The world and life without God sucks.
I mean, really. There is no hope and there is only despair.There is the excessive focus on nature or foolish idols and false gods and anything to grant purpose. Isn’t that strange? People want to feel purpose and value and worth and yet they abandon the very One that grants such things. You can’t find it elsewhere. In fact, when you do find any value or worth in this world, it is fleeting and it must constantly be strived for and fought for and is just exhausting. What foolishness this world contains. Without Christ, nothing matters. Not one thing. Though your words may live on in books and the foolish pride of man, you, yourself, have gone and stood before Him and seen the truth at last. And then it is for naught, for you are lost forever.
I can understand, now, King Solomon’s angst. How can I not? As I lay on the floor and thought how, without God, the despair that had come would have covered me completely and enfolded me and I would have been lost inits darkness. How soon before I would have emerged? All I could do was lie there and tell God that I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but the minutet hat He was entered into the equation, the despair was beaten. It could not linger, it could not stay, it could not grow stronger, it could not overwhelm my soul. Because there is power in Him. He is, after all, our Creator. He holds all things in His hands. Can we even fathom the amazingness that is He? No.
So, there in His hands, where I sit safe, darkness cannot stay. Yet, yet, if I fall away, if I refuse to call on His name, if I focus on the darkness and the death and the fear and the doubt and the insanity that is this world, then I would be consumed. Forever consumed. Eventually, I would be so hard and resistant to the truth that I would not be able to repent of my ways and I would die apart from Him. And then, like so many have, I would stand before Him and hear those dreaded words, “Depart from Me.”
No, Lord! As Ruth clung to Naomi, so I cling to You and Isay, “Do not entreat me to depart from You! Do not make me leave You! Where You go, I will go and where You stay, I will stay and You will always be my God!”What can life be apart from You? Nothing but a dark shadow. Yet, in Your presence, even in the midst of confusing times, in the midst of dark days, in the midst of lying mouths, there is light and joy and peace and freedom and hope and comfort. Why, oh Lord, would I go elsewhere? Why would I engage in the foolishness of this world?
Lately, I find that the straining at gnats is the popular pastime of us all. Let us focus on the little issues and ignore the larger ones. How doI forget so callously that my God is mighty and just and powerful and all-knowing and that it is His very righteousness that demands that my life be given as payment for my rebellion and my sin? Yet, it is His love and compassion that sent Jesus Christ, His one and only begotten Son, to die to pay for the very sins and rebellions that I would never be able to make recompense for. My mind cannot fathom how a just God would make such a way to save a foul sinner like me.
Foolish, foolish mortal woman! Why would you dabble in sin?Why would you excuse your attitudes and your habits under a guise of sloppy grace? Why would you offer compassion to the sinner but condemn your family?Why would you love the world and hate those that serve Christ by your side? Why is it that we are quick to condemn those that are running the race alongside us for typos in their letters or missing a church service or some foolish error and leave sin unchecked in ourselves and in others, calling it grace? Grace,indeed!
We are running toward our deaths with a hasty speed and we are foolishly squabbling over things that we should, as followers of Christ,already know the truth of. Why do we insist on worldly practices and why do we insist on keeping our vices? Why do we think we know better than God? Why?
I lay on my face and say, “Oh, Lord, where would I be without You?” Where would I be…where? And, here it is, I don’t want to know. I just want You. I want to be with You and know You and be in love with You and forget this world. Today, as I lay on the ground like a broken toy, I stared at the ceiling and I thought, “I hate this world.” And I do. I do hate this world. Not the people of it, but the immorality and excuses of it. I hate the darkness of it.I do not want to be a part of it. I do not want anything to do with it.
Set apart. Being in the world but not of the world. This is what we are called to. To solely and completely belong to Christ. Anything else is death and destruction and darkness and hopelessness and failure and evil and worthless. Do not waste your time with the frivolous parties of this world. Hope and light and life lie only in one place: in a true relationship with JesusChrist. Everything else is noise.
If the world looks at you and sees themselves, you are not living a Christ-centered life, regardless of what you say or feel or think.When the world looks at us, they are not to be comfortable and see themselves,but rather they are to be challenged to repentance and see Christ. I fail at this. But, it is my desire to change. Change me, oh Lord. Do not leave me in this place of compromise and excuse.
I dropped my Introduction to Philosophy class today. I hate this world. I don’t want to read the musings of foolish men long dead. I want the truth. The solid, living word of God. Forget the ‘wisdom’ of man focusing on nature and believing they know ‘all things’ because they are able to think about all things. As God says, His thoughts and ways are far above ours. How prideful are we to think that anything apart from God is good!
There is really no way to end this, and so I will just say this: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and be gracious and give you peace. Truly. There is only God. Nothing else.There is noise and distraction and lies and deceit and sin and rebellion and death and there, on the side of truth, there is God. In Him is all that we need: light and peace and strength and encouragement and forgiveness. That’s a big thing, forgiveness. Be free. Be forgiven. Live for Christ. Everything else is a waste of your breath.
