Grieving With Hope

On 3^rd June, 2015, the capital city, Accra, was hit by torrential rains submerging many parts of the city. The Daily Graphic in an online news headline "Apocalypse in Accra! 150 Dead so far in floods, inferno" reported the devastating effects of the rains:

Flooding, resulting from torrential rains, brought Accra to its knees last Wednesday night, with unimaginable loss of lives and destruction of properties. By press time yesterday, the death toll had hit a staggering 107.Seventy-six of the victims were killed at a fuel station that exploded in the midst of the rains, while many others who suffered serious burns were taken to major hospitals in the city.¹

Also, “President John Mahama has declared three days of national mourning of some 200 citizens who lost their lives in an explosion and deadly floods in the capital, Accra."² The presidential candidate of the opposition NPP is also reported to have said: “It is a tragedy, a major tragedy for Accra. It is a dark moment in the history of our city”³

These media reports presents us with an imagery (I hope it does) of the wreckage that "brought Accra to its knees". The day after the floods, as will be expected, and rightly so, the electronic media’s agenda was driven by the incident. During one of the radio phone in sessions, a caller, who phoning in to express his grief, queried the host in response to his (host’s pleasantries) "What is good about the morning?"

“What is good about the morning?” That startled me! The caller has life and he is asking what's good about the morning?

Truth be told. No matter how despondent our situation; being alive is enough reason to give thanks to God. Is today, despite the ghastly aftermath of the rains, the day the Lord has made? Then Scripture says, "Rejoice in it". Are you faced with an insurmountable situation? Rejoice. Rejoicing in hard times is tough. Nonetheless, Scripture says that is what we must do: "Rejoice".

The Apostles reiterated these truths in their epistles.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.(1 Thes. 5:16-18). 

 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.(Phil 4:4). 

 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,(James 1:2).

"Rejoice…In all things give thanks...count it all joy". Are these not mere placebos and denials? Doesn't Scripture tell us there is a time for everything, including a time for mourning (Eccl 3:4). Certainly, as humans, we must grieve when it hurts. However, if Scripture tells us to "Rejoice", we must pay attention and obey.

As Christians, to rejoice in difficult times is not escapism or living in denial. It means grieving as people who have hope. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope”(1 Thes. 4:13). All humans grieve. But some grieve with hope and others grieve without hope. The latter live their lives for the here and now. They have no hopes of a life hereafter. The believer however knows that, the suffering of this present time cannot be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. We also know that nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. We also know that, one day, we will spend eternity in the glorious presence of our King and Saviour where there will be no tears or pains.

These and many promises of the Bible give us hope even when we are grieving. It is good to often remind ourselves of the hope that is stored up for us in Christ Jesus. We must not become short sighted and forget that being alive is in itself a blessing. Every day is another opportunity to ravish in God’s unceasing steadfast love and mercy. His love and mercy renewed everyday. In the grave, no one can praise God.

If you are alive today, Praise the Lord! And to those who lost loved ones and relatives, my sincere condolences.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings, name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.⁴

Notes

1 http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/44214-apocalypse-in-accra-150-dead-so-far-in-floods-inferno.html

2: http://m.myjoyonline.com/marticles/opinion/floods-mahama-declares-3-days-of-mourning

3 :http://citifmonline.com/2015/06/04/floods-and-goil-fire-a-dark-moment-in-accras-history-nana-addo/#sthash.LIG9d5vW.DjjN65av.dpuf

4: http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/countyou.htm

No Pit Beyond The Reach Of Grace

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him” (Acts 22:20).

This is Paul; recounting his former deeds. You admire Paul right? Before he became Paul, he was Saul: a murderer and hated believers with all zeal. He had blood on his hands.

Today, if you are looking for the equivalent of Saul--prior to the road to Damascus encounter, look at the most gruesome terrorist group around: Saul could be a leader of any one of them. His brutality becomes clearer when we ponder the response of the believers when they heard of Saul's conversion. They didn't believe it:

But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?(Acts 9:21).

