Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Does God Care How I Live or Act?

I recently read a Facebook post where the user posted, “I don’t care what others do or say about me. I try to live for the Lord, but I’m not perfect. He understands and loves me just like I am, whether I’m good or not”. I also was told once by a local pastor that, “we cannot be perfect in our lives. Living like Jesus says is not attainable. He understands that and loves us anyway”. I thought on these statements for quite some time and came up with several questions:


• Can we turn our lives over to God and then continue to live how we want and treat Him and His word like dirt?
• Are we supposed to live like we want because His standards are too high?
• Does God expect us to live as a Christian all the time or only when we feel like it?
• Are we so shallow and self absorbed with our own wants and desires that we put God on the shelf until we need Him?
• Does God really love us if we continually sin against Him or ignore His rules/teachings?
• If we live life doing what we want, when we want, are we really Christians at all?

God loves everyone. He sent His Son, Jesus, to repair the gap created between God and Man when Adam sinned. Since there is no doubt that God loves us, I did some research on it and found the following:

What God wants is this: He wants you to be completely good, and separate from everything that is bad.
In I Thessalonians 4, Paul tells us that we should live a life that pleases God. We do this by separating ourselves from the things that draw us away from Him. Some of these are sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, coveting others possessions, cursing, etc. Anything that God frowns upon, makes Him sad when we do them. How do you find out what God frowns upon? Read His word.

In I John 3, the writer tells us that we cannot act like the devil and still be a disciple of Christ. We cannot serve the one that Jesus came to destroy and Him also. If we still are trapped by and desire the things we profess to turn from, we may need to re-check our “decision” to follow Christ and make sure of its validity.

Matthew Henry said of this, “Religion is not an art, a matter of dexterity and skill, but a new nature. And the regenerate person cannot sin as he did before he was born of God, and as others do who are not born again. There is that light in his mind, which shows him the evil and malignity of sin. There is that bias upon his heart, which disposes him to loathe and hate sin. There is the spiritual principle that opposes sinful acts. And there is repentance for sin, if committed. It goes against him to sin with forethought. The children of God and the children of the devil have their distinct characters. The seed of the serpent are known by neglect of religion, and by their hating real Christians. He only is righteous before God, as a justified believer, who is taught and disposed to righteousness by the Holy Spirit. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. May all professors of the gospel lay these truths to heart, and try themselves by them”.

In Romans 6, we see that we are not to sin more to make acquire more grace. The apostle is very full in pressing the necessity of holiness. He does not explain away the free grace of the gospel, but he shows that connection between justification and holiness are inseparable. True believers are dead to sin, therefore they ought not to follow it. No man can at the same time be both dead and alive. He is a fool who, desiring to be dead unto sin, thinks he may live in it.

Years ago, we were “sighting in” the scope on a rifle I was using. I went to a friends firing range to shoot and took aim at the target. While shooting, I discovered that the sight was set too low. I aimed using that sight, but I hit the bottom of the target. I had to aim high in order to hit anywhere near the bull’s-eye. I adjusted the scope several times and finally got it lined up to where I was aiming.

Aren’t our lives a lot like that? If we set our sights too low, we really don’t accomplish all that we can. Sometimes we have to aim high in order to reach a desired goal.

What should be our aim in life? How high should we point our ambitions? Well, since Scripture is our true guide, we will shoot for nothing but spiritual maturity. In fact, in Paul’s farewell to the people of Corinth, he said, “Aim for perfection” (2 Cor. 13:11 NIV). And we also have the high aim of these words from the lips of Jesus, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).

Perfection is a lofty target, and we won’t attain it in this life. But if we want to honor God and get close to that high goal, we need to aim high. That means turning from our sinful and failed ways of the past and turning to the honorable things of God. It takes a change in heart and mind to follow God. If we are to follow Him, we have to get off of the paths we have walked all our lives and walk in a way that will bring honor to Him.

Yes, God will still love us if we are imperfect.  However, if we call ourselves followers of Him we should do all within our power to follow His teachings and bring joy to Him in our lives.
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1 Thessalonians 4 (English Standard Version)
Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.


Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.


But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 John 3:9 (ESV)
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.


Romans 6:1-2 (ESV)
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

2 Corinthians 13:11 (ESV)
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.


Matthew 5:48 (ESV)
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

How I Ended Up This Way - Well, Maybe....... (re-hashed)

Some may consider this disturbing, but I promise you I’m fine and all is well, (as well as it has ever been) in Gary’s head. However, after one of my recent counseling sessions (thanks, ex), I was asked how I felt about life and what I thought others think of me. At my next session I was supposed to give a report about my thoughts. I figured I’d share it so here goes: A word of advice, you might want to click to another page now…………



For most of my life, I cared deeply about all that went on and everyone that was a part of my life. I enjoyed my life, my work, my family & my friends. I absolutely adored my Kids and my “wife”. Over these past few years, almost everything that I cared deeply about was removed, walked away or was taken away. I fought losing them, and did all I could to salvage what I could, but lost miserably. Since then I developed a strong apathy toward others and events that take place in my life. I tried to be a good Father to my two wonderful Children, but evidently didn’t do to well at it since neither of them has a desire to be any part of my life or to have me in theirs. I’ve been told I was horrible at being a husband, so I’ve decided I probably should avoid doing that again or in building relationships in general. Plus having someone you’ve devoted your life to turn their back on you has a tendency to severely damage your self-worth and tarnish your opinion of yourself and your abilities. Even more so when you have no real understanding as to why they did what they did to you.

