His love. What is He thinking about on the way to the city that will cry out for His blood. He is thinking of His End and His Love, and how in death He will be Perfected! He intends to keep working and walking until He arrives. Until He can say, “It is finished!” So when we are feeling overwhelmed, beat up, beat down. When we feel like giving up, or the end is just too far away, or maybe not what we had planned. What do we do? We work and we walk. Cast out devils, cure the sick, do what God has called you to do. Keep on the path! God knows the end. In the end, (if we keep working and walking) is PERFECTION!