When Jesus appeared to one of the believers then--Ananias---concerning Saul, he was courageous enough to doubt Jesus' instructions:

Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. (Acts 9:13-14).

Paul, by human reasoning, doesn't belong in the fold of God's people. He unleashed terror on God's people  yet he was a chosen vessel of the Lord. Jesus told Ananias: "... he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:" (Acts 9:15).

Saul was unstoppable, full of hatred for the believers of his day. But when he encountered the Lord Jesus on his way to Damascus; his life was changed.   Though a murderer and persecutor  of the church, grace transformed him.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."(Acts 9:3-6).

Saul the terrorist "trembling and astonished"...the rest of his life he became a disciple of the Lord and what a gift he was to the body of Christ. Though a persecutor, nonetheless, He became a product of grace. He encountered the grace of God and was transformed. Total Grace. Hear him speak:

by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."(1 Corinthians 15:20).

God's grace pardons. Irrespective of your history. Pardon and forgiveness of sins are available through the atoning sacrifice of Christ: "...he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."(2 Corinthians 5:21).

God's arms are outstrecthed. Come just as you are: "...To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts..." (Hebrews 3:7-8)

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
---John Newton

Known By God

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God...(Galatians 4:9).

I suspect (this is speculation) when Paul wrote the first line, "But now that you have come to know God...", He paused, shook his head and said "bad theology". Then he continued " or rather to be known by God"

The truth is that, we cannot know God, unless God first enables us to know Him: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." (John 6:44). This truth is consistent with other portions of Scripture.

In Romans 3:11-12, Paul wrote: "no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” John also said "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:10; 19).

Throughout human history, it is God who comes seeking after His own. When Adam blew it, it was God who came seeking for him in the cool of the day. It was God who called Abraham from a pagan home to bless him and make him Father of many nations. While Jacob fled from Esau, it was God who pursued him. When Moses fled Egypt, with all hopes lost, it was God who pursued him. When David was dying under the weight of his adultery with Bathseba and murder of Uriah, it was God who pursued him. When Jonah run  away from the presence of God, it was God who pursued him.

When Jesus met the samaritan woman, it is clear, that it was Jesus who pursued her to give her life:

And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”(John 4:4-7).

Note the first line: "And he had to pass through Samaria" That route, it is believed Jews avoided, because they will have nothing to do with Samaritans. The verse 9 of the narrative explains this best. "The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”(For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

"Jews have no dealings with Samaritans". But not this Jew. He was on a mission. He was pursuing a soul. A soul seeking for fulfilment in wrong places. "Give me a drink". He initiated a conversation. If He hadn't, probably this woman would have avoided Him. It is indeed God who always comes to seek us out. He told Jeremiah, "I have loved you with an everlasting love".

When Peter went back fishing, abandoning his call, it was God who pursued him, brought him back and restored him into fellowship. When Paul was causing havoc to the church, it was God who stopped him in His tracks: God pursued him.

God said about us also;

 “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’" (Romans 9:25-26).

We must never come to the point where we pride in knowing God. In all of this, it is "by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Called By God

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours(1 Cor1:1-2).

From Paul's salutation to the church in Corinth, we learn a vital truth:  He was " called by the will of God"(vs1) and this is true of every believer; we are also "called by the will of God": "called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus"(vs 2 see also Rom 8:29-30, Joh 1:12-13 ).

Why are we called? We are called to be reconciled to God from sin. We are called to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. We are called to become children of God (John 1:12-13), set apart for His use Holy use: "sanctified in Christ Jesus" God's call was made before the foundations of the earth and we contributed nothing to it. If you are a believer, you were set apart  as a chosen vessel to reveal His glory and be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, 9:23).

