ACT4 THE REASON FOR PERSECUTION...THE MESSAGES
Standing in the way of this world's view of success is the simple truth about God and the plan of Salvation. I send you greetings in the love and mercy of Christ our Lord; and I want for you to know that the very things that people are killing and stealing for in this world are worthless to God. We put great values on the paper that we carry in a wallet or a purse, and yet it is only paper, and in the end it is useless. The very things that we consider of the greatest value to us may be the materials God uses to pave a street with. Our sense of any real value is so skewed in in God's point of view, and we can easily see why the world's concepts are as filthy rags compared to God's thoughts, and values.
God's values are different than ours are but then His values are perfect and our are very imperfect as shown by what we value in this life. As humans we don't like to be told that we cannot own something or control something in our lives. That is especially true when we have been allowed to think that we can, or that we have the right to control or own. That is actually one of the lies of this world that we tend to embrace the most...we can be the captain of our own ship; we can do what we want, and we must have control in order to be successful. What we are not told by this world is that we are all made for a particular purpose...we are designed for a particular work in mind. Because of our make up and the way we are created we can never be truly happy until we find that purpose and fulfill it in our lives here. That is why there are so many people who are unhappy. It does not matter if they have been wildly successful and have riches beyond the imagination; if they have never found that one thing they have been created to do they will be miserable in this life.
This world hates messages that take away the control of someone over their own lives because when someone realizes that fact and they give control to the one whom they can trust ( who is God) then they can no longer be manipulated by the lies that the enemy of God tells...at least not nearly as easily. The message of the first church was the same message that Jesus gave the disciples and the leaders of the Synagogue..quit playing games with your life! This message has never been well received by the world because it directly means that we are here for a reason, and that we are not in charge. The persecution is more about the message than the man, and Jesus was crucified because He not only spoke the message, but He lived out the message. The sinful heart cannot escape that message even when trying to hide from the presence of God, and that brings certain condemnation on the heart. We are all dealing with some kind of hangup when it comes to giving all that we are to God. Dying to the influences of this world is not a bad thing once you get past the need to control your life. It can be frightening to wake up in the morning to not know where God is going to lead you that day...but in the same way it can be very freeing to know that you no longer have to do the worrying or have the responsibility of control over your life. Where is your life going today? I can honestly tell you I don't know where I go from finishing this blog today, and I am alright with that. What is in your life right now? May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
God's values are different than ours are but then His values are perfect and our are very imperfect as shown by what we value in this life. As humans we don't like to be told that we cannot own something or control something in our lives. That is especially true when we have been allowed to think that we can, or that we have the right to control or own. That is actually one of the lies of this world that we tend to embrace the most...we can be the captain of our own ship; we can do what we want, and we must have control in order to be successful. What we are not told by this world is that we are all made for a particular purpose...we are designed for a particular work in mind. Because of our make up and the way we are created we can never be truly happy until we find that purpose and fulfill it in our lives here. That is why there are so many people who are unhappy. It does not matter if they have been wildly successful and have riches beyond the imagination; if they have never found that one thing they have been created to do they will be miserable in this life.
This world hates messages that take away the control of someone over their own lives because when someone realizes that fact and they give control to the one whom they can trust ( who is God) then they can no longer be manipulated by the lies that the enemy of God tells...at least not nearly as easily. The message of the first church was the same message that Jesus gave the disciples and the leaders of the Synagogue..quit playing games with your life! This message has never been well received by the world because it directly means that we are here for a reason, and that we are not in charge. The persecution is more about the message than the man, and Jesus was crucified because He not only spoke the message, but He lived out the message. The sinful heart cannot escape that message even when trying to hide from the presence of God, and that brings certain condemnation on the heart. We are all dealing with some kind of hangup when it comes to giving all that we are to God. Dying to the influences of this world is not a bad thing once you get past the need to control your life. It can be frightening to wake up in the morning to not know where God is going to lead you that day...but in the same way it can be very freeing to know that you no longer have to do the worrying or have the responsibility of control over your life. Where is your life going today? I can honestly tell you I don't know where I go from finishing this blog today, and I am alright with that. What is in your life right now? May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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