God – Page 2 – I AM for You!

If Your Life Sucks

If . . .

Nothing changes

If my life is not what I want it to be I have a choice.
I can complain,
blame others, (they don’t understand me, they don’t help me, . . .)
blame God, (He made me this way, He doesn’t care about me . . .)
blame my bad luck, (good things happen to others but not to me, this always happens no matter what I do . . .)
blame obstacles in my way, (I have tried, but I just can’t, it is too hard for me, I’m not smart enough, I’m not going to lower myself and do that, . . .)
blame the Government, (it is their job to take care of me, to give me a job I like and have fun doing, to decide hard questions for me, . . .)

OR,

I can go to JESUS.
I can read His message for me in the Bible.
I can believe Jesus’ words.
I can DO what the Bible says by the power of Jesus’ Spirit.

But I don’t understand the Bible.

Jesus says in the Bible that The Holy Spirit of Jesus will teach you all things. Ask Him to do that for you.

But I don’t understand the thee’s and thou’s, etc.

Read a modern translation like the New American Standard Bible; or the You Version Bible free online from Life.Church.

I read the Bible but nothing happens.

Start in the Gospel of John, the fourth book in the New Testament. Find it by using the Table of Contents in the beginning of the Bible. Read starting in the third chapter, the 16th verse: For God so loved the world (that’s us) that He gave His only begotten Son (that’s Jesus), that whoever believes in Him (trusts Jesus and does what He says) will NOT die but have everlasting life (be with Jesus forever).

Do what the Bible says to do.
It says to Believe God when He says He loves you. Don’t consult your feelings. Your feelings follow your thoughts and are NOT reliable as True Reality. First Choose to Believe God when He says He loves you. We all start our lives believing the lies of satan as Reality. God tells the truth, it is opposite of satan’s lies. We can Choose to Believe God. We can ask Him to help the parts of us that don’t believe Him and He will. Once you believe Jesus’ words and trust Him the Holy Spirit of Jesus will exchange your old dead spirit (which dies on the cross with Jesus when He died) and gives you a new spirit from God that loves God and wants to do what God wants (which He gives you when you rise with Him (figuratively) from the grave.

You then are joined to Jesus and become one with Him forever.

Keep reading the Bible and being taught by the Holy Spirit of Jesus.

Find a church that believes the Bible.

Ask God what He wants you to do.

Am I acting like the God I want them to know better?

Why do I want people to know about God’s grace of eternal security? I want them to know the joy of getting off the performance treadmill. I don’t want them to worry about some day rejecting Jesus and spending eternity without Jesus. But am I acting like the God I want them to know better? A God who loves them unconditionally and gives them eternal life because they love Jesus?

Two pastors, who love Jesus with all their heart, have said by their words and actions:

I don’t want to know.

I had a conversation that was frustrating. I said to one pastor I am depending on Jesus to keep me from falling. That’s eternal security. What are you relying on to keep you from falling? Jesus or yourself? He said Jesus. I said then you believe in eternal security. He shook his head and said no.

I talked to my PhD counselor, (Pretty “head Doctor,” my wife), and she gave me this wise but long-winded advice:

Drop it.

Which brings me to the title of this post. Jesus did not force Himself on others. He respected them and respected their choices. The rich young ruler was personally invited to be a disciple of, and be with, the God of the universe and he turned it down. Jesus didn’t go after him, Jesus respected his choice. And that is what I need to learn to do. I share truth to benefit others. But if they reject it I am not benefitting them by repeating myself. That is harassment.

I will continue to tell the truth I know (including eternal security). But I am giving up on telling those who don’t want to hear.

What do you want? Do you really, really want?

Matthew 7:7, 9, 11, 12 (NASB95)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. . . .
9 “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? . . .
11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! . . .
12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

I have always wondered what this passage meant. Is this scripture promising me anything I want if I just ask? Or, more spiritual, promising me anything I ask that is God’s will? Why does God say that what he gives is the best (even if I don’t recognize it as such?). And, what does the Golden Rule have to do with me getting what I want? Do I earn what I want by being kind to others?

One way to sum up the Bible is: Love God, love people.
Can I use this to guide my interpretation?

In verse 12 Jesus says: Always, therefore, love other people (my summary). To me, “therefore” means that to accomplish the previous verses I need to love others. Does that mean I earn what I want by loving others?

Or, does it mean that what I really want (God’s best “loaf”) is to love others?

If I ask, seek, and knock to have God give me love to give to others – he will. When he gives me that love I may not recognize it as the best. But if I choose to treat others the way I want to be treated, God will love that person through me. And joy for – the other person, and me, and God – is the result.

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