A Good Life: Here and Now!
Written By Dale Ebel
www.daleebel.org
Biblical responses are welcomed 😀
God desires us to live a fulfilling life!
[Deuteronomy 5:32-33 AMP] 32 “Therefore you shall pay attention and be careful to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left [deviating from My commandments]. 33 “You shall walk [that is, live each and every day] in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you will possess.”
According to the end of verse 33, God wants life to go well for us. I would not be surprised if, when we come into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, He asks us to give an account of every legitimate pleasure which we could have experienced but chose not to.
[1 Timothy 6:17 NIV] 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put
their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
I believe a joy-filled Christian person glorifies God, which, according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is the chief end of man: “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!” This principle emphasizes that humans exist to praise, know, obey, and honor the God of the Bible, with true joy found in finding satisfaction in Him and His teachings. It unites duty and pleasure, suggesting that God is most glorified in humanity when we are most satisfied in Him because we obey Him.
[Zephaniah 3:17 AMP] 17 “The LORD your God is in your midst, A Warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins], He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”
Oh, my friends!
Stop now and verbally, out loud, praise Him, rejoice in Him, celebrate His goodness extended over you!!!
After my extensive study of the Torah in the last five years, I would emphasize that when we obey and adhere to God’s laws, we will live a productive, enriching, and fulfilling life. The chief end of man is to glorify God, but the most potent way to reveal and reflect (glorify) the Lord God’s character and attributes is through our righteous behaviors that are based on the ALL of the Word of God. This brings satisfaction, contentment, and gratification into one’s life and gives high esteem to Yahweh God! Therefore, we become catalysts to reveal who God is and, hopefully, contagious to people who choose to follow Christ.
[Acts 13:47-48 NIV] 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
In many ways, we are living in a culture of fear and pessimism, while the Pentateuch talks about the opposite outlook on life. God teaches us how to make our earthly lives, societies, and yes, even nations, better in every way, both personally and collectively. In fact, its focus is primarily the here and now!
[Deuteronomy 30:9 NIV] 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as He delighted in your ancestors.
Dispensational Theology
Dispensational theology is a system of biblical interpretation that divides history into distinct administrations periods (eras) called dispensations where God related to humanity in specific ways. Key tenets include a literal interpretation of prophecy, a clear distinction between Israel and the Church, and a premillennial (before the thousand year reign of Christ on earth) view of the end times.
While variations exist, classical dispensationalism often identifies seven distinct ages—Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Promise, Law, Grace (the Church Age), and the Millennial Kingdom.
Essentially I adhere to Dispensational Theology. However, the Church Age which emphasizes Grace, has become in many ways synonymous with the one-way street of resting in God’s unmerited favor, love, and provisions. In this incomplete embracing of God’s favor complacency toward the challenges we face and the biblical solutions afforded us in His Instruction Manual (all the Bible), has hindered our cultural impact. This also is one reason why so many believers, when they study prophecy in particular, focus on the rapture and the anticipation of heaven, usually accompanied by a negative outlook regarding the evilness of this world. Far too many professing Christians desire to be raptured instead of fighting the good fight (2 Timothy 4:7) here and now while they wait for His return.
The Torah, however, which provides God’s instructive laws, teachings, and behaviors, focuses on this life. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ was also teaching this in Luke 19:13 with the parable of the ten minas. I underlined “Occupy till I come” in the verse below to emphasize the importance of the work that needs to be done now while we can still work to please the Lord!
[Luke 19:13 KJV] 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Also, look to John 9:4.
Capable Leaders Also Help Promote a Good Life
[Exodus 18:21 AMP] 21 “Furthermore, you shall select from all the people competent (skilled, efficient, able, and strong) men who reverently fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; you shall place these over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.”
Notice that the four qualities of leaders in Exodus 18:21 include being competent, which means “skilled,” “proficient,” and “effective,” accompanied by bravery. To me, this emphasizes that God is interested in providing a healthy and productive life for those who are being led.
The Hebrew word for “competent” or “able” always carries with it the additional aspect of “courage,” “bravery,” and “strength.” I find this to be very intriguing. Joshua was an outlier (a person away from the central figure) compared to Moses, yet he was a great example of a godly man (an outlier) with an independent spirit, strength, and courage that were manifested in his dissent from all the other spies except Caleb (Numbers 13:16-33). He was capable and courageous! Joshua’s dissent is an example of an important rule of life:
Not all outliers practice biblical righteousness, but virtually all good is achieved by outliers.
One reason is that it takes courage to be an outlier, and courage is the rarest of all good traits in human beings. Whatever the number of kind, responsible, nice, and even loving people, there are far fewer courageous people. And while there are atheist outliers who do good, most outliers—like Joshua—have a connection to the living God. This is absolutely thrilling and motivational to me. If I dare say it, we are in desperate need of godly outliers in the community of believers and especially influential leaders naming the name of Jesus Christ in the leadership of our churches.
Are you a godly outlier?
Is your pastor an outlier? If not, find one that is.
Merit Is Essential in Selecting Leaders
In the Book of the Covenants (OT), while the priesthood’s succeeding generations were inherited, political leadership in Israel was to be earned. The very fact that God did not choose either of Moses’ sons to succeed Moses established an essential value for making a healthy society:
Leadership must be given to those who earn the right to lead, not to family or purely other personal moral upright character traits.
