Friday, January 11, 2008

Life With Our Distractions

I know life really has its temperaments and things are out there to distract us. Sometimes our lives seem to be tied together in a bowl. We each have differences and other circumstances to deal with; for me, it has gotten to a point in my life where I need to rely on prayer. Even if our lives were growing up with the Lord, sometimes, chaotic moments stir our lives to come crashing down to a dark area of our lives. In a sense, without having faith life would really be meaningless.

Just because you wouldn't practice Christianity doesn't really mean that you will never place trust in anything. We either serve our own purposes in darkness or wake up to the fact that an ultimate plan was truly crafted for us. The Bible states that we can serve only one master. Our actions will either lead us away from the Lord's intended purposes or get us to truly experience fellowship with Him. Matthew 6 shows in the King James Version:

6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

The Bible states that God is love (1 John 4:8), and I think it means that anyone who does not advocate God's commands about love are practicing deceit. Jesus' great commandments are to love God with all your heart and soul and love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31). Why are we inclined to love God or believe in Him? John 3:16 states that "For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." The Bible is not a contradiction folks; we will not mystically live forever in this world because of our undying need to continue sinning even though the Lord has washed His true believers away with forgiveness. Most of us will die a physical death even though some die twice after being revived from the dead. It is through this death that the believers can have assurance that we will spend eternity with God.

Scriptures indicate that even an evil mother would not want to stop spoiling her child. Even believers sometimes have a hard time to place their trust in God to heal their child's sickness or deal with hardships in their life. Prayer is definitely an arsenal tool that comes free-it's talking to God for all of His believers. It is a privilege to have for someone praying by faith and in the Spirit. I think many who oppose Christianity are inclined to walk only by sight. We would rather place our own understanding before the Bible's statement. Maybe, it feels too high in moral standards. I hear a lot of critics trying to contradict the Bible and stir doubt by talking about vague passages. We certainly live in a different period as to when the Bible originated, but with some historical research, the Bible is only meant to get richer. Face it, too many are caught up about denouncing religion or wanting to handle things without the proper advice. Ultimately, we will all be responsible in the end for whether we decide to accept or reject the Savior of this world. Revelations 3:20 states:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (NKJV)


The Holy Spirit works in everyone's life through the preaching of the gospel, witnessing by others, and your personal convictions about erring morally but those who reject it will not stand at the time of judgment. Naturally, before Christians come to know God; the Holy Spirit reveals Himself to them. It is of great value to our faith to not to take the Lord's name in vain, as it was highly cherished in the Jewish culture. I've learned that they would respect the Scriptures so much that every time the scribes would copy the word God onto another piece of ancient-like paper (perhaps papyrus), they would perform a ceremonial washing of their bodies. As one brother stated, those were some really clean scribes. This brings up another point that the body of believers were so meticulous about copying the Bible that it should not have failed in delivering accurate Messianic text from generation to generation.

If anyone wishes to receive the Lord, simply state this prayer:
"Lord Jesus, I acknowledge to you that I'm a sinner. I repent of all of my sins. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me. Wash me. Cleanse me. Baptize me with your Holy Spirit and help me be the person you want me to be." If you truly meant this prayer, then congratulations! I pray you will find yourself investing some time to read the Bible, pray to God, fellowship and attend a good Bible teaching ministry with others, and eventually share your faith with your loved ones who do not know Christ.