No Excuses

Recently I came to realize that God requires nothing short of complete surrender from us. I did post about this before, but then, I didn't yet understand the depth of the surrender necessary. Even though in that post I denounced the necessity of 'balance' by saying that our every thought should be about God, I had yet to do this in my own life. This blog is about my struggles as well as the good news of God. And to be honest, I have been finding it very difficult to surrender myself completely to God. I kept telling myself that it's okay for me to watch just ONE episode of this show I really liked, that that's not a bad thing. But every time I came to watch my episode, I would feel seriously guilty.

So, I have been praying and asking God to help me come to dislike the things that are not good for me, and to lead me towards a deeper relationship with Him. If there's one thing I've said, it's that God answers prayers. I'm still tempted, no doubt. Every time I open my laptop, I want to go straight to that particular website and watch the shows I love so much. I even go so far as to open the page to go watch. But then, the Holy Spirit speaks to me and warns me off. And I'll be honest, I've blatantly ignored the Spirit before and just did what I wanted to do. But I came to realize how scary that is. I became afraid of the fact that I was capable of hardening my heart to that extent, to drown out the sound of the Spirit speaking to me.

I believe that if my belief in God is true, if I believe truly in His word and His promise of a second coming, then NOTHING else matters. All that really matters is God. The things of this world are all fleeting, if they cannot help me gain salvation, then I should not indulge in them. And sometimes, I make excuses and I say, I can do it tomorrow, just for today I'll indulge and do what I want. But then I also ask myself, 'If God is most important, why would you waste time with other things that have nothing to do with Him? Why not give yourself wholly to Him NOW?' Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

And not just that, but when I think about the love of God, and His sacrifice for me on the cross, it becomes so much easier for me to do His will. When I sit down and really meditate and think about Jesus and what He did, and that He loves me so much no matter what I do, that gives me strength to press on. The least I can do for Him is obey, and try my best to love Him back. The Christian life is truly a daily struggle. Because every day I go through these temptations, and every day there is that possibility of failing. We must ask God for strength every day, and call on Him every time temptation knocks on our door.

"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:12.13

'There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

The Requirements of God

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
With ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
And to walk humbly with your God.

Who is a God like you,
Who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever,
But delight to show mercy.
You will again have compassion on us;
You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him:

"Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously,
That we may offer the fruit of our lips."

"I will heal their waywardness and love them freely,
For my anger has turned away from them."

-Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #814

Is Hell for Real?

A half truth is more dangerous than a bold-faced lie. Is there a hell? Yes, yes there is. But maybe the better question is; will there be a hell? There is no place right now where people go when they die. They don't go to heaven, nor do they go to hell. They're asleep.

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7
 
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:7

The spirit, or the breath of life is returned to God at every man's death. They do not roam the earth as spirits, nor look down on us from heaven as is commonly thought.

"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing...
Also their love, and their hatred and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any thing that is done under the sun." Ecclesiastes 9:5,6

Now that we've established that the dead are no more, let's talk about the concept of hell. Like I said before, there is hell. Hell will be at the end of the world, when Jesus comes to pass his judgement upon us all. But make no mistake, Jesus is not looking forward to hell at all, in fact, it hurts Him to think that his creations will perish in hell. Hell was not prepared for human beings, it was prepared for the devil and his angels. However, those humans who choose to disobey God and partake of the vices that are under the devil's government will also have their part in hell. God is a just God, so even as he loves, he must mete out justice.

"Then he shall say unto them on His left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise... but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

Now, is hell going to last forever? From reading the Bible, one might think so. A lot of the verses that I have read pertaining to hell call it 'everlasting fire.' So I see where the misconception that people will be tormented in hell forever comes from. But I already said, God is love. I cannot imagine the God that I have come to know tormenting people in hell forever for their wrong doings. That is not love, that is cruel. When the Bible speaks of hell being everlasting, it means the consequences of it are everlasting

Sodom and Gomorrha is an example of this.

"Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 7

Now, the text says that Sodom and Gomorrha suffered eternal fire, but is Sodom and Gomorrha still burning today? No, it's not. So it stands to reason that hell fire will not go on forever as some people believe, just the effects of the fire are everlasting, just as they were everlasting to the people of Sodom and Gomorrha.

Also consider:

"For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." Psalm 37:10

"And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet..." Malachi 4:3

The wicked will cease to exist, they will be turned to ashes by hell fire. So they will not be burning forever. Now, to be honest, I have my doubts about hell aside from the truths discussed above that I truly believe. Like, one of the questions I still have is; will the people burning in hell be able to feel themselves burning? I haven't yet found a text in the Bible that answers that question. People I've spoken to have different opinions. All I know is, God is in control. He knows what he is doing, and what He plans to do in the future. I have chosen to trust Him.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8,9

A Mighty Fortress

A mighty fortress is our god,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper, He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great;
And armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing,
Were not the right man on our side,
The man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He, Lord Sabaoth is His name,
From age to age the same,
And he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! His doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sideth;
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill,
God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

-Martin Luther

I love this hymn. Not only the music that goes with it, but the words are so inspiring. It makes me smile.

Which Nature do you Feed?

I was watching a sermon and the speaker gave an analogy to the sinner's struggle that I found to be very relevant to my own life. Inside every human being are two different sides - There is the nature that we inherited from the first Adam. It is sinful and self-serving, there is nothing good in it: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Romans 5:12
But there is also a nature that can be imparted to us by the second Adam, Jesus Christ: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Romans 5:19

These natures are constantly at war within us for dominance. One nature has the devil as the master, and the other has Jesus Christ as the Saviour. The analogy that the speaker gave was this: You have two dogs, and they are in your care for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, they have to fight against each other. You let one dog loose in the yard, so it can run about and exercise; you feed it the best food, and make sure it has plenty of water. The other dog, you tie up and put inside a dog cage. You never let it out, and you don't give it food or water. At the end of the two weeks, when these dogs have to fight, which dog do you think will win? (Never mind the fact that the one in the cage will most likely be dead, it is an analogy after all).