No society can succeed if it uses any standard other than merit to enable people to advance—not blood, not race, not sex, not wealth.
Martin Luther King understood this:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
According to the late Lawrence E. Harrison, the former USAID mission director to various Latin American countries, the primary reason North America dramatically surpassed Latin America socially, politically, and economically was this: Latin America was governed by what he called “familism,” hiring and appointing people largely based on family ties, whereas in North America people were hired and appointed largely based on merit. Look to his book Who Prospers: How Cultural Values Shape Economic and Political Success. He postulates that a “radius of trust” is necessary. The “radius of trust” is the extent to which people identify with and trust one another beyond their immediate family.
Being a Cultural Change Agent
I totally agree that deviant behaviors are running rampant in our culture and the world. However, I attempt to focus on what can be done about it here and now, based on the all-inclusive understanding of the Word of God. I have not privatized my faith but have taught the whole counsel of God and the complete message of Christianity, which is connected to the Book of the Covenants (OT) and is fully expressed in the expansion of the spiritual Kingdom of God here and now!
Our preoccupation with heaven, the rapture, and the negativity that we see around us has led us to a very myopic understanding of how the world could be better if we were willing to embrace it with biblical truth, take courageous actions, and demonstrate involvement in all the arenas of life. I am now realizing why I talk very little about the rapture, because my attention is on how God wishes to transform not only our personal behaviors but also present societies and nations. As the Apostle Paul taught us:
[Romans 12:21 NIV] 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
A Legitimate Desire to Leave This World!
However, I completely understand the desire to leave this world behind us, especially when we see precious loved ones suffer, die prematurely, or experience heartbreaking tragedies. Our family has experienced a significant amount of such suffering. However, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we keep moving forward to advance His Kingdom purposes even in the midst of heartbreak. At times it is difficult, but we rest in the promises of God, which teach us that our tribulations are working for us an eternal weight of glory.
[2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV] 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Should Human Leaders Be Shepherds?
Presently, I am reading and studying the book of Numbers. Numbers 27:16-17 NLT reads like this: “O LORD, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Moses certainly was right about the nation needing leadership. But, as often as the term may be used biblically, “shepherd” is not the ideal term for a mortal leader. One reason is that the only shepherd God’s people should need is God. As the most famous Psalm, the 23rd, begins: “The Lord is my shepherd.” Another reason is that people need leaders, not the kind of shepherds we often have—the kind of shepherd that Christ is pictured as being, carrying the poor helpless little lamb on His shoulders.
David was a shepherd who was a valiant, alert, skilled, brave, and strong protector of the sheep from ravenous predators. We also need pastors who are courageous protectors.
[Acts 20:28-29 AMP] 28 “Take care and be on guard for yourselves and for the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd (tend, feed, protect, guide) the church of God which He bought with His own blood. 29 I know that after I am gone, false teachers like ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”
The reality is that people should not be sheep. The historical record shows that too many nations have acted like sheep, and too many shepherds wanted their people to be sheep. After 30+ years of being a pastor (shepherd), I have learned this to be true. Far too many wished only to be fed and cared for, and most pastors love to be needed!
One of the challenges is that decent people usually do not fight the indecent. Good people fall into three categories: those who fight evil, those who aid the fighters, and those who do nothing or simply ignore evil. The last category is usually the largest one because fighting evil takes effort and, more importantly, courage—the rarest of all good human qualities.
That good people need to fight has long been known, but with too little success. There is an additional problem aside from the paucity (scarcity) of courageous individuals. Most people either do not learn from history, learn the wrong lessons, or are simply ignorant of history. The Judeo-Christian faith is rooted in history. Therefore, they lack wisdom, the word that describes learning from history, learning from others, learning from those older than themselves, and learning from the Bible. Remember, biblical wisdom is doing the right thing and obeying God’s instructions repeatedly. Then one becomes wise and discerning. I believe that good is only attainable through wisdom.
In 1867, John Stuart Mill said, “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
The ideal, then, is not an absence of leaders—that would lead to anarchy—but for people not to act as sheep.
You might ask how we should not act like sheep. Below are seven suggestions:
- Galatians 5:25 — Be led by the Holy Spirit! When He prompts you to pray for someone, speak to someone about Christ, defend the faith, listen to someone, serve another person or family—DO IT!
- 2 Timothy 2:15 — Personally study the Word of God consistently with the view to obey!
- Philemon 1:2 — Facilitate or lead a small church gathering in your home.
- 2 Timothy 2:2 — Disciple one to three people.
- Malachi 3:18 — Practice discernment in view of our present age.
- Genesis 41:33 — Vote and enlist others to vote for the most biblically competent people.
- Jude 1:3 — Defend and contend for the faith by initiating opportunities.
Further Actions to Take
- To glorify God means that we reflect or radiate His attributes in our behaviors. Name three actions you are doing that reflect the character of our Lord.
- Select three verses listed in this teaching and muse over them with the view to obey what the Spirit of God is telling you to do.
- Which are you: a fighter, a supporter of those who fight evil, or one who does nothing?
- Jude 1:3 tells us to “contend,” which is to surmount a difficulty or danger. Name one arena you are attempting to surmount for the Kingdom of God.
- From my above teaching, why do I talk so little about the rapture?
- Of my seven suggestions regarding “not acting like sheep,” select three that you would like to take ground in and explain how you are going to do this.
Living a good life in Christ, with you!
Dale