Our views, our beliefs is what we base our life on. Those views and beliefs make up the foundation of our life. We build our life upon and around the views and beliefs we have. Upon that foundation we view and interact within our world.
Each of us have our on unique view of the world around us base on the information we received throughout our life. The information is imperfect from imperfect people. We had to decide whether or not to believe it. Those of us with an open mind will question that information and others will think it is the absolute truth.
I believe there is an intelligence that knows the absolute truth but with my limited mind I will only come to a partial knowledge of that truth. I can build my life on the perfect information from God but I can never come to a complete understanding of it due to my imperfect condition. So in faith I have to live my life until the day God makes my mind perfect.
I have come to a conclusion in my life that Jesus Christ knew the absolute truth and in his compassion he shared it with us. So I choose to build my life on the foundation of his word.
Each of us have built their life around something and each of us believe in something and our life is built on the foundation of that belief.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
What's Inside of the Box?
It won't be long till Christmas and you will be seeing beautifully gifted wrap presents. Some will be store wrapped and others will be done by yourself. The decorative paper and ribbon will make the present look impressive. But even with all that work done on the outside we will still judge the value of the present of what is on the inside. No matter how beautiful you make the gift wrapping its whats on the inside that counts.
Another example if we were to buy a car that caught our eye, meaning will were impressed by the outside package. Then we get inside and take it for a drive and the car breaks down on the road. What happens to our opinion of the car? We would probably hate it. Even if the car looks good to us, our value of the car would be low.
Again here is another example. When we go shopping at a grocery store, we see many cakes, cookies and pastries that look good to us. We judge them to be delicious by what we see but it is when we actually buy them and taste them we know for sure how good they are. What we see on the outside can be deceiving.
God also places more value on what is on the inside than the outside. In first Peter 3:3,4 Peter said, "3Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of the hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-- 4but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." First Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
God is looking past our appearance and looking inside our heart. God is not impressed with pretty wrapping but with the content within. So if our appearance is less than society's standards God will still accept us if our heart's condition is right. Who are we trying to impress anyway God or man? The one who gives eternal life or those who worship the temporary.
What's inside of the box? We have to guess but God knows.
Another example if we were to buy a car that caught our eye, meaning will were impressed by the outside package. Then we get inside and take it for a drive and the car breaks down on the road. What happens to our opinion of the car? We would probably hate it. Even if the car looks good to us, our value of the car would be low.
Again here is another example. When we go shopping at a grocery store, we see many cakes, cookies and pastries that look good to us. We judge them to be delicious by what we see but it is when we actually buy them and taste them we know for sure how good they are. What we see on the outside can be deceiving.
God also places more value on what is on the inside than the outside. In first Peter 3:3,4 Peter said, "3Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of the hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-- 4but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." First Samuel 16:7 "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
God is looking past our appearance and looking inside our heart. God is not impressed with pretty wrapping but with the content within. So if our appearance is less than society's standards God will still accept us if our heart's condition is right. Who are we trying to impress anyway God or man? The one who gives eternal life or those who worship the temporary.
What's inside of the box? We have to guess but God knows.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
A Righteous Soul's Torment
How hard it is to be a righteous man and to live in an evil world. Lot was greatly distressed while he was living in Sodom and Gomorrah. In 2 Peter 2:8 the apostle Peter talk about Lot's mental condition he said in verse 8 "(for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);"
Living in today's world as Christians are we not also tormented by people's lawless deeds? We who work hard on improving ourselves through God's world the Bible are sometimes made depressed by those who bath themselves in sin. As we grow in Christ our conscience is made more refine. What we could live with before, we have a hard time living with it now. We want to live perfectly and to be perfect just as Jesus Christ. The people of our world have other ideas in how to live their lives usually in a sinful manner and not a righteous one.
We endure and wait for our Lord's arrival. I hate to say it but I think that our world is slipping more into darkness than enlightenment. The programs on television seem to be more and more violent. I believe that wholesomeness in programming is a thing of the past. Where are the role models in today's society? I do not think that people are taking what Jesus Christ had to say seriously.They are living their lives the way they want to and caring not for what harm that they may do to others.
We are many ways like Lot, living in our own Sodom and Gomorrah. We ache inside and pray for a better world. We all know how Sodom and Gomorrah ended by the judgement of God. Our world will also be judged when Jesus Christ returns. We know this to be true, where our world seems to ignore it. Lot was rescued by God and God will rescue us as well. Even though we live in a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah we will not be destroyed, God will carry us through.
Living in today's world as Christians are we not also tormented by people's lawless deeds? We who work hard on improving ourselves through God's world the Bible are sometimes made depressed by those who bath themselves in sin. As we grow in Christ our conscience is made more refine. What we could live with before, we have a hard time living with it now. We want to live perfectly and to be perfect just as Jesus Christ. The people of our world have other ideas in how to live their lives usually in a sinful manner and not a righteous one.
We endure and wait for our Lord's arrival. I hate to say it but I think that our world is slipping more into darkness than enlightenment. The programs on television seem to be more and more violent. I believe that wholesomeness in programming is a thing of the past. Where are the role models in today's society? I do not think that people are taking what Jesus Christ had to say seriously.They are living their lives the way they want to and caring not for what harm that they may do to others.
We are many ways like Lot, living in our own Sodom and Gomorrah. We ache inside and pray for a better world. We all know how Sodom and Gomorrah ended by the judgement of God. Our world will also be judged when Jesus Christ returns. We know this to be true, where our world seems to ignore it. Lot was rescued by God and God will rescue us as well. Even though we live in a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah we will not be destroyed, God will carry us through.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Am I More than Just a Reader of God's Word?
I have asked this question of myself. Am I more than just a reader of God's word? I do sometimes struggle with my understanding of the Bible. It's words are very wise and carries a depth of understanding, an understanding I try may best to know. Even with my best effort I still far short. I have to admit to myself I am just an imperfect man trying my best to know the perfect ways of God. It feels sometimes like I am just reading about God's words and not knowing how to really apply them.
In this blog I am trying to remain true to myself. Meaning I will not tell you to love if I do not know how to love or will I tell you to forgive if I do not know how to forgive. I will tell you what I do know. I want to share my discoveries with you. Discoveries about God's word that makes a difference in my life. I do not consider myself to be totally spiritually mature but that is my main goal in life.
I try my best to apply God's words to my life, I fail sometimes but I never do give up. To me serving God is my whole purpose in life and if I fail at doing that I have wasted my entire life. By the hand of God we were made and in his hands lies our future. I want to be apart of that future so learning God's word is high on my list in things to do.
Reading and then doing is sometimes hard because of my lack of understanding. I think that I am to hard on myself for not knowing. I do research in what I do not know but then again reading about it then doing it is two different things. I can go through the motion of doing but I do not feel sincere about it. I want to live God's word and to feel it not just go through the motion of doing it.
I do not like to be judgmental about people but I do sometimes question about those that do preach God's word. Are they just reading the scriptures to us or they really living and feeling the spirit of those scriptures in their life? I will keep looking into God's word so to try to keep making the spirit of God come alive in my life. I want to be a willing doer of God's word and not just a reader.
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