Paul was called by the will of God to be an apostle. The believers in the church of Corinth were also called. God's calling is in no relation to any inherent good in us. Our calling is rooted in God's mercy and His grace (Eph. 2:1-10 ). Remember Paul was a persecutor of the church of His day, before his encounter with Jesus.

Like Paul and the Corinthian believers; every believer is called with an assignment to fulfill. We are not on a "self-sent" assignment on earth. Our lives, our breath, our purpose for existence all takes its source from God. "In Him we live, move and have our being"(Acts 17:28). We are all on God's assignment.  He brought us on earth for His purpose, His will, His plan and His agenda. Our life originates and evolves  around God and what He created us for.

If there is any truth that will sustain us, it is that we take our existence from God. We are, because He is: self-existent and all sufficient. We take our sufficiency from Him. We are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10 ) and without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5 ). God Is Our source of Existence.  The Bible opens with the words "In the beginning God..."(Genesis 1:1).Our lives and the whole of the Universe takes its source from God(Rev. 4:11, John 1:3-4)

Sowing Seed Of Faith: Greed or Generosity?

2 Corinthians 8, 9.

Have you noticed it? Money -- prosperity, a comfortable and good life -- has become a major motivation for becoming a Christian amongst many in our days. Wealth, abundance, guaranteed protection from danger is promised on many pulpits--great and small-- week after week, day after day in the name of faith, sowing seeds and positive confessions.

Many throng into churches, not because they are regenerated souls seeking God. They come at the back of "what's in it for me?" and they hear what they want to hear: "Give your life to Christ and all your problems will be solved". "Are you struggling in life?Try Jesus, He will change your life". "Do you want to marry, be successful in business? Try Jesus". Of course, Jesus changes lives. But there is a more glorious agenda of God in our state of redemption: "conforming us to the image of Christ" (Romans 8:29). Personally, I believe if we keep insisting or are made to believe faith in Christ positions us for a good life and immunizes us from danger, we are spiting those brethren enduring persecution in other parts of the world. Has their faith been rendered ineffective? Or they not being faithful in sowing seeds? Also, believers of earlier centuries in church history died martyrs deaths, refusing to denounce their faith to save their lives. Hebrews 11, which can be described as the hallmark of faith in Scriptures, doesn't only narrate stories of victory. Unfortunately, we stop too soon on the accounts of victory, ignoring the other gory accounts. Talk about Hebrews and probably vs 1 and vs 6 are the most quoted: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."..."And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." True, God rewards those who seek Him. But who said reward in anyway means material prosperity, health and wealth? God does reward with material blessings, I don't doubt that. But it is not a guaranteed promise to every believer. While on God rewarding those who seek Him, can we also appeal to the suffering that comes to those who will enter the kingdom of God? "...through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

In Hebrews 11, while some "through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight."(vs 33-34), others were also "tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised"(vs 35-39). Did you read the last verse? "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised". Faith, in no way guarantees us a smooth passage here on earth and no amount of "seed sowing" can change situations that God won't change.

How pathetic! The gospel--God's good news of reconciling sinners unto Himself through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ at calvary-- has become what Scriptures explicitly warns against: If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.(2Timothy 3:3-5).

"...imagining that godliness is a means of gain". This is a perfect description of the Christianity many are professing today--equating faith in God with material prosperity. But we need a stern reminder that "...godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."(2 Timothy 6:6-10).

"Sow a seed of faith into the anointing" "The environment is charged, God is here to bless you. Take your wallet, your purse, wherever your money is, sow a seed of faith into this atmosphere" "Sow a seed for open doors" Sow a seed of faith for your breakthrough....These are words common on charismatic pulpits. And recently, another new act has emerged. Walking to the pulpit and dropping money while a preacher is preaching? Are we now buying God's blessings?...And if you are observant, you must not miss this current craze of fund raising in Church. How predictable this has become. Every guest preacher must raise funds after his message: Ghc1000, Ghc500, Ghc200, Ghc100, Ghc50, Ghc20, Ghc10....whatever you have in your wallet/purse, don't go without sowing a seed. What's going on? Don't misunderstand me. I believe in the principle of sowing and reaping: giving. It is a biblical principle. The point of this post however is to address the abuse of a biblical principle thereby promoting greed and preying on of innocent and gullible souls.

