Something to think a about.
The Anthem of The Lost
And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' Luke 12:19-20
This so thoroughly describes the mindset of modern America. We are directed, persuaded, and encouraged to obtain an education. With this education, we can then acquire sufficient wealth to allow us to eat drink and be merry in our later years.
God says to all of this you Fool!!!!!!
He is not raging against proper planning for future events. He is saying without Him all of your future planning will lead to naught. He is saying there is so much more to our existence. Do you want to waste your life with the worthless goal of attainment, constant entertainment, and temporal pleasure?
We have an eternity to live. God is saying wake up, this is not all there is. There is an entire universe of adventure, knowledge, and pleasure on the other side of the door of this life. You can attain wealth and all of your dreams, and still, you will die. All of your accomplishments will end up belonging to someone else. After eating drinking and being merry, you will still have to stand before God and give account.
Living life as if this is it, is foolishness. If you have been sucked into "this is it" worldview I pity you. I can't fathom a life where we are all there is. Where humanity is the pinnacle of existence. We are slowly self-destructing and maybe not so slowly. If I look at the world and see the only hope being the combined intelligence of man it makes me cringe. Humanity throughout its existence has repeated the same sin. We have never learned and worse than that we have not changed. We are still trying to become God. Some of us actually believe we are the solutions to the problems we don't understand.
Our lack of ability to see every repercussion of every solution has within it the seeds of the next problem. Because we can't know every effect of our actions, our action as well-intentioned as they may be will always lead to another problem. Even those who appear to have it all, have problems. They have challenges and failures and regrets and pain. Appearances are but a facade covering the pain within.
Without God, the hopelessness of human supremacy will not bring peace, but ultimately it will bring despair. We were not designed to live independently from God. We were never intended to be the pinnacle of existence. We were not given the ability to resolve all of the world's problems. We were created to be dependent and in a relationship with God. God the pinnacle of existence can resolve all of humanity's problems. We were designed and intended to be His.
Showing posts with label resolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resolution. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
The Anthem of The Lost
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Stand Fast
Something to think about.
Stand Fast
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. II Thessalonians 2:13-15 (KJV)
"Beloved by the Lord, chose you for salvation through sanctification by the spirit." These are wonderfully inspiring declarations made about you. Why is verse 15 in this prayer? After the marvelous truths that are revealed in verses 13-14 why is it necessary to say "stand fast"?
The writer is writing to Christians. True, they are probably all new or recent converts to Christianity. After all, this is being written at the birth of Christianity. But these Christians are not far removed from the death and resurrection of Christ. They have probably witnessed the power of God, by the miracles performed by the apostles. This is the closest generation to Christ Himself. And they are told to "stand fast."
Why are we told to "stand fast." Because we have a serious problem with our God memory. We have short-term memory long-term memory, and we have God memory. The first one to fail us is God memory. We have a tendency to quickly forget all that God has done for us. Since creation over short periods of time we allow him to dissipate from our minds.
We must be in a relationship with God to "stand fast." It isn't memory that is lacking, it is experience. It is the lack of constant experience. In other words when was the last time you had an experience with God. Was it this morning, was it while you are reading this?
He created us to know him. Not in a distant mystic or other worldly way. He created us to walk with Him in the cool of the day. Not just from the written pages of a book. But also in valleys and the mountain tops when He walks and talks with us. Stand fast till your next encounter with Him. Remember Him until you see and experience Him again. Humanity has proven we lack the ability to remain faithful to " Stand fast" for longer than a minute. To "stand fast" we need more than the knowledge that we are the "beloved of God, chosen for salvation, sanctified by the Spirit." We need constant contact. We need an ongoing vibrant personal relationship with Him.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Engagement
Something to think about.
Engagement
17 pray without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17
How in the world are we supposed to do that? How much time do we spend worrying, spend consumed with and event, situation, crisis? How often does this worrying, being overwhelmed by the problem result in positive resolution? Would it not be better to spend that time seeking Gods resolutions? Actively interacting with God to arrive at the best solution. Praying without ceasing is not a passive activity. It is intentional action between you and God to resolve a real problem. It means seeking Gods will inch by inch step by step, a constant reliance on God. That is how you pray unceasingly. It is an intentional continual practice of engagement with God.
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