Thinking about God, Jesus and The Big Questions

I was reading in the news media about someone who had betrayed someone else. If I had been the victim, I confess I would have had difficulty with keeping my focus on the main thing (God and Jesus). It would have been all too easy to fall into the trap of bitterness and misery in that situation.  Even if I make a conscious effort to rise above the bitterness and misery to keep my focus on God and Jesus, I would still have not liked the person and would have avoided them. Which is OK! Christianity says you should forgive the person, but you need not continue any relationship with them (I talk more about that here ). Your forgiveness is in your heart, between you and God. There is no requirement for you to see the person again or for them to know of your forgiveness. You can cut off contact with them for the sake of your future physical and/or mental health, even if you have forgiven them. Forgiving someone for a specific past event does not equate to you needing to place any trust in...

Some people think that Jesus is just for certain people but not for them. Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus came for all people. No-one is beyond salvation, no matter what they have said and done in the past, no matter their social standing, no matter how disliked or well-liked they are by others. If they believe in Jesus and repent of their sins, they are saved. Here are some verses that prove that Jesus came for all people . Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. Isaiah 56:8 The above verse shows that even those who might consider themselves outcasts, or those who others might consider outcasts, are still gathered to God. Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’; and do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me...

This past autumn, I was cutting down annual plants which had finished producing and placing them on top of the soil to eventually decompose.  I was rejoicing that this decomposition process would improve the soil. I thought to myself "Decomposition into existing soil improves it so that it is much better than soil that has never been used."  This struck a memory for me of a quote from C.S. Lewis: "For God is not merely mending, not simply restoring a status quo. Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity would have been..." - C.S. Lewis, Miracles 1947, in Chapter 14 "The Grand Miracle". In other words, C.S. Lewis believed that man who is redeemed through the death of Jesus is somehow intrinsically better than unfallen man. I found it a bit easier to see this viewpoint using the gardening analogy. It's not a great analogy, but it was concrete enough to help me. Soil that has never been used is never going to be as good ...

Keeping the main thing, the main thing is a challenge. It is all too easy to look backward and forget to keep our eyes on what is important. The writer of Philippians makes this very clear for us: that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3: 11-14 I particularly love what he wrote "But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead"... This is a vision we should all have. Our goal should be always to go forward toward God. In fact, often we don't feel like we can or should go forward to God because our sins are too great. But this t...

Lately, I found myself wondering exactly what I would say to a close friend if I was to explain what the Christian beliefs are.  It is actually pretty simple to explain. God the Creator God is the creator, and created everything in the universe. He also created Heaven. Heaven is a real place, a place of happiness where there is no sickness and no death. The one thing that can separate us from God There is only one thing that can separate us from God: sin. Sin is when we do bad things. God hates sin (he does not hate us , he hates our sin) and does not want to be around it. This is a problem for us, because we all have a sin nature. Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, fell into the temptation of sin. We all have that same nature, so we all sin, even though we try to be good. None of us are perfect. None of us can meet God's standards. A path for us to be saved While this sounds like quite a hopeless situation, it's not, thanks to God. This is why: God made a way fo...

...but the church is the bride of Christ. The reason I wanted to talk about this is that sometimes church can seem unnecessarily complicated. Usually, this is just us making it complicated for ourselves. Firstly, it's important to remember that the church is not God. Far from it. The church is a family of people, none of whom are perfect. That's to be expected, since we are all human and all sinners. So, we shouldn't be trying to worship the church itself, or get the church confused with God. The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints. Our worship should be directed only to God and Jesus. At the same time, the church is very dear to God. Of course it is: Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He surely wouldn't have died on the cross for our sins if he didn't care for us and was just ho-hum about the human race in general. Make no mistake: he didn't choose to die for us because of anything inherently good in ourselves, or because we in any w...

I was reading a little bit about spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is about using God's love to resist evil. It is not about using physical weapons, nor is it about harming anyone or initiating combat. The instruments of spiritual warfare are those of peace, and are described in the Bible as follows: Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:13-17 Therefore, spiritual warfare involves using the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the g...

