Jeremiah
32:27 -
"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of
all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"
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IS EVIL NECESSARY? Although I can understand how people feel, I will give you a couple of things to consider that may or may not change your point of view. I will make it clear right off that I don’t have all the answers or know Gods reasons for doing everything he does. (Just your luck, you picked the one preacher that doesn’t know everything!) Ask yourself, what can we (his creation) possibly give to God that would be of value? What can we give God that he can’t just snap his fingers and make appear? Believe it or not, there "is" something we can give to God that he can not create for himself. Something of great value. You’ve heard the old saying: "what gift do you give to the guy who has everything?" (Be patient) Try for a moment to put yourself in Gods place. What separates God from us, the angels or even Satan? It is his ability to create. Not even Satan can create, only the creator can do that. Thus it makes him unique, one of a kind and awesome. Let's say your name is "John Doe". If you built a robot and programmed it to say: "John is the greatest! I Love John, John I dedicate my life to you . . etc.." Hearing this praise come from the robot that you created would be meaningless. Why? Because "free will" was not involved. However, if your spouse or any other earthly person with free will said the same thing to you, it would touch your heart deeply. Why? Because they don’t have to feel that way, but chose too. Evil is a necessary part of free will. Without the evil, there is no choice. If good is the only choice, then there is no choice at all. It would mean that God simply programmed us to be a certain way that is pleasing to him. If that were the case, even our praise and obedience to him would be meaningless. In which case there would be absolutely nothing we could give to God. "Nothing". You have heard thousands of times preachers from every denomination quote Acts 10:34, that "God is no respecter of persons". Acts 10:34 Preachers commonly throw this scripture out there whenever it suits their immediate purpose and more times than not, it’s out of context. This scripture simply means that salvation is for "everyone", not just the Jews. (No more, no less) Forgive me, but I’ll be bold enough to say that: God "is" definitely a respecter of persons! He favors those that love, worship and fear him. I have heard preachers say that God has never intervened in our affairs here on earth unless someone prayed about it first. Truthfully, I have not researched this but assume it to be true. This means that God gives us free will and does not intrude unless we specifically ask him to. So, why did God allow David the "apple of his eye" to kill tens of thousands of people, even children? The answer is because Israel and David as a people called out to God and asked for protection and victory. God did just that! Offered them protection and victory. The other people did not. God does not interfere unless we ask him! ("Free will") If your family (children and all) were at war with another family (children and all) who would you choose to be the victor if it were within your power? Why did Gideon defeat the Medians with only 300 soldiers. God "is" a respecter of persons and he does help those who call out to him. Can we truly blame God when people die? Even little children? God gives us free will yet he stands by ready to protect us, yet "We don’t ask him!" We as a people don’t call out to him! Do you pray for your spouse or family every time they get in the car and leave for work or other places? I do, every day! Do you pray for your children while they are at school? I do! Every day. Call me a fanatic, but I even go out and anoint my wife’s car with oil and pray protection over it. I do the same over my house, the children’s bedrooms and every other room. I pray for protection against spiritual forces concerning my family and myself. It seems like allot of trouble I know, but when disaster strikes, you’ll wish you had. (Better to start now) If we were given the gift of free will and God respects that enough to "not" interfere in our lives unless we ask him, isn’t it "our" duty to protect the children and pray Gods protection on them? God made this so easy for us, that a chimpanzee could do it, yet we don’t, and still blame God. Mark 11:24 - "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Matthew 21:22 - "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." Matthew 7:7 - "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Psalms 37:4 - Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. James 4:2 - You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. James 4:3 - You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. There are many more verses concerning this, these were only a few. WILL PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD OF JESUS CHRIST GO TO HELL? As far as the people who have not yet heard the good news, who is to say? You and I both have run across people in our lifetimes that we are quick to say: "She is going to Heaven" or "He is going to Hell". Like creation, that is reserved for the Father only. We can not say who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Only God can! I would think only the people who have heard, but rejected the good news have to worry, not those who are ignorant of it. Here are some scriptures that you might find interesting. One refers to the good news of Jesus being given to the dead, the other refers to Jesus himself preaching to the dead. 1 Peter 4:6 Many scholars have many different points of view concerning these scriptures. One point of view was that it refers to the sinners of the old world, expressing a hope that some of them might be saved; 1Peter 3:18 1Peter 3:19 - By whom he went to the spirits in prison, preaching to those 1Peter 3:20 - Who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water: I have underlined the key words above. "Christ" - (the one who went to the spirits in prison) "Spirits" - (not flesh, but dead) "in the days of Noah" - (meaning hundreds or thousands of years before Christ - they were dead and had not heard of Jesus Christ) "but God in his mercy kept back the punishment" - (God can be merciful to who he wills as he wishes) The point is, "we don’t know". The scriptures are not crystal clear on this particular issue. God "is" a loving God, so why not trust him on this and give him the benefit of the doubt. However, for God to be God, there is only one requirement, that he has the power that he has! That’s it! He is under no obligation to fit into our neat little box just the way we want him to fit. The fact that he is a good and loving God is simply a bonus for us. (How blessed we are) If this particular topic disturbs you, the question you should be asking yourself is: "What are you going to do about it?" Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Mark 16:15 Mark 16:16 - "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. I will point out that, people who have never heard of Jesus neither believe "or" disbelieve. As for myself, I am just trusting God, that he has everything under control. God is like this: A man has two sons. One is rebellious and disrespectful, the other is obedient and striving to be just like the father. It is clear which one will receive the fathers inheritance. Loving God? YES! He loved you so much that he made it incredibly easy for you to enter the kingdom of heaven. So easy, that all you have to do is accept his son who died on the cross for you. Your entry to heaven is guaranteed. However, while you are here on earth, if you want things to go better for you, it will require a little action and faith on your part. Just go pick someone at random on the street and expect them to love and protect you. It won’t work. However, pick the same person, prove and show love, loyalty and respect to them, and you will get quite a different reaction from them. God is no different in that respect. So, the long awaited answer to the question: "What can I give to God that he can not create for himself?" The answer is: "You!" It is a gift he treasures and protects more than gold and diamonds. Give God a gift today! God Bless You Dan Douglass ~ GIVE ONLY WHAT YOU CAN COMFORTABLY
AFFORD ~
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Last Updated
06/07/2010 |
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