Tag Archives: Creationism

The Double-Minded Man

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If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. –James 1:5-8

I have been on a search lately striving for a stronger faith, but the problem is faith cannot be forced.  We cannot wake up one day and say, “today I have strong faith.”  It’s not so much a choice I’ve found but a gift from God that usually comes as the outcome of my experiences.  Of course there are those that say to be weary of basing your faith all on experiences, but if we can’t experience God then what is the Bible about?  It is an entire book of experiences.  We believers long for these experiences—these little tastes of heaven.  Just a brush of God’s fingers across my back can rejuvenate me and fill me up to be ready to face to the world.

The problem is when I go through these spiritual dry spells, lacking experiences, the doubting and “big questions” start to take me over.  My brain flips on it’s God given, instinctual philosophical thinking.  I begin to analyze everything and postmodernism begins to eat at my faith.   “One’s perception of truth is all subjective” they say…   Well, by definition there can only be one truth to our existence and every person by nature has to have a worldview on the way they perceive life.  I suppose postmodernism is just being honest with ourselves, admitting that we can never be absolutely sure that our worldview is correct.    Whatever our worldview is—whether theism or atheism, creationism or evolution, Buddhist or nihilist—we all place a certain amount of faith into our perception of truth.

I have felt quite unstable lately.  I have become “the double-minded man.”  Christianity teaches honesty but when I am honest with myself about my doubts I have trouble conforming all my beliefs to Western Christianity.  I have prayed to God to help me through it.  I have cried out to hear back from Him but I have not been getting anything in reply.  I wish I could turn off my mind and just enjoy the simple things of life but I have become obsessed with the unseen.  Socrates said “the unexamined life is not worth living” but I’m not so sure I agree with him.  I think I would side more with whoever first said, “Ignorance is bliss.” When I was a child I didn’t think so philosophically and I just enjoyed things for what they were.   Perhaps that ‘s what Jesus meant when he said “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”  By striving to find meaning in life do we completely miss it?

The Creator of Creativity

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Oh Lord you are so creative!

So many different people all with their own unique thoughts,

With their own spirit, with their own free will,

You didn’t have to make so many different types of trees but you did,

You didn’t have to make the stars so limitless but you did,

You didn’t have to make all the different animal and fish species but you did,

Thank you Lord for all the beauty in this life and on this planet,

It seems as if your creativity is infinite!

How perfect to reflect the glory of an infinite God!

How wonderful you are Lord,

I’m amazed!

 

Thank you Father for making us in your image so that your creativity is reflected by our own creative minds.  Without You I am nothing.

What Will You Feed Your Mind Today?

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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. –Proverbs 9:10 

Our minds—much like our physical bodies—need to be fed. If we don’t feed them they get hungry and start growling for something new. If we constantly feed them junk food they will become unhealthy and eventually sick. Sometimes we don’t realize how bad we’ve been eating. There are “fast food for thoughts” on every corner. The information age puts everything at our finger tips. It can become hard to distinguish the healthy food from the unhealthy food and there is much debate about this. Thankfully God has given us the Holy Spirit which can help us discern the good from the bad. The Holy Spirit is kind of like God’s free nutritionist or personal trainer—but much like an actual nutritionist, if you don’t make the choice to follow their advice you will not see any results.  Is it a coincidence that sin entered the world through the bite of an apple?  I think not.

 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ –Matthew 4:4

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. –John 6:27

Digging Trenches (Finding Hope In Depression)

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“The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”
-Psalm 29:11

Two weeks ago I started a new part time seasonal job with a termite and pest control company.  The bug season hit early this year and they needed extra help because of the amount of business that was coming in.  After the first day on the job I realized I was basically hired to be a trench digger.  To treat a house for termites a trench is dug around the perimeter, we fill the trench with a chemical and then fill the trench back up with dirt.   Now this is some hard work and the weather we’ve been having in GA does not make it any easier.  Before I get off track, my point of writing this is not to complain to you about how physically exhausting my job is, my point is to relate what the Lord taught me through the process.