It's the same with our spiritual life. I wonder sometimes at how weak I am when it comes to resisting temptation. And there is my answer. What nature to I feed? Because at the end of the day, the stronger nature will win, and strength is determined by whether that nature is fed. Do I read my Bible more than I watch television? Do I spend more time talking to God, or more time gossiping about my brothers and sisters? When we waiver before temptation, it is because we have not strengthened ourselves to resist. Every temptation is a dog fight, and the stronger dog will always win.

That being said, we can always call upon God when we need Him, and He will always answer.

"But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." Deuteronomy 4:29

The Outward Adorning

I've never thought of myself as a Feminist, but now I realize that I probably am. God has been teaching me that the way I dress is not up to his standard, and it's been a hard pill to swallow. I posted a video on modesty some time ago, and now I see that what was on that video was not modesty all - at least not God's definition of the word.

Deuteronomy 22:5 says, "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God." Now in this day and age, I have to admit that one can hardly tell the difference between the clothes of men and women anymore. That includes myself - I only own pants, I wear skirts or dresses only for church on sabbath. And part of me wanted to believe that this Bible text is outdated, and I don't have to pay attention  to it. But I know better than that. Whether or not men adopted pants first (and it could just have easily been women that adopted them) the fact is that today, pants are men's clothing. And by wearing pants, women are adopting clothes that pertain to men. And the Bible says that this is an abomination to the Lord.

Women should not wear tight fitting clothes that stick to the body; but the clothes a woman wears should conceal her figure. Pants do the very opposite of concealing. I have learned that women want to attract attention to themselves - after all, men are visual creatures and are attracted to what they see. So women want to make themselves appear more attractive by wearing make-up and dressing in eye-catching clothing. However, modest women of God should as much as possible deny that inclination to attract attention to self.

Now a lot  of the time, in church when the way women dress is discussed, I always hear members saying that the way women dress drives men to have lustful thoughts - almost like women are responsible for when men sin through lust. And that just bothers me. I agree, we should be our brother's keeper and not lead anyone to sin. But I also think it is unfair to put men's sins so squarely on the shoulders of women. Especially when what provokes lust is subjective.

I asked God to open my eyes, and now a part of me wishes I could close them again. But every word in the Bible is relevant even now - not just then. God does not change; so if it was abomination then, it's abomination now. I feel my thoughts on this issue as discussed here are so disjointed and confusing. But that's just because it's still an issue I am learning, and it's a difficult one. The Bible does not set clear parameters on how long one's skirt or dress should be, or how tight one's blouse should be. So any discussion on modesty to me seems like it would depend on our subjective opinions.

But 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." So to me, there should be no confusion, and in all things, not just the issue of modesty, we should all be of one accord.

It's a hard pill to swallow that the way I dress is not up to God's standard. The changes that are needed are going to be so difficult, but I can do all things through Christ.

It's not a Fence; It's a Guardrail

A lot of people have the conception that Christians are a bunch of stick-in-the-muds who are bound by limitless numbers of laws and rules and dos and don'ts. It is a real tragedy that people think that way. It is all a ploy by the devil to get people to turn away from God. But when I really look at it, ALL God's laws serve a purpose - and that purpose is ALWAYS our own good. It's so obvious all around us. Not doing God's will doesn't make anyone happy or free - it just leads to death and destruction - literally.

The most obvious example I can come up with is relationships - the romantic ones. So much heartache and suffering could be avoided if we just listened to what God has to say about this subject, and do what he says. God ALWAYS knows what's best. After all, He is our Creator, how could he not?

But back to relationships. The Bible says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" Exodous 20:14. This Commandment includes fornication. If you don't believe that, then here's another text for you: "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body" 1 Corinthians 6:18. The Bible is so clear on this. God is not trying to curb our sexual appetites by commanding this; and He is not trying to curb our fun. He made us to have sexual urges and desires. But they were meant to be expressed in the right context - a loving marriage. Instead, we choose to ignore this and what's the result? - Unwanted children, single parenthood, teenage pregnancies, emotional scars and debilitation, STDs, and who knows what else. Now I know unwanted children and single parenthood can happen in marriage or when a spouse dies, but don't get technical with me. My point is, that many of the problems associated with romantic relationships would be nonexistent if we obeyed God's law about fornication and adultery.

There are other examples. What we eat and our lifestyles are two others. If we were to go back to God's original vegetarian diet, with no animals or their by-products, we would be so much healthier. It has been proven by science that eating foods loaded with animal fat leads to health problems like high cholesterol and heart disease. Eating foods high in sugar like sodas and donuts can lead to diabetes. The food God prescribes would cause no debilitating diseases.

My point is, God's laws are there for our protection, and our own good. So why not follow them? It's so hard not to eat that piece of fried chicken when I smell it. But thinking of the damage it can do to my insides - damage that God has foreseen - makes me step away from it. I am trying to be a vegan and it's not easy. I have not eaten any meats for months now, but I'm finding it more difficult to stay away from cheese and yogurt. But I know that these foods are not good for me. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and I should treat it as such. By God's grace, and through the strength he gives me, I will overcome. We just have to take it day by day and remember to depend on God for strength.

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" 3 John 2.