Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sometimes I wonder how people can't see God in spite of the many miracles in life. I used to be like that before coming to the Lord, I would see him do many great things in the life of others and even in my own and I would refuse to believe, I would refuse to give my life to Him. I always knew there was a God, I had heard of Him in Sunday School as a kid, but as I grew older and involved myself in the world, I denied Him, I convinced myself that there was no such God and that it was all a fantasy, a myth that people use to feel happiness and peace in life but that is all He was.Little did I know that a few years later I would be preaching about His love and living a life for the One God I neglected for so long. Sometimes when I look back, I think of how ignorant I was to the truth and wonder, how did that happen? I ask the same question even today, how can people be so blinded to God and have their hearts so happen that even after witnessing great things, they still won't come to Him and deny Him in their hearts.
In Hebrews 3:8-17 the example of the people of Israel who wandered in the desert for 40 years. Let's look at this passage:
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, 'They always go astray in [their] heart, And they have not known My ways.' So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'
Beware, 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 "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, [was it] not all who came out of Egypt, [led] by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? [Was it] not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
(Hebrews 3:8-17)
In this passage, we read about the same people that are spoken of in the Old Testament that even after being released from slavery in Egypt and being protected from the wrath of Pharaoh, surving the 10 plagues, the parting of the Red, the cloud of fire, Mannah from Heaven...so many amazing miracles that God did and yet they rejected God and when they were tired, they said "well maybe we should go back to Egypt because we had it so much better there". It is the same for many people today that taste and experience the power of God, yet refuse to believe and their desires are to go back to the world and live a life of sin. I have thought of that before in times where life gets rough and there just seems to be no exit or solution to my problems, but I always end up thinking "what is there to go back to really? All that I ever enjoyed in the world was just temporary".
Maybe you are struggling with that same doubt today, maybe just like the passage in Hebrews says, you are rebelling against God and don't want anything to do with Him, but just remember all the things that God has done for you.
As I look back at the life I had in the world and think of how hard my heart was, I feel sad sometimes, I feel like I was unworthy to fall in the grace of God after the many times I cursed Him, I denied Him and even thought He was a joke that TV and movie stereotypes (such as the Flanders in the Simpsons) had created in my mind. My heart was stone hard and I thank God for softening my heart and changing it into a new heart.
As we look at the events of the world and see the signs of the return of Jesus Christ, we need examine our lives constantly. Are you living a life that pleases God? Or are you living a life for yourself? Maybe right now your heart is hard as stone, maybe you don't want anything to do with God. But just think, what do you have in the world that you hold on to so tightly?
The people of Israel were the same way after Moses went up the mountain to receive the 10 Commandments from the Lord, they got frustrated and asked Aaron to build a golden calf so they could have a god to worship that fit their needs and because of that, God punished them and made them wander for 40 years in the desert. Can you imagine that? I am only 24 years old and to me, life seems like it has been so long and yet if I was one of the Israelites I would still have to wait 16 more years in the hot sun of the desert walking around and knowing that the Promised Land is at hand.
Open your eyes and hearts to the True Living God and stop wandering in your desert. God has a plan for your life.
I like it!!!!!!
Dude you have to show me how to design my bloggs with cool pictures,facebook badge,etc.
You are a talented writter.
for sure bro anytime