First day on the job about 2 hours in the first scripture comes to mind:

 “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.”
-Genesis 3:19

The Holy Spirit couldn’t help but rub this one in as I sat there drenched in sweat…  I got a chuckle out of this and it gave me some joy to keep diggin.  Soon after the next scripture popped in my head:

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:18

“Ok, I can be thankful here” I said.  I really was thankful that the Lord had provided a new employment opportunity for me.  This job works perfect with my schedule and brings in some much needed extra money with just recently moving to GA a few months ago.   So I kept digging with a thankful attitude praising God for the work He had provided.

Day two on the job comes and we are on our second termite job of the day.  This is by far the hottest it’s been yet and the hardest house to trench.  I’m underneath a crawl space surrounded by cob webs and dust trying to trench around the foundation pillars.  On top of that the ground at this house is not soft at all.  The third scripture pops in my head:

“Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
-Colossians 3:23

“Really Lord?  I’m digging trenches.  I’m supposed to have the attitude that I’m doing this for You?”  “Yes” He replies and so, I keep digging.

Now I thought about writing this post over a week ago and just leaving it at that, but I sensed—though these verses do give a good message together—that the Lord had not finished speaking.  So I waited…

I waited a week and in that next week rather than hearing the Lord I stopped hearing Him.  Rather than feeling His presence I started feeling alone.  Rather than hearing His voice I started hearing a different voice—the voice of one who says, “You are all alone.”  “You do not know what you’re doing.”  “You are lost and there is no hope because God does not exist.”  Oh my heart sank.  What was happening to me?  I was past this I thought.  How did I ever get so uncontrollably tossed back in to the pit?  The voice told me “You have dug your own trench and now you will lie in it in misery alone.”

I was around other believers but never asked for help.  That’s the scary thing about depression is that the loneliness makes you think that there is no help.  It makes you think that it’s your fault you are depressed and that no one can help.

Lies, lies, LIES!

I mustered up the last ounce of spiritual strength I had and cried out:

“AWAY FROM ME SATAN!  Come Lord and rescue me from the pit!  Help me Father please!”

I got enough strength to pull out my phone and pulled up my Bible app.  I was led to Psalm 29 which I read and the last passage was so simple but really stood out to me:

“The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”

Reading this scripture I cried out, “Lord I am not feeling your peace right now.  Please hear me and bless me with this peace your word promises!”

I didn’t feel better.  The voice came in again saying “these are lies, there is no peace” but I held on to the scripture and kept going back to it.  That evening I did find some strength.  It was not total healing strength but it was strength to talk.  I told my wife how I had been feeling.  Now my wife is no scholar with a doctorate of theology, she is a woman of simple faith which I admire so much.  I’m always caught up in my intellectual thoughts as if I’m actually going to come up with any answers to life’s big questions in my own finite brain.  She doesn’t over analyze things.  She believes because Jesus has touched her heart and that is it.  She told me the simple words, “We live by faith.”   Simple words, but powerful words! 

 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
-Romans 1:17

I was not completely out of the pit yet but I was feeling much better.  Just being open and honest with my feelings took a huge burden off my chest.  I wasn’t alone anymore.  And so I went to bed still confused but starting to look on the bright side of things.

The next morning (yesterday) I felt so much better—almost normal.  I then had strength to reach out for prayer and help from another woman of faith in my life—my mother.  Now my mom is what you might call a “prayer warrior.”  She would never boast in herself but I will boast about my mom.  She is a woman of God!  If there is anyone I know that is close to God’s heart it is my mother.  I am very grateful for her and she prayed for me on the phone with the Spirit of God providing the exact words I needed to hear.  I was encouraged again! Faith was rising and the peace that surpasses understanding was settling back in to my heart.  I wept and prayed and felt Psalm 29:11 coming to life. 

To top it off I go in to church this morning and our Pastor informs us we are going to do things a little different.  He tells us the Lord has put it on his heart to do a different service and that the family of our church needed to be strengthened in the Lord.  “Yes!” I thought, “God is so faithful!” The service was amazing.  Instead of two services we did one long continuous service intermixing prayer, scripture, people sharing testimony, teaching, and worship.  The presence of God was among us!  He strengthened His people today!  He blessed His people with peace!  Amen and thank you Lord Jesus for you are so good to us!  I love you Lord, I love you Veronica, I love you Mom, I love you Pastor Josh and Calvary Chapel Northwest.