I’ll live through whatever comes my way, do my best to not interfere with others lives, try to keep to myself to avoid burdening anyone and when my time is up here I’ll die and more than likely few will care. I haven’t and won’t make a major life altering impact on anyone; the world will not mourn my loss nor honor my time here on Earth. I’ve come to accept the fact that I am not the type person that people enjoy having around. I’m opinionated; I do not have a strong “mercy” side to me, don’t have a good bedside manner, cannot give good advice, and offer nothing but an excellent example of how not to do things or how not to live your life. I have an innate ability to rub people the wrong way, especially women. I can fix many broken items but really, is that something to base your whole reason for living on? So I guess technically, I’m not totally useless. :-)

However, as with most issues in my life, I don’t really care if I’m liked or wanted. I’ve learned that human love is not all it’s cut out to be, it’s feelings based, does not last forever, it’s self-serving & self-centered, disposable and that some people are destined to spend their lives alone in solitude/alone. It’s not necessarily what I had planned when I was growing up, as I had a yearning desire to love and to be loved, but sometimes life dumps things in your life and no matter how hard your struggle with it, there’s nothing you can do about it. So you must learn to accept it and move on.

I was chastised recently because of my apathy. Work wants me to be more passionate about my endeavors and goals for work/life as I have been in the past. I’ll try because they are the one who give me a paycheck for now, but from what I’ve discovered these past few years, it will be an almost impossible task to accomplish as apathy has taken a great hold in my life and in the end, will it really matter if I was a devoted employee or not? In life and ministry, I’ll tell you the truth and you can either accept it or reject it. Your beliefs have no lasting impression or bearing on my life on Earth or my eternity afterward. So I really don’t care if you believe me, call me a liar or think I’m crazy.

I saw a t-shirt years ago that said, “Life Sucks, and Then You Die!” I thought at the time the person who was wearing the shirt must have had a difficult time in their life or that they needed to change their outlook on life. I’ve come to realize in the last few years however that for some of us, sadly, it’s true.

I still have a desire to love and to be loved, but it’s getting to be a much diminished and almost non-existent part of my life. I’m here until God says I’m through and calls me on. My opinion is; the sooner the better. I won’t do anything to help shorten my time here, but don’t have any desire to lengthen it. To paraphrase Revelation 22:20, “Even so Lord, come quickly”

My best friend in life told me a few years back, “You’ve changed. You no longer have the passion for life, fun and adventure you once had”. I couldn’t help but agree. I’ve tried to get back to some semblance to where I once was, but somehow I keep getting beat back to where I am.


So there you have it. Yes, I’ve got issues but who doesn’t? Mine may be “extreme”, but it’s where I was dropped off and I’m unable to get out of it. No matter where I turn, who I turn to, or what I do; I’m here. I would love to someday get moved to a new point and once again have a passion for life and love, but I don’t see that happening. And no, it’s not other people’s fault I’m here. I got here through my own bad decisions and gullibility and can’t blame others for my bad choices and decisions. So I guess it’s going to be up to me to get out. But apathy is one strong sucker.

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"Still Holding On"
Performed by: Oak Ridge Boys

When I was young, I was sure I never could grow old.
I was gonna climb mountains, and sail the seas, go searching for gold.
But those years come creeping in and my journey gets so long,
I don’t spring back like I used to, but I’m still holding on.

Holding on to what I believe in be it right or wrong.
Holding on to my dreams and my crazy schemes yes I’m still holding on.

I thought I’d found true love, I was sure it never could end.
I was blinded by the light in her eyes, couldn’t see around the bend.
Then one night she said goodbye, I turned around and she was gone.
Shook my head and shed my tears, but I’m still holding on.

Holding on to believing that love is a good thing even though she’s gone.
Holding on to my dreams and my crazy schemes yes I’m still holding on.

O at night when the cold wind blows and my collar’s pulled up high.
I’m all alone in a God forsaken place, wondering why.
A man only does what he must do and the journey must go on.
Brush myself off, laugh at the wind ‘cause I’m still holding on.

Holding on to what I believe in even thou it’s wrong.
Holding on to my dreams and my crazy schemes yes I’m still holding on.

Holding on to what I believe in be it right or wrong.
Holding on to my dreams and my crazy schemes yes I’m still holding on.