Relationship with God

Relationship with God

BY Argie Simonis  

It is very important to understand that if you want to relate with a person you need first to understand that person. The same principal applies with God. You need to understand God's nature and character in order to have a healthy relationship with Him. Failing to follow this principal can lead to many problems. This is excactly what happened in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent:

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.  And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die:For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:1-5)

Satan came against the nature and character of God and by using a lie he said that God didn't want the best for them. Actually this is the very first lie ever said from the day of creation and that's why the devil is called "the father of all lies" (John 8:44). Sadly he still deceives people today in the same way, convincing them that following God and not experimenting with all these things that are contrary to His Word makes your life boring and you become unhappy and empty. Many people fall into that and by the time they realize that drugs, alcohol, sex, rebelion, success in jobs and all other things they tried didn't satisfy them, they have already destroyed their lives, their families and their health. God is a good God and His will for us is only good (Jer 29:11). When satan tempts us, he is not coming with something new. He uses the same temtptations on us today that came against Adam and Eve or even against Jesus when he temtped Him in the desert. There are only 3 major temptations he always uses throughout the centuries and "serves" them in different ways: The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1John 2:16).
I can make a lot of comments on this, but let me ask you this first: Why do you think satan didn't choose a big and strong animal like a lion or an elephant to scare  Adam and Eve and force them to eat of the forbidden fruit?
It's because he had no power to do that.Satan's only power is desception and he managed to deceive them and get them destroy themselves. That's the way he works with us too. We are the ones who destroy ourselve because we fall for his lies.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6)

Sin is first conceived and then it gives birth; just like a baby.
"when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." (Jas 1:15).
The best way to stop the birth of sin is to stop its conception. We can do that only by focusing on God and making His Word become personal to us. That is I believe the reason that satan aproached Eve first and not Adam, because she had knowledge of God's command secondhand. Therefore, it would have been easier to Eve to doubt Adam's credibility in presenting God's command accurately. The command not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was given to Adam before Eve was seperated from him (Gen 2:16-17). Eve was innocent and didn't realize that satan was trying to destroy her. However she should have become suspicious when the serpent questioned God's Words. She should never get involved into that conversation. That may also apply to us. Thoughts contrary to God's Word should be rebuked at once. Something else that we must notice is that comparing Eve's words in Gen 1:3 with God's direct command in Gen 2:16-17, we see that Eve added to what God had said. She said that she couldn't even touch the fruit, or she would die. Religious traditions cause people to feel that God's Word is irrelevant to us today, which of course is not true. Eve broke her tradition first. She touched the fruit,  she didn't die, then she broke God's commandment. We need to reject tradition and line up with God's absolutes.
"Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." (Matthew 15:6)

God’s heart is to reconcile mankind to Himself not to judge them…not to impute their sins…not to hold their sins against them. That’s the heart of God for people in the Bible and also His heart for you today. You need to understand His real heart, that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). He seeks to take away your sins and anything that would separate you from Him. He’s already done it through Jesus, and He’s offering you relationship today, not based on your performance but on your faith and acceptance of Jesus bearing your sins. You can have relationship with God today regardless of the failures in your life. All He asks is that you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen!

The way you think is the way you will be.

The way you think is the way you will be.

BY Argie Simonis  

"For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov 23:7)

We cannot consistently operate differently than what we believe in our hearts. We may lie to gain an advantage, we may even try to lie to convince ourselves for something that is not true, but our actions is the fruit of how we think in our hearts. So if we want to change our actions we need first to change our hearts. Anything else than that is just a cover-up, a modified behavior. It is not a true change and it will not last long.
The way we think in our hearts is not just random thoughts. It is more like an act of meditation. Regardless of what is happening in our lives, in our bodies, or our circumstances, if we can think and believe strongly enough, everything can change. We need to focus to what God says and we must not forget that if the Word is not mixed with faith, it profits us nothing (Hebrews 4:2). If our situations aren’t changing for the better, then we haven’t truly seen it on the inside in our imaginations. Things which are seen were made of things which are not visible (Heb 11:3). We have to see it on the inside before we see it on the outside.  
How do you see yourself today? Are you the victim or the victor? Are you a cat or a lion?
God bless you!

The rigthousness of God

The rightousness of God

BY Argie Simonis  

"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:21-23)
 
Many people today wonder: "What do I need to do in order to go to heaven?". The most popular answer would be to keep the 10 commandments, be faithful to your wife/husband, live a moral life, and a number of other things. You need to realize that in order to be in God's presence you need to have a rightousness that equals God's rightousness and only one man had such rightousness, and that is Jesus Christ! None of us in our own selves have ever kept the Law or the commantments perfectly (Rom 3:23).
You need to understand that the Law was not given to produce justification but to give us the knowledge that we were sinners and needed salvation (Rom 3:20). We can not be the saviors of ourselves. The only way to obtain salvation is to put faith in Jesus and what He did for us as our savior. We are justified by faith without the deeds of the Law (Romans 3:28)
There are two kind of rightousness. The rightousness of man and the rightousness of God. The rightousness of man is a person's best behaviour and the good works they do. The religious Jews have come to think that the only way for God to grant them forgiveness was through them fulfilling the Law as much as possible and then offering the appropriate sacrifice prescribed in the Law for any sins. Paul here is not putting forth a new doctrine but expounds the true doctrine that the Old Testament Law and prophets had advocated all along. Justification through the Law was never God's intent. They had misunderstood and misapplied the Law in this area.
The only difference between Jew and Gentile, or the moral and immoral, is in the sight of people. From God's point of view there is no difference. Being a liar doesn't make you better than a thief, and being an adulterer doesn't make you better than a murderer. Sin is sin and all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23)
A rightousness according to the Law is a rightousness of doing, earning and achieving in order to be accepted before God. All the world religions today think you have to earn your acceptance by God by your own performance. The word "gospel" in Greek means "good news" and the good news is that God is offering His rightousness as a gift to those who believe in what Jesus Christ has already provided on the cross, which is the restoration of our broken relationship with God, and our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins which is a by-product of this restored relationship.
A common mistake that people make is comparing themselves with other people. According to 2 Cor 10:12 this is foolisness. Everyone is going to be compared to Jesus, who is the glory of God, and therefore everyone will come up short (Rom 3:23). We all need a savior.
God is offering you the gift of rightousness (Rom 5:17), a gift of right standing with Him. A gift does cost something, but not to the person that receives it. If you paid to receive something, then it wouldn't be a gift. God is offering that gift for free and the only thing you have to do is to receive it by putting your faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for you.
Don't waste time. Make Jesus your Lord and savior today! (Rom 10:9)