The moral of the story: ask for help!  When you’re feeling down go to God’s word and ask for help from other believers.  Through the power of God light will always prevail over darkness!  To whomever the Lord is speaking to now know that Christ is with you and He loves you.  The Lord will give strength to His people.  The Lord will bless His people with peace!  Hallelujah!

The Mystery of God

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For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” -1 Corinthians 3:19-20

Belief in God does not mean I think I know it all.  Belief in God is admitting I don’t know it all and accepting that there is more than what we can physically see.  Life is temporary.  Our reality is temporary.  We will all wither away and pass from this reality in the blink of an eye.  So is our existence all pure luck and chance?  Simply because there are seemingly endless galaxies, we happened to end up here on this planet that has all the perfect details worked out for life to exist?  Wow, we are pretty lucky—if there’s any such thing as luck.  But scientists don’t believe in luck, they believe in cause and effect.  So what is our cause? 

Is death the end?  Death is all we have to look forward to?  As we all had a beginning we have an end too? If that’s the case then what would be the point of any of it?  There wouldn’t be a point. If we simply exist with no cause then why is there so much beauty?  Why is there love?  Why is there connection?  Why are there morals?  Why are there contrasts like good and evil, night and day, light and darkness?  Why do we exist if we simply die and become nothing again?  If we end as nothing wouldn’t that counter act our existence at all, making our own reality questionable?  This brings up the questions like “are we even here?”  Well the answer is yes, we are here.  

In my search for truth I surrendered my life to a creator, a higher being that we call God.  Through this process and seeking to know this being I have had many deep spiritual experiences.  Experiences that let me know I am not alone.  These experiences are my proof, they are all I need for peace.  I know I am watched over and even more importantly I know I am loved.  It was not the unanswered questions that led me to God but the power of His Spirit that drew me in.  It wasn’t that through a debate I came to the conclusion that there must be a God, but it was through the supernatural power of things I’ve experienced and seen that I’ve come to have faith.  

“Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” -1 Corinthians 2:5 

The connection I have encountered with God cannot be explained.  It’s something you have to experience yourself.  The signs of God are all around us.  Look up at the beauty in the sky or look at the miracle of a new born life.  Know that He is right there just waiting for you to turn to Him.  He is right in front of all of us knocking at the door to our hearts.  

Jesus said “behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him.” –Rev 3:20 

With all the beauty and love in the world I have mentioned there is obviously a dark side to it.  Very clearly in our world there is evil, hate, greed, lust, malice, deceit, envy and all kinds of darkness.  Many humans are clearly corrupt.  There is good and evil—this does not need to be argued—and we all have both in us.  The Bible calls this dark side in us sin.  Our sinful nature draws us to be selfish though we know it is wrong.  Our sinful nature builds our pride and tells us that we are the most important thing in the universe, though again we know this to be wrong.  Our sinful nature tells us we should go after the lusts of the flesh and pursue our own greed and desire for money.  Our sinful nature tells us to do a lot of things, but the point is there’s something else in us that tells us this behavior is wrong.  This is our God given gift of a conscience that I believe is meant to guide us to God.  Through our conscience we sense that there is darkness in us.  Only light can bring out this darkness.  This is why we need a savior.  We need help to change from our sinful ways and turn to light.  This help can be found through Christ.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  -John 3:16 

Christ bore the sin of the world on the cross so that we might be saved.  He took on the darkness of the world and overcame it!  On the cross He said “it is finished.”  This was God’s plan all along and through His love He wants to know you, help you and walk with you through life, bringing you a peace that is beyond understanding. 

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” -2 Corinthians 5:21 

If you feel lost in life, there is hope.  If you feel like you are in bondage, there is freedom.  If you feel you are unloved, you are wrong.  Give God a chance for He loves you more than you could ever understand.  

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

-Psalm 139:13-14 

I pray that you would have an encounter with our Creator and His love for you.  I pray that you would soften your heart to hear the Lord’s call and turn your life to the light of the world—Jesus Christ! 