In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul has been collecting money for the Jerusalem church which was in need. The church in Macedonia, which was far less materially prosperous, compared to the Corinthian church has been very generous in this gift of giving:  "We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. "For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints"(2 Corinthians 8:1). Note the phrase "of their own accord". Paul didn't coerce them, he didn't manipulate them. They gave willingly. Unlike today, when much of our giving to the work of God is precipitated by manipulation and in extreme cases pronouncing of curses on people who don't have to give. In writing to the Corinthian church about this exercise of collecting money for the Jerusalem Church, Paul used the example of the Macedonian church to  appeal for a show of  generosity and genuine christian love in parting with their money: "But as you excel in everything— in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine." (2 Corinthians 8:7-8). "I say this not as a command..." Note that also. Clearly, Paul was appealing to their generosity rather than manipulating and exacting from them.

Let's look at Chapter 9 now. "...I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. ". (vs 5). Paul sent people ahead to collect what has already been promised by the Corinthian church, "willing[ly], not as an exaction(excessive or unjust demand for money, extortion).  "The point is this:" Paul continues, "whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."(vs6-7). I believe Paul in vs 6 is making a contrast between being generous and stingy when he used the words bountifully and sparingly.

The whole idea of giving, is to engender generosity, not greed as we see it today. We are not engaged in a business transaction with God. Our blessing is not grounded in how much we give and don't give. Generosity is never about how much a person gives, it is always about the heart behind the act of giving: "God loves a cheerful giver". Remember the widow's mite? Remember Simon The Sorcerer? "Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:18-20). We can't bribe God, we can't court His blessings and gifts with money. No matter how much seed-faith we sow, our relationship with God is not driven by what we give. It is driven by what He has already given: “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16).

Grace: A Total Transformation

And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him” (Acts 22:20).

This is Paul; recounting his former deeds. You admire Paul right? Before he became Paul, he was Saul: a murderer and hated believers with all zeal. He has blood on his hand. Today, if you are looking for the equivalent of Saul(Paul), look at the most gruesome terrorist group around: Saul(Paul) could could be a leader of any one of them.

Image courtesy gracelandchurch.com

You will understand it better when you consider the believers response when they heard of Saul's conversion. They didn't believe it. They took it to be a scam, another strategy to get believers. Ananias even had guts to question Jesus' instructions: "Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name." (Acts 9:13-14). Hear more: "But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? (vs21). This guy Paul doesn't belong in the fold of God's people humanly speaking. He unleashed terror on God's people  yet he was a chosen vessel of the Lord. In response to Ananias who had questioned the Lord earlier, Jesus said "... he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:" (Acts 9:15).

If you still don't get the terror of the guy I am writing about, this would be helpful. I believe Saul's terror rose up to heaven and broke the very heart of Jesus. I am speculating on this one: I believe Jesus stood up and said "I must stop this guys, enough is enough"...so on his way to Damascus to unleash more terror, the Lord brought him low on his feet: "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."(Acts 9:3-6).

Saul the terrorist "trembling and astonished"...the rest of his life he became a disciple of the Lord and what a gift he was to the body of Christ. If you are a believer and you don't admire Paul then you have no good role models. But, before your admiration goes overboard, note that Paul was a work of grace: Total Grace. No wonder he wrote so much about grace than any other. He was a Scholar, he has rights to boasting, but knowing who he was, he said "by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."(1 Corinthians 15:20).

