we are planned ...
... for God's pleasure. "You (God) created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created." Revelation 4:11b (NLT).
our first purpose in life is to WORSHIP God - "because of God's great mercy to us... offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer." Romans 12:1 (TEV).
worship is our response to God's love. we are told to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." Mark 12:30.
God wants us to love Him:
- thoughtfully (with my mind)
- passionately (with my heart & soul)
God wants us to response to Him by expressing our affection to God. in order to do so, we need to know more about God, know what He has done for us and it will naturally propel us to love Him back in return - "We love Him, because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19 (KJV). God doesn't want ritual, He wants a relationship with us - "I don't want your sacrifices - I want your love! I don't want your offerings - I want you to know me!" Hosea 6:6 (LB)
- practically (with my strength)
it's about using our abilities to worship God in the community, workplace, etc. All that we do is an act of worship to God. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people." Colossians 3:23 (TEV). remember, it's not what we do that matters, it's who we do it for that counts.
The Bible says God created you so He could love you, enjoy you, and adopt you into His family. Stop and ponder that statement for a moment. How does that make you feel and is it consistent with your view of God? Share with me your comments, post it right now!
posted by 3notessteelstrings @ 15:57
1 comments
1 Comments:
"The Bible says God created you so He could love you, enjoy you, and adopt you into His family. Stop and ponder that statement for a moment. How does that make you feel and is it consistent with your view of God?"
Comments: My personal experience with GOD is that I knew that HE is there for me since my birth. He has guided me through many tough situations. It is amazing how my prayers is heard and answered by GOD whom we cannot see. I can feel HIS love for me through my family, my friends and my church.
I wished more would come to realise that GOD loves each and every one of them, be it believers or non-believers and that HE is always there for us and we worship a true and living GOD.
Luke 11
11 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Our parents loves us dearly and devoted lots of time and effort to bring us up. Naturally we want to love them in response. Each time when we did something wrong, they might scold us initially, but afterall they would forgave us no matter how big our wrongs. If our earthly parents who are imperfect could grant us such love and grace, how about our Heavenly Father who is our creator and cares about us and have a plan and purpose for every one of us. We should love HIM and does the things that pleases HIM as an act of worship.
Matthew 22
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[2] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Loving our GOD with all our heart, soul and mind must be our utmost priority for Jesus specifically highlighted it in Matthew 22. I realised that when I focus solely on GOD, I would have no time for the evil one! I am less likely to sin against GOD because I am reminded of how good and kind HE has been to me and I dont want to displease HIM by committing sinful acts. But I do recognise that I am a imperfect person that will succumb to temptation. I have hold on to my faith in HIM. By indulging on sinful acts, troubles and pain will catch up with us one day. We know how an alcoholic can destroy a family or killed someone if he is drunk driving. Or when a husband gambled away his wealth and putting his family in financial distress.
I find that focusing on self leads to dissatisfaction and unfulfilment. We felt unfulfilled because we were not created to worship others or pursue personal glory. When a creation does not meet the purpose of its existence, naturally they would feel that way.
Life is much simpler during ancient times, no electronic gadgets like PDAs, handphones or digital cameras. It is known that people tends to receive Christ more readily in less developed countries compared to developed nations. There were relatively lesser distraction in life during ancient times and similarly in less developed countries. In a modern society, we promote materialism, encourage indivdualism and a consumption driven economy. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements trying to capture our attention and purchasing dollars. Because of limited resources, we find that we have lots of wants and desires but only limited amount of money to fulfil all the wants. As a result, some are trapped in a vicious cycle or rat-race, trying hard to earn their next dollar in order to own the newest toy in the market. When we finally spent a bomb on the new toy, the initial novelty would eventually wear out and soon it no longer interest us and it is time to pursue the next item on the list of unlimited wants... Is that what is life all about?
When we feel that our life seems to be heading for nowhere, we should take time to find an answer. Dont be caught in a spiral until it is too late.
GOD loves us.
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