We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 
-1 Corinthians 2:7-9

Becoming Aware of His Presence

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I don’t know how to put into words the presence of God. I don’t know how to explain it to someone. It’s something that one must find on their own, or in other words become aware of. I know other people who I assume have sensed what I have sensed. We find ourselves meeting and talking about the presence but neither can really explain it well. The best description I could give is an overwhelming sense of what is ultimately good and right to our entire existence. This presence is what my inner being longs for. When I am connected and in His presence I feel at home.

And a side note: We say “He” denoting masculinity but God is above any male. Think about it… God created male and female so He is not either. In Biblical times it would have been demeaning to call God a “she” because of the role woman played in society at the time. So we refer to God as “He” and often capitalize it to give utmost respect, but understand that God is above both sexes.

You see even with trying to explain that God is neither male nor female I am obviously trying to explain Him in human terms and ways that we can understand. The fact is that we cannot understand God. He is on a level of thinking and understanding that our brains cannot even fathom (see Isaiah 55:8-9). This is why I can’t explain His presence. I can’t give you a good explanation of God. I don’t understand God. I don’t understand life, but knowing God brings a lot more comfort and light to the mystery of our existence than walking without Him did. He brings light and peace that surpasses understanding (see Phil 4:6-7).

I have always sensed a presence even when I was young. In fact thinking back I can remember times of really feeling the presence of God but I was not aware of what I was sensing. I think we as humans have to grow and mature to become aware of His presence. We have to open our hearts, or the more correct way would be to ask God to open our hearts for us. I do not know why God has setup His whole “system” like this, but the way it has worked for me and others I know is that after we have asked God and taken a step of faith—even when we’re not sure if He is there—this is when we get new revelations of Him. By walking in faith God is rewarding by giving us new revelations of His love.

I believe everyone has sensed God. I believe we are born with the ability to but I think many are blind to it or are just not aware of what they have felt. If you don’t think you have ever felt His presence I would like to ask you to go outside on a clear night and stare up into the stars—that inner humbling sense you get of how small we are and how amazing and infinite the universe is, but knowing that we are alive and ok—this is one way of seeing God’s glory. God speaks to us through the heavens and what He has made (see Romans 1:20). The beauty of our majestic planet is all the proof we need of God. We are not an accident. Something as beautiful as life itself doesn’t just happen.

I have had a few deep spiritual experiences with God’s presence and the touch of His love. When this happens it is an overwhelming emotional experience for me. I do not understand what’s going on but I know that He is there. I can’t help but cry and I really mean cry. This is what His Spirit does with us—it opens up parts of our inner soul that we cannot reach ourselves. God is love and God is truth. I pray that you would become aware of His presence and seek Him for the rest of your days. We don’t have to understand God and we never will, but to reject Him because of our finite human reasoning is a sad and poor excuse (see 1 Corinthians 1:20-21). Give yourself to the Lord for He loves you beyond measure and has already given Himself to you.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…” –Psalm 19:1-4

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]

Are all Christians narrow minded?

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There is a common argument or jab that the agnostics and atheists like to throw out towards Christians and that is the statement that Christians are narrow minded.  Before I talk about my view on this let me give you a couple definitions:

Narrow minded: Lacking tolerance, breadth of view, or sympathy; petty.

Open minded: Receptive to new and different ideas or the opinions of others.

So are Christians narrow minded?  My answer would be that yes some of them are, but there are many open minded believers as well.  Just like with non-Christians—some are open minded and some are not.  The same could be said for the argument that Christians are unintelligent.  I would say that yeah some are but some are very intelligent.  Again, just like non-Christians. 

Lacking tolerance, breadth of view or sympathy—sadly that does describe some Christians but it describes many atheists and agnostics as well.  When I go on to a youtube video about anything to do with the existence of God the comments are slammed with people that are not tolerant at all to the theist view.  It’s their way or the highway.  This is not open mindedness, but they are the ones constantly saying that Christians are so narrow minded. 

With me I have viewed myself as being an open minded and optimistic person.  I believe that it was my open mindedness that led me to go on a spiritual search.  Being open minded and optimistic gave me the idea that there could be more than what this world has to offer.  God forbid I go on the spiritual search and actually find something.  Then once I have found something I get thrown into the narrow minded category?  It doesn’t make sense to me.   

