There are a
lot of things that have shocked me in my twenty odd years on planet earth,
there are a number still that have appalled me and yet the number that have
done both are not so many. The topic of this “speech” is one of the few. It is
something that is religious in nature so if you are not religious, I highly
recommend you keep on reading and if you are religious I highly recommend you
keep on reading. Basically just keep on reading. Back to topic, this awesome
fact is one that has been taken to unreasonable extremes by the Charismatic
denomination. A lot of you are familiar with it, it goes kind of like this:
Some man or woman starts speaking about some topic that no one knows, a lot of
the time not even the person who is speaking then they get to a point were in
order to justify wanting the unreasonable, unrealistic and often things that
would do them no good they talk about how their father, God, is the richest
there ever was and will be and how he will give them stuff because they are his
children. I do not doubt there is truth in the statement, however I would like
to point out the folly in an unnecessarily large amount of thinking on that.
God is the
father of all Christians, not Christians by religion but those who are
Christians by faith, that is those who have come to understand that they are
sinful and that their only hope of any sensible life both in this life and the
one after is to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who came to die on the
cross for their sins and is now in heaven interceding on their behalf. That is
the core of the Christian faith and if you notice we, as humans, are only
involved at one level and that is the believing and putting our faith part, for
those who zoned out. My point is that the Christian life is God centered and
not man centered and this is seen even in the core of it. Now back to him being
our Father, it has to be noted that he was not always our father for we are
sinful and he cannot stand sin. So something had to be done in order to bring
us who were utterly sinful and filthy to him who is holy and precious. When it
was done we were then adopted. Now to look at from the point of view of the
adopted, which we all should. Why would the king of glory and he who has it all
even want us/you/me as his children/child? Its borderline ridiculous. Having
been in a family that has had a number of people brought in I know that it
takes a while to settle and a frequent question that is asked is “will I ever
be loved as much as the true children?” or even “what am I really doing here, I
don’t belong” Such questions come because of a realization of unworthiness and
yet there we are in the position of favor. One question that comes up in the mind
of the ungrateful and the foolish is “how can I milk this of all its got?” and
statements like “now that this man is my father I can get anything that I
want”. I do know that some of those thoughts come up every once in a while and
it is expected but the main thought should not be that of milking the rich man
of all his got but an appreciation that though I come from the lowest of the
low he still calls me child.
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| Where God found us is a lot worse than this. Try this to the power infinity, that's still not close enough |
The reason
why I am appalled by such a reaction to the awesome fact is that not only does
it lead a number of people down the wrong route in terms of their thinking
pattern, which has the potential to damage a lifetime of service, but it leads
to a man centered view of Christianity which is the downfall of so great a
thing. The moment we make ourselves the center of our relationship with God we
damage and taint it. Everything that has man at its center is dying,
everything. If we always think of life as a what can I get from this all or how
does this benefit me, or God will give me this much money or this many friends
or whatever it is that you most desire apart from him you use God as the means
to an end and not the end in himself which is one of the biggest insults you
can ever throw at him. You tell him that Yes, you are my father, and yes, you
picked me up when I was nothing and deserved nothing but I want you to get me
this and that because you can do it and that will make me happy. How selfish of
you to displease he who gave so much for you. And there you are talking about
how you want a big car and you deserve it because God is your father. Or how
you deserve to be the top of your class because God is your father or how you
deserve a certain job and will get it because God is your father. You selfish,
ungrateful child. I bet if you heard a child talking like that you would smack
him/her so hard they would have their facial structure changed, I think I
would.
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| Such thinking is folly and folly is the biggest characteristic of a what?? You guessed right |
I have said
a lot and at times have digressed but I will end with this. We spend so much
time looking at what will get from God when God does not promise us everything
first he promises us himself and says he is enough, why can’t we take that? I
am not saying do not reach to be the best and have the best but what I am
saying is all that is secondary because the time will come when tittle and
riches will be no more and all that will remain is you naked before a holy God,
then What? Where will your life’s ambitions that were aside from him be? If we
look through the bible at a number of people who God used in a mighty way,
there are more who did great things for him
who relied and saw in him all that they wanted and needed than those who
served him and where painfully rich or popular. There are more petitions of the
“more of you God” than the “more of the stuff you can give me God” in the
entire bible. Lastly I will say this, God is not his stuff, God is God. The
sooner you learn that the better and if you want to learn that to its fullest
or get as close as you possible can here are two ways for you to do it. One
pick your bible up from wherever you leave it when you are busy doing
unnecessary things and read it, you won’t believe how much it can speak.
Secondly and equally as important talk to God in prayer, who else better to
tell you how awesome he is than God himself. And if you don’t know how to pray
look at the first point, you will find great tips on how to get started there.
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