What have you done that you think you are beyond the reach of God's grace? Grace gives a Total Transformation

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From The Gospel of John Chapter 3

Continued from Previous Post

The Relationship Between God and The World Part 2

For God so loved the world...(John 3:16)

When I sat down last night to write today's topic, I overheard my kids singing..Jesus Loves The Little Children/All the children of the world/Red, brown, yellow, black and white/They are precious in His sight/Jesus loves the little children of the world ....I listened to them and in the process, they interrupted my train of thoughts...I was going to talk about Agape, Storge, Philia, Eros...and other Greek meanings of the word Love.

Now, these kids, in their innocence and carefree life(what is life all about is not in their vocab) would never ask questions about the love of God. Jesus loves the little children; a child's world: No questions asked! It is us adults, grown up men and women, who  start asking questions when the love of God is mentioned. If you have been around for a considerable number of years, you would have had your fair share of the pains, hurts and disappointments in life.

The struggles, the dashed dreams, the broken hearts, finances that won't balance, wayward children, rejection, emotions that won't cooperate with your brains...It is rare to find a person who hasn't encountered any challenge of any sort in this life. One of the hardest hit man in human history, Job, aptly described the nature of life. He said: "...man is born unto trouble..." (Job 5:18).

In a space of twenty-four hours, he lost all he had; such a great contradiction in the life of a man who was "...perfect and upright...feared God, and eschewed evil" (job 1:1). His was not a twenty-four hour miracle. His was a twenty-four hour disaster.

The pains, hurts and disappointments of this life in themselves are not the real problem; they are just the symptoms of the real problem. Sin is the real problem, but unfortunately, we seem to focus on dealing with the symptom instead of the real ailment: sin. When sin was first introduced into God's creation, it came with its accompanying calamities worse of which was separation from God: When Adam and Eve fell, the whole human race plummeted with them and their judgement became humanity's judgement; death and toil:

"...I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:15-18).

After the pronouncement of judgement, man was driven away from the presence of God and that gulf of separation remains till today until one comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Loves The Little Children/All the children of the world/Red, brown, yellow, black and white/They are precious in His sight/Jesus loves the little children of the world...is not only true in a child's world. It is equally true in an adult's life.

God created us and wants to reconcile us back unto Himself and to the uninterrupted relationship and fellowship he intended from the beginning. Nothing will satisfy our yearning souls until we direct it towards the very owner of that soul. He created us for Himself and knows the needs of our hearts. The emptiness cannot be filled with anything. Sex will not do. Drugs will not do. Alcohol will not do. Materialism will not do. Wealth and prosperity will not do. At best, they can only numb the pain; but "...what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

12: God Loves You(continued from previous post)

1: The Relationship Between God And The World Part One

For God so loved the world...( John 3:16).

The first introduction of God we see in the Bible is that of a Creator. The Architect of the whole universe. The universe, humans, animals and plants all take their origin from God: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Psalms 24:1 further tells us "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.(Psalms 24:1).

I recently read an article in the 21st-27th October, 2012 edition of the Catholic Standard which speaks volumes about the Creator and His relationship with His creation. In the article, the Cardinal of Washington, Donald W. Wuerl is quoted to have said:

[ a] tsunami of secularism” has washed across the world, leaving in its wake a tendency to deny God’s existence, or to deny that God’s existence is relevant to human thinking and action…. Without God the very understanding of what it means to be human is altered…. Human dignity and human rights flow from the fact that human beings are created in God’s image.

Those words, "Without God the very understanding of what it means to be human is altered….Human dignity and human rights flow from the fact that human beings are created in God’s image." leads  us into a magnificent truth: We are created in the image of God. That is not a thing to be taken frivolously. We, created in His image are the objects of His divine, unwavering love. The love He demonstrated in sending Jesus to the cross to die is directed towards us mere mortals: christian or non-christian, religious or non-religious. Moral or immoral; God loves you.

Even if you don't believe in the existence of God, you might want to pause and consider the complexity of the world including your very being.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.  O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!(Psalms 8:3-9).