A truly open minded person in my opinion is a person who is honest enough with themselves to investigate each conflict of interest from both sides.  An open minded person tries to really get a feel for both sides of an argument before siding.  But… they still side eventually so does this make them narrow minded once they’ve sided?  Of course not!  Before becoming a believer of God I read science books and studied evolution.  I still like watching documentaries on the Big Bang theory and of different theories of our existence.  I have weighed out the evidence from both sides and in my honest opinion the evidence for the existence of God far outweighs the evidence against Him.  There are unanswered questions on both sides—the theist and atheist. But I do believe there are more unanswered questions on the disbelief in God side… and if we believe in God His word constantly reminds us that He sees the full picture and thinks on a level that we cannot even start to understand.  (Prov 3:5) (Isaiah 55:8-9) (Job 38) (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)

I guess what I’m trying to get at is that the whole narrow minded argument of an atheist or agnostic toward a Christian doesn’t work because by definition with their rejection of the Christian faith they are being just as narrow minded as the Christian would be in rejecting their views.  What it comes down to is we all have to share this world.  So lets try to be respectful of both views no matter what side you’re on.  I think one thing both sides can agree on is what Jesus said was the most important commandment of all—to love one another.

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]

It’s not a phase, it’s who I am!

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“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” –E. E. Cummings

We constantly hear people talking about “finding themselves.”  What do they mean by this?  By claiming that they want to find themselves I would say that they are first admitting they are lost.  If they are lost then what do they expect to find and how would you search for it?  With me it’s very simple.  I once was lost but now am found.  It wasn’t that I found God but more that I finally answered His call.  It wasn’t that I set out on this great search to find myself but more that I finally surrendered to what my heart already knew to be truth.  My decision to follow Christ is not a phase.  This is not something I will grow out of.  This is who I am.  This is what completes me.  This is what I was born to be.  I am a child of God. 

I was called by the Lord many years ago when I was a teenager.  I felt His presence and got to know Him some, but with growing up I quickly fell away from the faith and pursued selfish interests.  I now look back and realize that pursuing “dreams” was not who I was.  Pursuing fame, success and money was not who I was—it was the farthest from it actually.  Life had its ups and downs but even in the ups I never felt fulfilled.  There was a longing in me for more.  My heart knew there was more but my mind refused to accept God because of the secular view the world had instilled on me. 

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolish-ness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise and they are futile.”  (1 Corinthians 3:18-20)

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

Scientific theories like The Big Bang and Darwinism do not explain the miracle of our existence at all.  Belief in God does.  God has revealed Himself to me through His presence.  Jesus said “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him…” Jesus Christ is Lord and if you are courageous enough to grow up and become who you really are then take a step of faith!  Through faith God will reveal Himself.  Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”  Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.”

I know there are some reading this who the Lord has called but they have decided—like myself in earlier life—to pursue other interests.  Let me save you some searching time and tell you this: Worldly interests will not bring you peace.  The world will not bring you your heart’s desires.  Your heart has heard the Lord and the Lord is at the door patiently waiting for you to answer.  So answer it and come home!  There’s no need to wander in the hills by yourself anymore.  Just come home.   Stop listening to man and listen to God.   This is who you are.

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:3-4)

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]

If Anyone Has Ears To Hear, Let Him Hear!

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Jesus said:

“Is a lamp brought to be under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:21-23)

“Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19)

The Lord has freed me from bondage to sin.

The Lord has forgiven me.

The Lord has changed my heart and taught me to love more.

The Lord has brought a new life giving light to my life.

The Lord has brought meaning to my life.

The Lord has given peace to my life that “surpasses understanding.”

The Lord has had compassion on me.

The Lord has loved me.

Many have said, “You often don’t realize what you have until you no longer have it.”

With the light, peace and joy that comes from faith in Christ I think many experience the opposite: You don’t realize what you have been missing out on until you have it!

If you have “ears to hear” then hear this:

Jesus loves you!

He said: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)

Do you feel as if you need rest in your life?

God is here. He is with you now as you read this. God’s Holy Spirit surrounds the earth and is waiting for you to open your heart and let Him in.

