God Wants His People Active, In His Service, And To His Glory!

God's Glory (Photo credit: loswl)

"Make sure you've done everything you can about a situation before you let the chips fall where they may. God wants his people active, in his service, and to his glory."

"Many people tend to blame God for what happens to them, but they never thank God when something good happens. Which is it? I'll tell you that God is not to blame for negative things that happen to you, that is unless he is trying to get your attention, in which case you need to look up."

"If you let go of your ego for just a minute, and you take a look around you giving God full credit, you begin to truly understand what "purpose" really means."

"Due to human nature, linear thinking, and time, at best we are only able to approach something from one direction. God approaches everything from all directions."

"We always have ideas and plans for what we want to do, but we have to make sure we're listening to hear what God wants us to do."

"Don't settle for what is handed to you. Explore every chance that you get. Take risks when appropriate. Listen to your conscious. Your first instinct is usually right. Prioritize, and above all, seek God and read His Word. Love because love transcends all, and seek your purpose."

"Let your faith be unshaken, but as for other life concerns, keep an open mind. Many a time, you will swear to your core you are right while others say something different, and many a time, you will wake up and realize after more experience that you're actually wrong. It's a sobering thing, and we could get a lot more out of life if we actually listened more to advice from others instead of furthering our own selfish motivations. After all, we all bleed red, and we are all God's children."

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There Is Plenty Of Money To Go Around

Money (Photo credit: 401(K) 2012)

I watched the movie "In Time" a few days ago, and it sets up a society in which time is used as the currency instead of regular money. People that hoard time become immortal, and then there are millions of people constantly on the verge of running out of time. They use time to pay for everything, and the rich just keep driving up the cost of living so that people run out of time and die. After all, time is money right? One of the characters in the movie has lived for thousands of years, and he decides to give his time away, realizing that he needs to die. "But the day comes when you've had enough. Your mind can be spent, even if your body isn't."

It's a shame the parallel you can draw between this movie and society in the real world. We treat money the same way, hoarding it, while millions of people die from lack of water and food, and from simple diseases that could be avoided. And before we start staring down the billionaires and the superstars, we have to take a good look at ourselves. We live in a society in which the price of a coffee can equal the days wage of a person in some other countries. It's on all of our heads. I'm willing to say it. Our politicians will never fix any of these issues. We either elect a Democrat who ushers in more government assistance and control, or we elect a Republican who promotes free enterprise. Neither of these parties addresses the real issues we have, and they never will.

The truth is, there is plenty of money to go around, and that chokes me up as I write this. No one has to die. How will we stand collectively in front of God justifying the many systems we've created? Paul writes: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." 1 Timothy 6:9 We have all been blinded, forced into the belief that the system we have is as equal and as fair as can be attained. If we do feel as though we have "enough money," then we find ourselves without enough time. It is a shame we follow instead of lead. With Jesus in control of enough lives, we could make the necessary changes. If our country really was "under God," then we would be moving in the right direction.

It is only Jesus inside of each one of us that can help us collectively make the changes that need to be made. Proverbs 22:16 says "He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty." Can we come together and stop this cyclical nonsense of greed and destruction? Most people approach issues like this with the idea that they can't make a difference, or that the world is just lost; Jesus returning is its only saving grace. I have news for those people. The eternal life that Jesus gave us starts now! Love has won. Victory arose in the Son! This means we have an accountability to do everything we can to (once again I'm quoting my pastor) "make up there come down here."

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