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Not Like Grumpy by michael woroniecki
"Hey mom, where we going?" I probed. "Oh we're driving up to Traverse City, Michigan to see your uncle Archie" she happily responded as she prepared the food for our visit. "What's he like?" I wondered. So many of my uncles were just weird. They smoked big stogies and seemed to revel in their degrading and intimidating humor. There was like a ghost of creepiness around them. Their model in life seemed to be my old grumpy grandpa.
So I always had to be ready to quickly find an excuse not to go with my parents on their Sunday drives. I was quite surprised to hear "Oh Uncle Archie is a very good and fun guy!" She never said this about any of the "others" and she usually told it like it was. This statment along with her assuring attitude was confirmed by the great time I had during our visit. Uncle Archie was really cool!
When I was young my dad used to read to us about the "holy wars" of Israel in the Old Testament. God would either directly, or through a ruler, kill thousands of people. Yikes! Such stories made me scared of God. My worst nightmare would be that God Almighty was like my grumpy grandpa. Don't 'set him off' or you're doomed!
One day in college, for some reason, I determined to find out if God was good. I know this sounds strange but such were the complexities in my balding head. I figured the essential question was if God were this distant holy Being, Who demanded I obey the ten commandments what was the use of any further consideration? I'd just 'party down' and deal with the consequences when I had to. I could not and did not want to live a "holy" life.
However, if God was essentially GOOD there must be something I did not understand? It would be worth my time to look further because I had my whole life ahead of me. It sure would be cool if God was not like 'grumpy'. What if He was like Uncle Archie? Maybe then I could discover more of His goodness for my future life.
I can now tell you, some thirty six years later, GOD IS GOOD (Ps.25:8,34:8/Mt.19:17) !!! I can not tell you how happy I am for making that investigation on my own. I could never express the depths of joy I have known in my life. As corny as this may sound, there are times I just feel like crying over how good God is to me!
The fact that God is GOOD at His essence means everything for you my friend! No matter how difficult things might seem for you right now God is there for you! He is a "very present help" in time of need (Ps.46:1). There are things that you just don't undertand right now. You just got to humble yourself. It's not that hard. Admit you can't see the bigger picture of your life. He knows all things involved and what He is protecting your from. You must trust Him!
All the problems with sin and God's holiness in the Old Testament were resolved by Jesus in the New Testament (Jn.1:17/something I never read). God loves you so much! Don't let your lack of understanding keep you from the greatest discovery of your life. He wants to help you in ways you can not now imagine! Don't be afraid! God has an awesome sense of humor. Ask Him! He'll show you!
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The clincher for me was where Jesus says "Come to Me...and LEARN from Me" (Mt.11:29). How does one "learn" from an invisible Being? Jesus says the true church are those who learn the things of spirit and truth (not pretense and pomp) (Jn.4:24). Does such a work of the heart not require such things of which no man can describe? Silence, meditation, talking TO God are things of spirit and truth. In this mega-hype culture it can be impossible to force yourself into a stillness of heart. You must do the impossible! Start meditating on the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of John. Wherever you are for five or fifteen minutes. It will seem awkward at first. You will find many voices in your head and feelings of anxiety. You've got to LEARN to silence them. Solitude is essential!
You will find that the reaction by others to this quest, to go directly to Jesus, is treated with presumption; "Oh, of course. I know all that already". Men can work eight hours a day but are too lazy of heart to consider that God's love is of such mysterious and magnificent proportions so as to require a work of individual heart far beyond any passive prayer (Jn.6:27,29). Thus they fall short of His divine Presence. This is the essence of salvation! It was prophecied hundreds of years ago (Jer.31:33-34/Ez.36:26).
This is not the "salvation" of today. Rather it is the unbiblical "accept Christ" prayer-formula that produces plastic "Christians". McDonald's Christianity would have you believe that all you have to do is drive up to the "service" window of any preachers castle and get the salvation-to-go order of repeating a one-time prayer. As if the same generic prayer written for all to parrot has anything to do with the personal heart cry which God requires (Ps.51:17). Like everything in the American culture it is "processed" into an articial and refined response so as to make everyone the same and fit perfectly into their system about Christ.
The brethren in Corinth or Ephesus were the true church who lived as those "set apart" to love Christ rather than this world (1 Jn.2:14ff/Consider Acts 5:32). Luke explains that what Jesus "began to do and teach" in bodily form He now continues in His people in His risen state (Acts 1:1). Their identity was not in an affliation with a particular doctrine, or trying to make this world a better place, but in the power they beheld in their obedient lives looking for the city which is to come . They were uneducated and unlearned but their lives demonstrated that they had actually been with the living Jesus ( Acts 4:13).
Jesus revealed the world is full of religious deception; many "churches", cults and religions (Matt.24). How will you know the truth? Will you learn from a man or go to God? More than ever before, my friend, you must not just go along with everyone. The majority is wrong (Mt.7:13). Don't look at what men SAY. Tons of people claim to be an authority because they have a website or claim to have a following. Like armchair quarterbacks who never played a down of football yet pretend to know what's wrong. Look at their LIVES! Do they just sit around like anyone else claiming to be religious? Or do their lives stand out as a witness? Are they doing something that bears the cross of Christ (Mt.10:38)?
