*“My Way or God's Way”*
Why do we insist on challenging God? “God, where were You when the planes flew into the towers on 9/11? Where were You when our children were slaughtered at Columbine High School? Where are You *now* when I'm sitting here hurting?” How often have we asked these questions? "How can God be real if all these bad things keep happening? Wouldn't a good God stop these tragedies and all this pain from happening?" Hear His reply: “My poor lost and confused children, only 26 verses into the Bible, I said, 'Let Us make man in Our image.' I did *not* say, 'Let Us change Ourselves into man's image.' " Every day, all over the world, people are trying to shape God into their image. We don't want to face His wrath; so, we ignore the scriptures on eternal damnation. We say we want to attract young people to our services; so, we don't preach against pre-marital sex or abortion or homosexuality because it's not "politically correct" today and some might be offended and not come back to our services. At every football game, I see a sign that reads "John 3:16." I'm waiting for one that says "John 3:18." Do you think I'll ever see it? Because we don't want to admit our sin, we run from place to place in search of something that always seems to elude us. We recreate God in our image so we can avoid His righteous condemnation and judgment. Cathy Ciaramitaro wrote in her recent book "The Cross," that: "*We live in a day when, if we stand for righteousness, we are classified as bigots by many. 'Close minded,' 'judgmental' and 'intolerant' are common accusations heard by Christians who stand up for morality in our land*." God created us in His image as spirit beings. We have fleshly bodies; but, we are at our core, spirits... spirits with the freedom to choose our paths. Jesus said "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, *'I never knew you*. *Away from me, you evildoers*!" (Matthew 7:22-23) How much more clearly can the Lord make His teaching? Many religions today, want to "cherry pick" scripture. They only quote select verses that seem to support their idea. God gave us His Word as a complete work... His complete will. We must study *all* of scripture. When one verse seems to contradict another, it is our understanding that is in error, not His Word. In those cases, we are to keep reading, praying and studying His Word until, with the help of the Holy Spirit; we understand the complete message... His complete will. Noah was ridiculed as he labored to build the arc; but, he chose to believe God. He and his entire household continued their labors as God commanded. As a result of his belief, he and his house were saved. Abraham chose to believe God that he would have a son by supernatural means. After that son was born and God told Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice, Abraham believed that God would raise his son from the dead and keep His promise. Abraham made a choice to believe God. God has told us that we should "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27) and that "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15) Brethren, he never said to pick and chose what we would obey or believe. He gave us His Word so that we might understand His heart and know His unbounded love for us. We are the ones who added "chapter and verse" so we could take His loving Word apart and try to justify our actions by quoting only the parts that seem to satisfy our actions. Diligently study the Word in its entirety. It is His love letter to us and it shows us His heart. We have the power to accept it and live God's way; or, we can reject it, reformat it to *our* image and live *our* way. We have the free will... the choice is ours. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "tribewithavibe" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tribewithavibe?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