I mean, really. There is no hope and there is only despair.There is the excessive focus on nature or foolish idols and false gods and anything to grant purpose. Isn’t that strange? People want to feel purpose and value and worth and yet they abandon the very One that grants such things. You can’t find it elsewhere. In fact, when you do find any value or worth in this world, it is fleeting and it must constantly be strived for and fought for and is just exhausting. What foolishness this world contains. Without Christ, nothing matters. Not one thing. Though your words may live on in books and the foolish pride of man, you, yourself, have gone and stood before Him and seen the truth at last. And then it is for naught, for you are lost forever.
I can understand, now, King Solomon’s angst. How can I not? As I lay on the floor and thought how, without God, the despair that had come would have covered me completely and enfolded me and I would have been lost inits darkness. How soon before I would have emerged? All I could do was lie there and tell God that I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but the minutet hat He was entered into the equation, the despair was beaten. It could not linger, it could not stay, it could not grow stronger, it could not overwhelm my soul. Because there is power in Him. He is, after all, our Creator. He holds all things in His hands. Can we even fathom the amazingness that is He? No.
So, there in His hands, where I sit safe, darkness cannot stay. Yet, yet, if I fall away, if I refuse to call on His name, if I focus on the darkness and the death and the fear and the doubt and the insanity that is this world, then I would be consumed. Forever consumed. Eventually, I would be so hard and resistant to the truth that I would not be able to repent of my ways and I would die apart from Him. And then, like so many have, I would stand before Him and hear those dreaded words, “Depart from Me.”
No, Lord! As Ruth clung to Naomi, so I cling to You and Isay, “Do not entreat me to depart from You! Do not make me leave You! Where You go, I will go and where You stay, I will stay and You will always be my God!”What can life be apart from You? Nothing but a dark shadow. Yet, in Your presence, even in the midst of confusing times, in the midst of dark days, in the midst of lying mouths, there is light and joy and peace and freedom and hope and comfort. Why, oh Lord, would I go elsewhere? Why would I engage in the foolishness of this world?
Lately, I find that the straining at gnats is the popular pastime of us all. Let us focus on the little issues and ignore the larger ones. How doI forget so callously that my God is mighty and just and powerful and all-knowing and that it is His very righteousness that demands that my life be given as payment for my rebellion and my sin? Yet, it is His love and compassion that sent Jesus Christ, His one and only begotten Son, to die to pay for the very sins and rebellions that I would never be able to make recompense for. My mind cannot fathom how a just God would make such a way to save a foul sinner like me.
Foolish, foolish mortal woman! Why would you dabble in sin?Why would you excuse your attitudes and your habits under a guise of sloppy grace? Why would you offer compassion to the sinner but condemn your family?Why would you love the world and hate those that serve Christ by your side? Why is it that we are quick to condemn those that are running the race alongside us for typos in their letters or missing a church service or some foolish error and leave sin unchecked in ourselves and in others, calling it grace? Grace,indeed!
We are running toward our deaths with a hasty speed and we are foolishly squabbling over things that we should, as followers of Christ,already know the truth of. Why do we insist on worldly practices and why do we insist on keeping our vices? Why do we think we know better than God? Why?
I lay on my face and say, “Oh, Lord, where would I be without You?” Where would I be…where? And, here it is, I don’t want to know. I just want You. I want to be with You and know You and be in love with You and forget this world. Today, as I lay on the ground like a broken toy, I stared at the ceiling and I thought, “I hate this world.” And I do. I do hate this world. Not the people of it, but the immorality and excuses of it. I hate the darkness of it.I do not want to be a part of it. I do not want anything to do with it.
Set apart. Being in the world but not of the world. This is what we are called to. To solely and completely belong to Christ. Anything else is death and destruction and darkness and hopelessness and failure and evil and worthless. Do not waste your time with the frivolous parties of this world. Hope and light and life lie only in one place: in a true relationship with JesusChrist. Everything else is noise.
If the world looks at you and sees themselves, you are not living a Christ-centered life, regardless of what you say or feel or think.When the world looks at us, they are not to be comfortable and see themselves,but rather they are to be challenged to repentance and see Christ. I fail at this. But, it is my desire to change. Change me, oh Lord. Do not leave me in this place of compromise and excuse.
I dropped my Introduction to Philosophy class today. I hate this world. I don’t want to read the musings of foolish men long dead. I want the truth. The solid, living word of God. Forget the ‘wisdom’ of man focusing on nature and believing they know ‘all things’ because they are able to think about all things. As God says, His thoughts and ways are far above ours. How prideful are we to think that anything apart from God is good!
There is really no way to end this, and so I will just say this: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and be gracious and give you peace. Truly. There is only God. Nothing else.There is noise and distraction and lies and deceit and sin and rebellion and death and there, on the side of truth, there is God. In Him is all that we need: light and peace and strength and encouragement and forgiveness. That’s a big thing, forgiveness. Be free. Be forgiven. Live for Christ. Everything else is a waste of your breath.
I totally felt like I was writing Ecclesiastes as I was lamenting. 