Broken Life

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

Earthen vessels. Fragile vessels with so many working parts in us. Amazing earthen vessels designed miraculously in so many incredible ways. The blessing of long life is overlooked, and maybe with good reason- that good reason being not everyone has a 'good' long life. How many people currently fill homes for the elderly- those who can no longer function on their own without help?

'Approximately 47 million seniors live in the United States. We base this number on a 2017 census.gov estimate that about 325,600,000 people reside in the US and a 2014 estimate that about 14.5% of Americans are age 65 and older.'

'Only three percent of senior citizens live in nursing homes. The 2010 US census found that 3.1 percent of seniors were nursing home residents. Rather than move to a nursing home or assisted living, many seniors choose in-home care support.'  From <https://www.seniorliving.org/research/>

1,410,000 people 3% of 47 million, live in nursing homes almost 10 years ago- the number has probably significantly gone up. As well as a lot of elderly probably have in-home care, or live with relatives to help them.

Getting old isn't a good thing for a lot of people, it's something that takes courage, fortitude, stamina, endurance. Another interest fact is this--

'Most seniors have more than one chronic health care issue. Recently the National Council on Aging found that 75 percent of seniors have at least one chronic health condition, and that most have two or more. Conditions range from mild arthritis to advanced Alzheimer’s disease.'

Chronic health care issues- most senior have these.

We are FRAGILE earthen vessels, some more fragile than others. We weren't originally designed to be this way and we know this. We strive constantly for answers to the many, many health issues that plague old and young. Sometimes we make great strides against one particular ailment, we eradicate certain diseases with a vaccine, we lessen symptoms of various illnesses. We make a lot of things tolerable with certain drugs. We are forever invested in health care because we want to- if possible- get rid of every disease, every sickness, every deformity, every condition that keeps us from being healthy earthen vessels.

Since mankind's decision to leave the presence of God, we've become broken, run down, mere shadows of what we were intended to be. We recognize mostly in retrospect when we were at our peaks in health and yes, even beauty. Some healthy people could be covered from head to toe in an outer skin full of wrinkles and old age spots- which do nothing to detract from their inner workings health wise, but the beauty factor of youth has gone. Again, we know many, many elderly people do lots to try and stop the hands of time from revealing themselves upon them. There are a lot of surgery options for the rich, there are a lot of non-surgical creams and such for the rich and lesser effective creams and such for the not so rich. We use make up and medicines to hide what time is doing to us. Some, but not most people, are not blessed with the genetics that leave them with an elderly youthful appearance.

We are shadows of what we were meant to be even at what we consider our peak in health and beauty. 

We long for good health constantly especially once those chronic conditions enter our lives. We long for something we know will elude us, even though in our wildest dreams we hope for cures for the chronic conditions.

We live knowing that we will die- we just don’t know what we are going to die from. Disease, accident, simply wearing out our fragile earthen vessel, we just don't know. Death is a curse upon us, surrounding us, reminding us over and over that one day our turn for death will come. And death is not desired by the majority, and for those who do desire death it's because they are mentally, emotionally damaged to that point. They could be living a nightmare of pain day after day with the hope of death for the release from the agonies of living. A person desiring death is a person who isn't healthy in some way. They could be living a life of constant abuse which most certainly damages mental and emotional well-being. Not all our ailments are physical that's for sure!

What a dismal picture I've drawn up with all this talk- it's depressing to dwell upon the fragility of our earthen vessels but we need to. We need to recognize where our hope must lie, and it's NOT with ourselves! We may fantasize about one day living in a future society where there is no death from things like cancer, heart disease, lung disease and so on and so forth- but that future would be extremely far off, and will remain a fantasy for everyone living today. Personally, the only future guaranteed to us is the one proven to be a reality through prophecy- the Bible reality, the Biblical future outline for mankind.

So many predictions have come true, nothing will stop them all from coming to pass.

I long for the day the Stone cut without hands is hurled from the heaven to destroy all the kingdoms of this world ushering in the return of the King, Jesus Christ who will call us from this earth to meet Him in the air- changing our vile, vile bodies- altering these earthen vessels completely into the immortal, incorruptible forms we long for.

