How many of us are always...
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Object:
How many of us are always happy? Aren't there times when we feel we have a right to be sad, as when we lose a dear one or when we learn of the suffering of our fellow Christians somewhere? Why should we be happy when we see in the news that Muslims have burned down a church somewhere and killed a number of Christians? I know we can be happy knowing that those who die are going to a far better place without pain and suffering, though it is hard to always be joyful. But even here it adds that we are to give thanks in all circumstances. That is God's will, which we can't accomplish without the fire of the Holy Spirit in our life.
I think that our joy should come from knowing that our present and our future are in the hands of a loving God who sacrificed his Son for us so that we might spend eternity with him and that he will be with us now in our life here on earth regardless what suffering we may face.
To accomplish that, I believe we must always be in prayer. If not, our minds will always fall back to the pain and suffering of this earthly life or on all the pleasures of earthly things that can draw us away from our fellowship with our Lord.
I can remember years ago when we left Sunday service, I thought "I'm glad that is over for another week!" This should tell us that we are not in constant prayer after service except for maybe a table grace or a quick thank you for some blessings he has given us.
Our minds are being led away from our fellowship with our maker when we face all the temptations of life. I don't think watching a TV show or playing golf will condemn us unless we use it to avoid that fellowship. The same goes for reading a book or playing a computer game. Some of the finest Christians can participate in such "blessings." Even here we are called on to "test" everything to make sure it is God's gift.
Only God can accomplish this in our life. Only he can make us blameless because of Christ's coming. Only he can keep us faithful.
We should spend the rest of our lives meditating on these few verses and check out all the prophecies that give us a look into the future where we may find some pain, but the most important thing will be to look into the future that God has for us.
I think that our joy should come from knowing that our present and our future are in the hands of a loving God who sacrificed his Son for us so that we might spend eternity with him and that he will be with us now in our life here on earth regardless what suffering we may face.
To accomplish that, I believe we must always be in prayer. If not, our minds will always fall back to the pain and suffering of this earthly life or on all the pleasures of earthly things that can draw us away from our fellowship with our Lord.
I can remember years ago when we left Sunday service, I thought "I'm glad that is over for another week!" This should tell us that we are not in constant prayer after service except for maybe a table grace or a quick thank you for some blessings he has given us.
Our minds are being led away from our fellowship with our maker when we face all the temptations of life. I don't think watching a TV show or playing golf will condemn us unless we use it to avoid that fellowship. The same goes for reading a book or playing a computer game. Some of the finest Christians can participate in such "blessings." Even here we are called on to "test" everything to make sure it is God's gift.
Only God can accomplish this in our life. Only he can make us blameless because of Christ's coming. Only he can keep us faithful.
We should spend the rest of our lives meditating on these few verses and check out all the prophecies that give us a look into the future where we may find some pain, but the most important thing will be to look into the future that God has for us.
