It's better than Hell

This whole year at church our pastor is preaching the ENTIRE book of Genesis.  Including this past weekend the "Edomite phone book" Genesis 36. From this text our pastor pulled out the fact that even though this entire family unit did NOT follow God, they did have riches.  God did give them things, they just chose not to live for God or about Gods business, our pastor called this "common grace".  

Common Grace is what we all receive by being allowed to breath, work, play and acquire riches here while on this earth. Every human being is given common grace. But with common grace your ability for eternal life with God is non-existent.  This is where saving grace comes in.  Jesus died for our sins so that we may have eternal life, all for the asking by repenting of our sinful lifestyle and changing our behavior. 

So why did this hit me so? Because he went on to talk about complaining. We as Christ followers complain because we don't have....XYZ but the non-believer does have XYZ.  God grants common grace to all....BUT saving grace is given to few Matthew 7: 21-23 

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

 

Also James 4 where I have been stuck for a week now makes even more sense. 

You adulterous people,don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world (just wanting common grace) becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But HE gives us more grace (saving grace) 

I also have been marinating on the early verse in James 

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  

So as he ended the sermon he reminded us that what we are going through on this earth is better than Hell. 

So the next time I start to say but why God?  I will remember 1 Peter 1:24-25

For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

Wow...that Bible is heavy!!!

My daughter had been asking for a new study Bible and I told her that I had one to give her.  

Well today after months of forgetting to put it in the car....she came over and I was home.....so I presented the Bible to her.  To which she said as I placed it in her hands, "boy, that's heavy".

Her comment: "boy, that's heavy"...made me think, she's correct, the Bible, Gods word is heavy.  

We sat and laughed and even said "what were you expecting The New Testament with Proverbs"?  To which she said half kidding, "yeah, you know the one you stick in your back pocket and pull it out real quick when you need to reference something".  

From there my husband said "yeah, like the owners manual of the vehicle, you only get it out when there is a question or a problem with the vehicle". 

Now we had our laugh, but I felt a real heavy burden to write this because, even though we laugh, it is true for many.

They think that Gods book is too heavy, so therefore they never pick it up, and they think that Gods words are only to be used to chastise those who are doing wrong.  

Yes that is true it is to be used to chastise those who are doing wrong, but it's a book for those who are Believers. This is a book to be read daily so that we, Believers can act with purpose. 

When Gods word disciplines it's for those that believe in Jesus for their salvation.  It is not a rule book to be followed by those who follow the world, yet many Christians want to use it that way.  

So to you, who call yourself a Christian, I have a question for you....do you open the "manual" daily so that you stay running at tip top performance or is it a manual that only gets used when the lights start dinging, and the vehicle has stopped moving?