I know this day is going to come, I haven't a doubt! Nothing can stop it from happening, not a single thing. If something could stop it, then something could have stopped all the other prophecies from coming to pass. No, Nebuchadnezzar did not want his kingdom to fall and neither did all the rest that did so- one after the other.

What a glorious day to look for, what a wondrous HOPE to have right now. We may suffer exceedingly, but there is HOPE for the day of no more suffering! No more death! No more sin and all its horrific consequences.

Truly we are…

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

2Co 4:11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

2Co 4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

2Co 4:13  We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; 

2Co 4:14  Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Animated Dust.

You are nothing more than animated dust.

Does that sound preposterous? It does to me. To think I am nothing, absolutely nothing more than animated dust seems bizarre. I think of a wooden puppet brought to life and then that magic of life is taken away and the puppet is nothing more than wood again- lifeless. Are we all in some way dust Pinocchio's? Is Pinocchio who was made of wood, ultimately a dust Pinocchio if the wood decay breaks down to that level? Wood decays, it rots. Even some of the best preserved wood without renewed applications of preservative would over time hundreds, thousands of year eventually end up as dust- right? Wood rots and is eventually ground into dust.

When our animation ceases and the last breath of life is expelled from our animated dust bodies and returns to God who gives that breath of life, another part of us sleeps death's sleep.

Every animated dust person is given a uniqueness that makes them special, one of a kind. We are flesh, spirit and soul.

Heb_4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Soul divided from the spirit, just as bones from their marrow.

1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your whole spirit AND soul AND body.

We animated dust beings are more than the dust. Just as- yes, I'm going back to Pinocchio- when he was brought to life everyone became invested in him as a living wooden being because he had a personality, he was more than an automaton that simple responded to commands. He had a power of choice in him, a curiosity in him- he wasn't brought to life only to remain a controlled puppet.

We are not controlled animated dust beings.

Along with the life in each and every particle of our bodies that will eventually return to the dust as the original, first ever animated dust body was created from, we were given a power of choice and a spirit that could be born within us united to the Holy Spirit, one of the three separate beings that had a hand in our very creation.

When Adam's dust created body lay there on the ground newly formed it had no breath of life in it, it had no ability to think, it had no ability to communicate with its Creator. Separated from the breath of life, separated from the ability to think, to choose, to commune with God- the body was an empty shell.

God breathed that life into Adam, God brought to life the spirit within Adam, God gave to Adam the power of individual thought outside of His control. God did not raise a robot to life, a controlled dust being forced to obey His commands.

The power to bring us to life to form us so that we live was not an accident, it didn't happen over billions of years, we were created beings, designed beings. When we chose to leave our Creator's guidance and step out on our own- drastic changes occurred all around us and in us.  With the glorious light of our Creator stripped from us, we became creatures subject to pain, to decay, to death. So much of us was altered so that we could continue to function physically without God's glorious light, without the fruit from the tree of life to sustain our grand design. With those things taken from us we reverted to a most basic animated dust being without the power of eternal life. That we were allowed to continue to live at all was a blessing, and it was given to us only because there was a way already in place to save us and return us to the eternal glory originally designed for us- should we individually choose to accept the Way.  The accepting of the Way, is an accepting wholly and truly that the power behind that Way was of God, and NOT anything we could manufacture on our own.  The Way was given to us, not made by us. The power is God's.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

The Way is the TREASURE in our dust animated bodies (earth made vessels). The Power of God is the Way. The Kingdom of God was preached to us by His only begotten son, Jesus Christ- who is the WAY.  Jesus came to expound on the knowledge that there is a HOPE for a return to our original God designed being. We can be reunited with God! We can be brought back to eternal life! All hope is not lost! We don't have to return to dust permanently! On resurrection day, the day our Lord returns and calls us from our graves, or from this world still living should we be among those blessed, we will be raised up and transformed back into the original design!

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

Changed. Yes, we'll still be animated dust beings but restored to immortality, to eternal life, to incorruption- to the light of God's presence!

All glory to God in the highest! All praise and honor unto Him! All worship to our Creator, our Sustainer, our Redeemer, our LORD, Jesus Christ! All through the Holy Spirit may we belong to them and no others!