Dominoes Part 4

I think a lot of people enjoy saying they're a Christian, and the false feeling of endorphins they get when they think they are doing "good". I've had this talk with many people before, but no one does good for others without getting something out of it themselves. Even giving a few dollars to a homeless person on the corner. What do you get out of it? I'll bet you feel like a good person for the rest of the day. Maybe the rest of the week/month.

Unfortunately, the truth is that we are not good, and will never be good. Can you accept this fact? Jesus clearly makes it plain in Matthew when he talks about the multitude of sins we commit in our hearts everyday that weren't previously even thought of. What other sins are we constantly committing if prior to this we weren't even considering internal thoughts as sin?

Let me ask you this. Do you have to teach a child to be selfish, or to share? Do you have to teach them how to be mean, or how to say kind things to others? As much as we'd like to think otherwise, we are all broken, sinful humans who succumb to the temptations of the flesh. Accept this, and you will be changed!

Ok, changed into what? Some superhuman person who never does any wrong? The pope? That'd be sweet right? Sorry guys, I got bad news for you. Even the pope is a sinner. In fact everyone who has ever lived is a sinner, except Jesus. You won't be transformed into a perfect person. In fact, those who think entry to heaven is achieved through works are Pharisaic, and dead wrong. You CANNOT and WILL NOT get to heaven by "doing good" because the law says to do it, or even because the good guys in the Bible did it.

Read what Jesus says about the Pharisees and how they attempted perfection on the outside, but were full of garbage on the inside. Bitter and self righteous because they "knew" and did better than everyone else. What a horrific life! So unfulfilling! Like someone who always follows the rules, never sneaks out to a party at night. Never tries something they're not supposed to. As Paul says, the law of humans is there for the unbelievers, not the righteous. That's because we live by God's law.

Am I advocating breaking the law? No, but the illustration needs to be made that the motivation is the key. You need to be so overwhelmed by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for you, that you're moved to change. You clean the inside first, and the outside becomes clean as a result. You realize that Jesus loves you so much that you WANT to be different for Him. You stop desiring what the world desires, and you realize that heavenly treasures are what you want.

So now we're back to prayer and honesty. When I started attending ODM my Korean church back in Chicago, something changed in me. I didn't care what people thought about me anymore. I was going to be honest. About everything in my life. Not because I didn't care about people, but because I knew God would use my struggles to help others with their walks.

Most people are so afraid of ridicule and failure that they put up a facade of having things together and their "social media" perfect life. What does this lead to? A world full of people that don't want to be honest with each other, and are therefore held at arms length from each other. Never truly realizing that THEY'RE ALL STRUGGLING WITH THE SAME STUFF. We are all struggling with the same types of things guys, and the only way we can overcome that is to be open and honest with each other...and more importantly, God.

This should be the easiest thing in the world considering we already know that God knows everything about us, including what's in our hearts. So what's stopping us from just telling Him what He already knows? It takes time, but it's important to start. If you truly have accepted Jesus as your Christ and Savior, then it's time you gave Him your heart and honesty along with it. Allow Him inside you, allow Him to change you.

The next part has to do with who we pray to. Do we pray to Jesus or to God? Who gets the glory? Does it matter? Aren't they the same? Well the trinity is definitely a difficult subject, and even more difficult to wrap your head around sometimes. Sometimes the best way to accept it is just through faith and not logic. I had a conversation with a fellow Christian about the trinity recently and they kept asking how Jesus could be God, if Jesus was God's son?

What an excellent question from a logical standpoint. The only real way to explain this properly is to say that Jesus was always and is always with God. However He is a separate part of God sent down to take our sins away. The same way the Holy Spirit is God, yet a separate part. All three of these parts obviously make up the trinity. I have not received revelation regarding the trinity, so maybe someone else with more learning than I will be able to explain better logically. That's my best explanation along with the fact that we're not meant to understand a lot of what God is or does. Just that we have faith that He is who He says He is, and He does what He says He does.

So the answer to the above question is that we pray to God the Father. We pray to the Father THROUGH the Son. Jesus came as an intercessory so that we could continue to have a relationship with the Father. Jesus became the sacrifice so that we wouldn't need to slaughter any more lambs or bulls or calves. Now we can still talk to God through prayer and have a relationship with Him despite our wickedness. Jesus makes all this possible. He is certainly worthy of praise, however we are to go to the Father in prayer.

Why is this so important since they're the same God? Well, as we see in the Bible, even Jesus prays to God and calls Him the father. (I'm linking this as an example of the passion of Christ's prayers, and how we should pray as well. With emotion! Like a child to our father) If that's not enough for you right there, think about the Old Testament. Who made the covenant with the Jews? God the Father. Who made the covenant with Abraham? God the Father. He is the pinnacle and the ultimate creator. Of course this isn't to say Jesus or the Holy Spirit is any less. The key here is not to get into semantics, but to realize what our purpose is here, and accept that our relationship is to be with the Father through the Son washing away our sins, and cleansing us.

Lastly, let's talk about the church and her purpose. I say "Her" because as Jesus said, he came to prepare her as a bride to be married to the groom (God). Not sexually, but as a relationship. As I discussed before. THIS IS HOW MUCH GOD DESIRES A RELATIONSHIP WITH US. If you believe the book we base our faith on, then you believe that God sent His Son, or part of Himself down to earth to be murdered for us! Us! That sin everyday! That lie and cheat and steal everyday! He did this knowingly and yet still went down for us. THAT'S how much He loves us. Get over yourself and start a relationship with the Father today. Close your bedroom door. Get a pillow and get down on your knees and just open a conversation with Him. You'd be surprised what comes out, and eventually what grows in you.

A quick final thought on this subject. It's very easy to be pulled into praying only for ourselves. (God give me money and a good job etc, or even just good health, or save my aunt who has cancer). But remember we are here to glorify Him. Ask Him to give you those things so you can glorify Him through you! Remember Him when He gives you what you ask for! Slowly but surely you too will be unable to talk about anything else but your loving relationship with our God. The creator of the universe. What a transformation for the church this could be if even 10% of "Christians" were to do this. We would begin to be worthy of being a bride for the one and true God.

As always, thanks for reading! I'm sorry it was so long, but it was necessary. I'm going to an intensive missionary meeting October 5th-7th so pray for me. I'll let you know what goes on! Talk to you all soon.