Death is not good., death is the enemy. satan is the one who comes to "kill....steal.... destroy". Jesus came to give us life and that more abundantly. The devil is the author of evil as it is he who stole from Adam and Even their inheritance early on tricking Adam and Eve about the truth about the nature of God.
God doesn't hold back blessings from us., God is not trying to keep us "at bay" so we can learn a lesson. God has done everything to draw us near. Sin separates man from God and God the Father sent Jesus God the Son to save us from death and destruction, the world., the flesh and the devil.
Sin was a choice man made to believe satan instead of God. The consequences of that are of epic proportions. It took the Son of God Himself and Him alone to save us from the dastardly thing called "sin" And so is it any wonder that today., we are still in the same battle to "believe" what God says and who God is.., OR to believe our own experiences and feelings about those experiences that the world, the flesh and the devil throw at us?? We are born again and brought back into right relationship with God because of Jesus... now we walk it out as our minds are renewed day by day by faith and not by sight.
We have been given the cure but as to how far we take that cure each day is up to us. No one can walk your faith walk for you or walk my faith walk for me. We each have to walk our own faith out in all seriousness and dependence on Jesus for what He promised us. The Bible says to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" that is better said to "work out that "sozo salvation" that Christ has worked IN us with all seriousness of mind and heart believing"
It's been taught to me that it's my job to believe what He says and not what I feel or think or experience. And sure enough., then there is room for the Holy Spirit to teach me. But if we are full of our own issues and refuse to dump them off to the side of the road and take up His cross and follow Him., we won't see the truth.
And as much as I wish God would force us to see and believe., He won't do that. He wants us to believe freely. He is gracious to the end. Even if it means we don't understand just how gracious He is at the moment. He is too good to be bad., too kind to ever be mean., too holy to not be perfect., If we who are evil (limited in our flesh) know how to give good gifts., how much MORE our heavenly Father who is all loving as 1 Cor. 13 tells us. If God expects us to follow the instructions for this Godly Agape kind of love in 1 Cor.13 how can we if we don't have His perfect example lived out in us?
13 If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such [SUP][
a][/SUP]as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
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2 [/SUP]And if I have prophetic powers ([SUP][
b][/SUP]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths
and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God’s love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody).
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3 [/SUP]Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned
or [SUP][
c][/SUP]
in order that I may glory, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing.
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4 [/SUP]Love endures long
and is patient and kind; love never is envious
nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful
or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
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5 [/SUP]It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly)
and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights
or its own way,
for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy
or fretful
or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
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6 [/SUP]It does not rejoice at injustice
and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right
and truth prevail.
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7 [/SUP]Love bears up under anything
and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
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8 [/SUP]Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy ([SUP][
d][/SUP]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled
and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed
and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].
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9 [/SUP]For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).
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10 [/SUP]But when the complete
and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete
and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).
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11 [/SUP]When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways
and have put them aside.
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12 [/SUP]For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as [SUP][
e][/SUP]in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality
and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know
and understand [SUP][
f][/SUP]fully
and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been [SUP][
g][/SUP]fully
and clearly known
and understood [[SUP][
h][/SUP]by God].
[SUP]
13 [/SUP]And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.