There is nothing wrong with going to a service to try and learn something but watch over your heart (Proverbs 14:23). "...A little leaven levens the whole lump..." (Gal.5:9). Hypocrisy is like toxic waste, it disintegrates sincerity and corrupts anyone with a heart. Don't give yourself over to "church". Learn and go on. You must not settle there. You must keep going. You must get beyond it to learn, build and discover a personal walk with Jesus. We can tell you it is awesome! Do you know His voice? Your life now and your eternity are at stake. This is about your capacity to walk in abundant life or abundant hypocrisy.
For surely there is a true church and is a false church. There is a false christ and a true Christ (2 Cor.11:3-4ff/Mt.24:24,23). Jesus beckons you to come to Him and find the posture of humility to become a disciple and learn directly from Him. His anointing is capable of teaching you all the things (1 Jn.2:27). The idea of God actually coming into your being can only be defined as a mystery (Col.1:27). David said "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy words are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy truths" (Ps.119:99ff/read the whole chapter).
Jesus is waiting....If anyone is thirsty!
The clincher for me was where Jesus says "Come to Me...and LEARN from Me" (Mt.11:29). How does one "learn" from an invisible Being? Jesus says the true church are those who learn the things of spirit and truth (not pretense and pomp) (Jn.4:24). Does such a work of the heart not require such things of which no man can describe? Silence, meditation, talking TO God are things of spirit and truth. In this mega-hype culture it can be impossible to force yourself into a stillness of heart. You must do the impossible! Start meditating on the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of John. Wherever you are for five or fifteen minutes. It will seem awkward at first. You will find many voices in your head and feelings of anxiety. You've got to LEARN to silence them. Solitude is essential!
You will find that the reaction by others to this quest, to go directly to Jesus, is treated with presumption; "Oh, of course. I know all that already". Men can work eight hours a day but are too lazy of heart to consider that God's love is of such mysterious and magnificent proportions so as to require a work of individual heart far beyond any passive prayer (Jn.6:27,29). Thus they fall short of His divine Presence. This is the essence of salvation! It was prophecied hundreds of years ago (Jer.31:33-34/Ez.36:26).
This is not the "salvation" of today. Rather it is the unbiblical "accept Christ" prayer-formula that produces plastic "Christians". McDonald's Christianity would have you believe that all you have to do is drive up to the "service" window of any preachers castle and get the salvation-to-go order of repeating a one-time prayer. As if the same generic prayer written for all to parrot has anything to do with the personal heart cry which God requires (Ps.51:17). Like everything in the American culture it is "processed" into an articial and refined response so as to make everyone the same and fit perfectly into their system about Christ.
The brethren in Corinth or Ephesus were the true church who lived as those "set apart" to love Christ rather than this world (1 Jn.2:14ff/Consider Acts 5:32). Luke explains that what Jesus "began to do and teach" in bodily form He now continues in His people in His risen state (Acts 1:1). Their identity was not in an affliation with a particular doctrine, or trying to make this world a better place, but in the power they beheld in their obedient lives looking for the city which is to come . They were uneducated and unlearned but their lives demonstrated that they had actually been with the living Jesus ( Acts 4:13).
Jesus revealed the world is full of religious deception; many "churches", cults and religions (Matt.24). How will you know the truth? Will you learn from a man or go to God? More than ever before, my friend, you must not just go along with everyone. The majority is wrong (Mt.7:13). Don't look at what men SAY. Tons of people claim to be an authority because they have a website or claim to have a following. Like armchair quarterbacks who never played a down of football yet pretend to know what's wrong. Look at their LIVES! Do they just sit around like anyone else claiming to be religious? Or do their lives stand out as a witness? Are they doing something that bears the cross of Christ (Mt.10:38)?
There is nothing wrong with going to a service to try and learn something but watch over your heart (Proverbs 14:23). "...A little leaven levens the whole lump..." (Gal.5:9). Hypocrisy is like toxic waste, it disintegrates sincerity and corrupts anyone with a heart. Don't give yourself over to "church". Learn and go on. You must not settle there. You must keep going. You must get beyond it to learn, build and discover a personal walk with Jesus. We can tell you it is awesome! Do you know His voice? Your life now and your eternity are at stake. This is about your capacity to walk in abundant life or abundant hypocrisy.
For surely there is a true church and is a false church. There is a false christ and a true Christ (2 Cor.11:3-4ff/Mt.24:24,23). Jesus beckons you to come to Him and find the posture of humility to become a disciple and learn directly from Him. His anointing is capable of teaching you all the things (1 Jn.2:27). The idea of God actually coming into your being can only be defined as a mystery (Col.1:27). David said "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy words are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy truths" (Ps.119:99ff/read the whole chapter).
Jesus is waiting....If anyone is thirsty!
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