On Monday morning I watched the movie "Oh God" starring George Burns. In His depiction of playing the role of God, he stated that God has no interests in the day to day affairs of humans. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is indeed interested in the lives of ALL people. If He were not he would not have sent His Son to die so that ALL who believe in Him would be saved. Further, He also sent the Holy Spirit to reside in the hearts of ALL who trust in His Son. The Holy Spirit is the deposit on the redemption that will come upon Christ return. In the movie there was another profound statement that "God has given us all that we need--each other". This statement is half true. God has given us each other, but without the love of God in our hearts (which everyone does not have) we cannot really be THERE for each other. I pray everyday for people to stop trying to "please" themselves when they make statements such as "I'm doing me". What does that mean anyway? Who else would you be if you aren't you? Is this statement supposed to mean that you whatever you do, you only have yourself in mind? Because I don't understand this statement, I won't address it any further. What I can say is that if you really know who God of the Bible is--then your viewpoint would change considerably.
The "fear" of the Lord is defined as reverence. He expects us to reverence Him, His Word, His Son, His Holy Spirit. Do you read the Bible to get understanding? Do you read the Scriptures and say to yourself--Help me God because I am sure in need of your forgiveness, direction, comfort and peace? Do you understand that if you have a sinful life that He does not hear your prayer unless you first ask Him to forgive you for your sins? So many Christians and many more non-believers think that they can go to God anytime, anyhow, and anyway. Believe me, "reverence" for God should tell you that you cannot go before THE Holy God any kind of way. Before Christ came, the Priests were the only persons who could go directly to God in prayer and even he had to atone for his sins before he could go into the Holy of Holies. Psalm 66:18-19 states, " If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. 19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer." This is not to be confused with the "OUTCRY IN PRAYER" of the many Prophets with whom God made His presence known because of their righteousness (defined as "right standing with God"). All of those men were so humbled by God that their words--when speaking to God denoted reverence for Him, because they respected His Ultimate Authority to answer their prayers. Never once did they talk to God as though he OWED them something--as so many do today. God is not our personal Jeanie or a Spiritual Santa Claus. We don't tell Him what we want then force Him into agreement. I can tell you that after more than twenty years since giving my life to Christ and trusting Him to direct my path, I no longer struggle to remember this. Jesus said "Whatever you ask for in my name, believe that you receive and you shall have it?" but he also says "Your Heavenly Father knows what you have need for". I sincerely believe that many ask for things that He knows that we don't need and that it is why it seems as if God has not heard us or has not answered our prayers--when we don't get what we prayed for. Just imagine for a minute what it would be like if God gave us everything we asked for--- I mean seriously speaking could you stand it if everyone was rich, handsome/beautiful, had the best house on the block, wonderful children, wonderful spouses. We would ALL have EGO's!!! We would be like those who have EGO's they have essentially - Edged God Out--Out of their lives. We would have no need to pray to God anymore. We would not need each other. 1 John 4:20-21 states If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. (NKJV)
Finally, George Burns told the man with whom he decided to communicate with to give a message to a preacher who was not preaching his words to "stop preaching because he was not pleased". This was very fascinating because if this were to happen today, I believe many churches would be closed this Sunday. So many Pastors have gotten away from "Thus says the Word of God" and instead choose to preach "Thus is MY WORD to YOU" that those who sit under them are NOT getting fed with God's Word. The only agenda that should be on any Pastor/Preacher's mind when they address God's people is God's Agenda--HIS WORD. He said feed MY people!! The people perish because there is a lack of knowledge---the knowledge of the TRUE WORD OF GOD....
BE BLESSED GOD'S PEOPLE. REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED THEN GET DISCIPLED, THEN MULTIPLY. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!
This is just the first in a series regarding "What do you really know about God and His Word?" By Koralee Nisbett
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