"The something else factor"

I finally went to see "Avatar" and I was not disappointed. This was my first ever IMAX experience and now I really wish I had gone to pay the extra money to see Lord of the Rings in 3D. I was captivated by the special effects and it is always fun to be whisked away to another world for awhile. Coming out of the theater entering what seemed to be a very dark, drab world after all that vivid color, light and sound was strange.

People have been captivated with what I call the "something else" factor since the very beginning. Billions of dollars have been spent researching other planets and possible other life forms. We just know there has to be something or someone else out there! Eve was no different. She thought there was "something else" too and she had everything. Imagine for just a moment, the world she lived in. It was idyllic, perfect, it could not have been improved upon. All the moisture came up from the ground so it was a very tropical environment, no worry about the elements, the temperature was perfect. They didn't have to worry about being cold, or too warm. The animals were their companions and friends, as yet there was no need to fear humans. Great creatures we can't even imagine stalked through the brush. They listened to the music of the angels, they experienced colors that don't even exist down here. They lived in the light of the very Presence of God Himself, they actually walked with Him in the cool of the evening.....Who needs anything else? Right?

But she thought God was withholding something from her; "something else." The Bible says the "serpent" was "more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord had made." We are not talking ugly snake here, we are talking a very intelligent, otherworldly, and very beautiful creature here. The Bible says Satan worked through this beautiful creature as he always does, by masquerading as an angel of light. The rest is history. The painful result is the world we live in today.

But here is the miracle and wonder of God. He is in love with this world and He came down Himself to get us back. He will also come back again to make all things new. Once again, it will be perfect. That world, God has promised will never end. When we really see that, this world becomes transformed right before our eyes. We begin to live with what my former Pastor Gary Kinnamon called the "eternal perspective."

Jesus said, "The kingdom of Heaven is at hand." He looked at this broken world and He knew it needed fixing, so He left a perfect place and made a way for us to join Him there, forever! Whatever magic a filmmaker can dream up today pales in comparison to what God has prepared for us!

"But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." 1 Cor. 2:9, 10

Please join me in prayer today for the people of Haiti......