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Jesus Wept
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The whole world can see that the Church is sick and is in need of healing. The church is sick because of a doctrine which it has embraced.
Which person is more likely to "work out their salvation with fear and trembling"?
1. The person who is assured of their salvation and believes they will go straight to heaven when they die, because of something they believe about Jesus
or
2. The person who is assured of their final destination (because of confidence in God's character) but is not sure if they really "believe in" Jesus and therefore think they might not go straight to heaven when they die. (See salvation)
Paul said he ran the race as not to lose the prize. If a modern preacher talked about possibly losing the prize while preaching to others he'd be howled out of the Church.
But enough of the Churches sickness. What about our own spiritual sickness.
"It's so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see him" (Prayer: Letters to Malcolm by C.S. Lewis)
Do your prayers motivate you to help others or are they an excuse not to do what you know you should do? (See Decision making and the Will of God for more on this important issue)
OK, we all know the Church is in a bad way and we also know that a lot of people use prayers as an excuse not to do God's will (see disobey) but what about our own health? Is it ok to pray for one's own physical healing?
Do you think Jesus will answer my prayers for healing while I spend the little energy I have
on myself? Did
Jesus die so I could spend much of my day watching movies and playing computer games?* If I spend the little energy I have on myself, why wouldn't I just spend more energy on myself if I was healthier and more energetic?
It is true that if I was healthier I could work harder, but did Jesus die so I could work hard and buy myself a nice car and a
big house? I have already shown that I cannot be trusted with a little bit of
energy, why would He trust me with a lot? Will God heal me so I can put more
energy into satisfying my own pleasures?
God wants to set us free from selfishness. We were made to love. In fact our need to love is greater than our need to be loved. But here is the catch, if you don't know you are loved you will find it very hard to love. The apostle Paul wrote, "We love because God first loved us." Trusting someone who is trustworthy is the pathway to love. Trust God by believing he will take care of you and by doing what he asks of you. Don't think about what you are giving up, if you do you'll be miserable. Look to the future when you will be intimate with God in heaven. Trust God, he will take care of you (that's faith). Set yourself on doing the good you know you ought to do because God asks you to (that's faith also). If you trust him enough to try and put Jesus words into practice you will find that they are true and then you will start to believe God because you wil have found for yourself that he is true. Love is greater than faith and hope but faith and hope lead to love. We need intimacy more than we need physical healing. The healing of the heart is more important than any physical healing. Can God heal you physical ills? Of course he can. But if you think that is the most important thing in life you have a lot to learn.
For those who have a hard time thinking that the God of the Bible could be good I highly recommend Unspoken Sermons by George MacDonald. God is better than any of us can possibly imagine.
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For those Christians who are concerned about the health of the Church I highly recommend.
Footnote:
*Perhaps you are not guilty of that but are you guilty of Corban?
Did Jesus die so I could practice Corban and
call it serving God?
If you are reading the Bible and you know your mother wants you to clean your
room put it down; do what she wants you to do and then go back and read. (The
same could be said about many things e.g. chatting about religion on the
internet, listening to Christian music, praying etc. All of these things can be
done after you've done what your parents have asked you to do. If you don't do what your parents ask what will they think? Will they understand? Is there a chance that they won't understand? Do what they ask as soon as you can.)
In a world in which disrespect for parents is rife, the most powerful witness
we can have is to show respect for our parents by doing what they ask when they
ask, whether they are Christian or not. What is more, how can I expect to be
a good father if I do not begin by being a good son? Why should I expect my
children to respect me if I do not respect my parents?
Confucius warned that a civilization is doomed if children do not respect their
parents. I believe he was right.
How we treat our parents will determine what kind of people we become. To a
large degree, it is our character which will determine who will listen to us
and how much influence we will have. Character Counts.
The future of western civilization will depend on how much Christians obey their
parents. Jesus has asked us to do this and He said, "If you love me, you
will obey me."
Note: This does not mean parents can abuse their children. Often well meaning parents' abuse their children (without knowing it) because they want them to be successful. But what is real success?
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