Dear God,
I know You are always in control. Even when things do not seem to go my way, or the way it should be in my opinion, You are still in control and they are still within Your will. Teach me to trust You more each day. Shape me to be more like Christ each day.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
God egoistic?
Is God egoistic since he wanted everybody to worship Him?
i'm just thinking: does God need anyone to worship Him in the first place? He's so glorious, almighty, yet gentle, amazing, righteous, yet loving. He is all-sufficient, and does not need anyone to worship Him to give Him more glory. Even if all mankind does not worship Him, I am sure even the rocks will raise their voices to worship Him.
God wants a relationship. He does not want empty worship.
He created us and knew the plans He had for our lives. (Just like when we make something, say a bag, we know a bag is for holding things, and it is not for writing or cooking.)
He knew what is best for us, even when we have not come into being on earth.
He knew that our lives would be far more enriched and fulfilled if we allowed Him to be the King in our lives.
When Jesus was living on earth, He described God's desire
for a close relationship with man through the story of the prodigal son...
A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."'
So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'
But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began. (taken from Luke 15:11-24, Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.)
Just like the father described in the story above, God is like that. He desires us, his children to remember he is truly the Father who loves us and return to Him.
On the other hand, we are like the younger son who abandon the father. We do not acknowledge God in our lives. We fail to recognise that He is truly our heavenly Father. Even when we do, we would still go against His wishes.
Our worship stems from the relationship we have with God as our heavenly Father. Our earthly fathers may be fantastic, some may not be very good, and some may even be very bad, but our heavenly Father is ever-loving, ever-present. No matter how far we drift from Him, how badly we treated Him in the past, He is still there waiting, looking out for us to return back to Him, just like the father described in the story above.
If you still do not have a relationship with God yet, do not hesitate to give it a go. God is waiting. Say a simple prayer like the one below (praying is just talking with God): "Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for being the loving father described in the story. I am sorry to have do you wrong by not acknowledging you as father. Please forgive me. I want to return back to you through what Jesus has done on the cross for me. In Jesus name, Amen." (Amen is I agree, or yes in the Hebrew language.)
If you want to find out more about God, or if you have just said the above prayer, do visit a bible-believing church near you.
i'm just thinking: does God need anyone to worship Him in the first place? He's so glorious, almighty, yet gentle, amazing, righteous, yet loving. He is all-sufficient, and does not need anyone to worship Him to give Him more glory. Even if all mankind does not worship Him, I am sure even the rocks will raise their voices to worship Him.
God wants a relationship. He does not want empty worship.
He created us and knew the plans He had for our lives. (Just like when we make something, say a bag, we know a bag is for holding things, and it is not for writing or cooking.)
He knew what is best for us, even when we have not come into being on earth.
He knew that our lives would be far more enriched and fulfilled if we allowed Him to be the King in our lives.
When Jesus was living on earth, He described God's desire
for a close relationship with man through the story of the prodigal son...
A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."'
So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'
But his father said to the servants, 'Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began. (taken from Luke 15:11-24, Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.)
Just like the father described in the story above, God is like that. He desires us, his children to remember he is truly the Father who loves us and return to Him.
On the other hand, we are like the younger son who abandon the father. We do not acknowledge God in our lives. We fail to recognise that He is truly our heavenly Father. Even when we do, we would still go against His wishes.
Our worship stems from the relationship we have with God as our heavenly Father. Our earthly fathers may be fantastic, some may not be very good, and some may even be very bad, but our heavenly Father is ever-loving, ever-present. No matter how far we drift from Him, how badly we treated Him in the past, He is still there waiting, looking out for us to return back to Him, just like the father described in the story above.
If you still do not have a relationship with God yet, do not hesitate to give it a go. God is waiting. Say a simple prayer like the one below (praying is just talking with God): "Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for being the loving father described in the story. I am sorry to have do you wrong by not acknowledging you as father. Please forgive me. I want to return back to you through what Jesus has done on the cross for me. In Jesus name, Amen." (Amen is I agree, or yes in the Hebrew language.)
If you want to find out more about God, or if you have just said the above prayer, do visit a bible-believing church near you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)