All too frequently, people are hesitant to accept salvation through Jesus even at the point when they believe in God and Jesus .  In hesitating, they are falling into one of the two biggest traps of deception Satan would have us believe. One of Satan's deceptions is that we need to have our lives in order before we can be 'ready' to be saved by Jesus.  The other deception is that salvation may be offered/intended for other people but not for ourselves .  Nothing could be further from the truth.   Jesus meets us where we are, and salvation is available to all who accept.  No matter our life situation, God will save us if we: believe that Jesus is the Son of God, believe that Jesus died for our sins on the cross and rose again, accept the salvation that God freely offers us through Jesus' sacrifice.  Usually, the sticking point is the third one. In theory, the third point simply stems naturally from the first two (i.e. if we believe points ...

After having read the Bible, it became clear that humans are so, well... human! We are all sinners.  This is why I am constantly surprised at people who give the appearance of believing that the political party they follow has all the correct policies and a spotless character, while the opposition is evil and corrupt and must be avoided at all costs - this point of view is almost hilarious in a modern-day democracy! After reading the Bible, I had even less understanding of how anyone could hold this point of view.  I suspect that all the political parties in most modern democracies are somewhere between spotless and pure evil.... like us humans! I find it virtually impossible to get passionate about any human leader.  Why? They are imperfect beings, like me.  Of course, it's important to take our civic responsibilities seriously such as voting in elections.  But after making what you believe is the best decision for your country, ...

I have noticed that many people feel they are unable to believe in God when they live in a world where bad things happen.  (Here is a link to my other post: If God is Good, Why Do Bad Things Happen? ).  I've already covered the issue of a lot of the bad things there (comes down to us having Free Will and using it badly, e.g. murders, violence, etc).  The bigger issue here is that people are blaming God for the sins of man!   I'm not denying that there are horrific things happening in the world.  Some people have seen and experienced things that no human being ever ought to.  By all means, blame man for the sins of man.... but don't blame God for the sins of man.  The blame doesn't lie there, no matter how much anyone might 'want' it to.  An even bigger issue that I realized after reading the Bible, is that of arrogance and pride if we start blaming God for the sins of man.  Not only does this thought imply we want him to 'take...

Sometimes it can be easy to think that salvation is for others but not for ourselves. In fact, no-one is beyond salvation .  Jesus came to Earth to die so that all could be saved.  Reading the Bible made it easy to see that all of us are equally valuable in God's eyes.  For example, consider the apostle Paul.  Previously called Saul, he used to persecute and kill Christians.  Then God spoke to him one day as he was walking along the road.  Imagine his shock! He converted to Christianity and spread the word of God far and wide over many lands. If you are tempted to think that you are not 'good enough' for God, don't worry! Salvation is a turning over of ourselves to God, putting our (imperfect) selves into God's hands, just as we are here and now.  Think about it.  Paul, who used to kill Christians, was chosen by God as an instrument of spreading the news about Jesus. None of us are beyond salvation.  Remember, a church is a hospital fo...

When I was a schoolgirl, a friend of mine remarked "God only knows what would have happened if Adam and Eve had not eaten from the forbidden tree."  I still think this is very true.  Before reading the Bible, I used to get mad at Adam and Eve for snatching away a paradise from us.  Now I realize that attitude is a bit ridiculous, because it implies that I could do better.  When I really asked myself, could I do any better than Adam and Eve? - the asnwer was simple: I don't think so.  To do better than them, I would have to be perfect and resist any and all temptation.  That is not me.  I am an imperfect human being, a sinner.  Furthermore, to do better than Adam and Eve, I would need to resist eating from the forbidden tree for my whole life.  The temptation wouldn't just be a one-time test.  After thinking about it, I realized I almost certainly wouldn't be any better than Adam and Eve at resisting temptation.  To tak...

The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints All too frequently, organized religion (i.e. a church) can seem pointless and boring.  I certainly found it this way before I started reading the Bible.  Often, the lack of interest in church may be caused by one of two main things: 1. The person has had a bad experience previously in organized religion 2. The person feels uncomfortable about realizing that they are a sinner In the case of the first problem, it is quite possible that differences in Christian denominations has confused the person.  It is confusing!  It is important to go to a church whose teachings are in line with the Bible.  Identifying such a church oneself does require a) attending a church and b) reading the Bible. In the case of the second problem, that isn't actually a problem at all for attending church.  All of us are sinners.  It is as simple as that. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of G...