You say, “This sounds great but I am an intellectual person and all this God talk is a made up primitive fairy tale.”

Here’s your intellectual argument:

Life is a miracle. The miracle of life cannot be explained or understood even by the smartest scientist without divinity. Life doesn’t just happen from nothing. Life has been engineered. Our DNA is a written code by our Creator. The evolutionary theory is completely flawed. What came first the eye or the eyelid? We feel in ourselves that there is more to life. We have a spiritual longing because there is a spiritual side to us. We feel within ourselves that there is something that cannot die. Life is not meaningless. An infinite universe parallels an infinite God. The entire universe and life system is far too complex to have just happened. I could go on and on but God has designed it so that we are to seek Him spiritually not scientifically. We are to seek heavenly wisdom instead of worldly knowledge. Men worship our own intellect but what’s the point of anything if we just die and become nothing?

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness.’” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)

Life passes in the blink of an eye. Don’t waste it.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says 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 55:6-9)

Reality is “what is” not “what if!”

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Are you one of those types of people that while thinking you constantly put yourself in “what if” situations? For school I just took the Strengths Finder assessment test this week. This test asks a bunch of questions and from the answers it’s able to pin point your 5 greatest strengths or “themes” as they call it. With my results three of my themes were “learner”, “intellection” and “input.” Reading the descriptions of these themes they all have a lot to do with deep thinking so I was not surprised with these results. I’ve always been a deep thinker and have admitted before that at times this can seem more of a curse than a blessing. I think the key is learning to stay on the right train of thought and not allowing our minds to wonder into dark areas that stem depression or just negative thoughts in general. Our minds are so amazing we literally have to learn to tame them from trapping us into a mind state we don’t want to be in.

Ever since I was a young boy I have been an analytical thinker. My mom has told me stories of going shopping for a toy and not being able to make up my mind on which one I wanted. I would have to analyze every detail of each choice before finally making a decision. Often after coming home I would then get upset out of fear I had made the wrong choice. Do we do this with our faith? Do we choose what we believe or do our beliefs choose us?

On our road trip out to Georgia I obviously had a lot of time to think. I caught my mind pondering on the question: “What if I had been born into a predominantly Muslim country, would I have turned out to be a Muslim?” As I was thinking about this the Holy Spirit revealed something to me… I felt the presence of the Lord and He said, “Justin you’re not a Muslim. Stop focusing on the ‘what if’s’ and pay attention to ‘what is!’”

I quickly realized that all these “what if” questions are pointless, imaginary situations that only live in my head. This is not reality. Reality is the fact that I was not born into a Muslim family. Reality is that I am a Christian. Reality is “what is” not “what if!” We cannot waste our lives always pondering the “what if” questions. This would be living in make-believe land. I guess we do this to try and get a better understanding of the positions of others, but to be honest making up a situation in your head does not put you in someone else’s shoes. It’s still just a pretend situation that you’ve made up yourself, and if you have made this up yourself how can you possibly learn anything from it? I’m not saying it’s bad to try and see things from other people’s point of view but rather that we should stay focused on the reality that is our lives. Wondering where you’d be if you had made a different decision ten years ago or if you were born into a different family is really meaningless thinking. We need to focus on what we actually have going on in front of us and not hypothetical situations.

Reality is you’re here. Reality is we are alive. The miracle of our unexplainable existence is proof of something bigger. Reality is in my heart I know there is more to me than my flesh. There is something deep inside me, it’s my soul. My soul belongs to Him. What is, is God. God said to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM.” This is reality. Accept God or reject Him but good luck making any sense out of life without Him.

Without God I’m a crazy person left with my own self-righteous thoughts and digging my own grave. Without God my inner soul doesn’t exist. Without God there is no ultimate good to give us a moral law to stand by. Without God men might as well act like animals if that’s all we are. Without God I suppose the best thing in life would be pleasure of the flesh—which never brings fulfillment by the way. Without God I’m lost. Without God we will die and become nothing making our entire existence completely pointless, and with that questioning any reality at all. If we die and become nothing, then how is it possible that we are something? Without God life is meaningless and we’re all an accident. Do you see what I’m getting at here? Without God we don’t exist.

But… we do exist.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)