God Hates Cruelty

 Why does God allow such terrible suffering in this world? People blame God. Why does God allow cruel slavery? 

The Egyptian pyramids were built by slaves. In the so-called golden age of Ancient Greece, the citizens exercised democratic rights, but their wives lived at home under strict control. The beautiful buildings were built by slaves. The city government operated brothels. The prostitutes were slaves, and the money paid for their services was not given to the women.

Human trafficking and forced prostitution is still a huge international industry today.

Did God do this? Why blame God for the evil that men choose to practise? 

It is true that God permitted slavery in the bible, but the slavery that God authorised was very different from the brutal practices in Egypt, Greece and Rome and in the illegal brothels today.

The apostle Paul told Christian slaves to obey their masters. What was the alternative? A slave owner was legally entitled to kill a disobedient slave on the spot.

At the same time, Paul instructed Christian slave owners to treat their slaves kindly. This was a radical idea at the time.
But how did this world become so cruel in the first place? 

God created the first man and woman and gave them the authority to manage this world. They were supposed to be God’s junior partners in governing the natural world. 

Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. Since God has free will, Adam and Even must also have free will. Otherwise they could not be like God.

Some people doubt if this bible story is literally true, but even if you are not sure, it is obvious that we humans have turned away from God from the very beginning. God gave us humans the authority to manage the earth and without God we have messed it up very badly.

Jesus taught that we must love each other like brothers and sisters, to love our neighbour as ourselves.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Mt 7:12 NIV

If everyone followed this teaching of Jesus, there would be no slavery, no prostitution, no domestic violence, no child abuse, no robbery or violence.

All these terrible things are what people choose to do, so why blame God?

Does God like slavery? 

Who led the political campaign against slavery in the British Empire. William Wilberforce, a committed Christian.

Who led the political battle to abolish cruel child labour in British factories? The Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftsbury, another dedicated Christian.

God Created you for a Purpose

 God is our creator. We are all different because God did not make any two people the same. God made one person to be a musician and another person to be a mechanic. 

Frederick Handel wrote the Messiah, perhaps the most wonderful Christian music of all time, but if he had tried to be a preacher, he would probably have been a terrible failure.

I know a man who was a devoted Muslim fundamentalist until he became a Christian. He became an amazing personal evangelist for Jesus. Then people in his Church told him he should become a pastor, but he answered emphatically: “That is not my calling.”

He was a biologist. God called him to go back to university and study for a doctorate in biology. Every Muslim at that university heard the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Sadly, there are people who were created by God for one purpose but they go a different way. They may be Christians and they may go to heaven when they die, but they never fulfilled their potential.

A Christian pastor was discussing a difficult problem with the elders of his church. He was frustrated because he could not find a solution. Then he seemed to blow a fuse and resigned on the spot.
“I never wanted to be a pastor but it was what my mother wanted me to do!”

Did you choose your path in life or did others choose it for you? Most importantly of all, did God create you for what you do?

God told the prophet Jeremiah to visit a potter’s workshop. God showed the potter struggling to make a piece of pottery for a specific purpose, but the clay had a flaw, so the potter started again, trying to form the clay into the shape he wanted.

But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Jer 18:4 NIV

If you have spoiled your life, God is not finished with you. You may have committed serious sins or you may have simply chosen a path in life that God did not create you for.

If you are too old to do what God wanted you to so when you were young, God can still create a new you with a new calling to follow, a calling that fits your unique God given nature.

Some Christians misunderstand the parable of the potter. They think everything is determined by God, and we are simply clay in the hands of the Creator.

But in the story of the potter, God speaks to Israel, pleading with the Jews to submit to His will for them. God appeals to them to use the free will He has given them.

Then the word of the LORD came to me.
He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. Jer 18:5–6 NIV

“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ Jer 18:11 NIV

God is also speaking to you and me through this story. He has given you and me a free will to choose His purpose or to go the wrong way.

God Allows Sickness but Jesus Healed

Nothing happens without God's permission. God is simply God. He is sovereign.

God allows genocide, rape and human trafficking. Everything that is evil is permitted by God. This also includes cancer, depression, psychosis, blindness and coronavirus.

Should we passively accept something because God has allowed it?

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Jn 10:10 NKJV

God allows everything, but how should we respond to evil?

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Especially sin.

But not only sin is evil. Sickness is also evil. In the beginning there was no sin and no sickness. It was only as a result of Adam and Eve's first sin that illness and death came into the world.

Jesus always treated illness as an enemy. He came to conquer sin and also to abolish the consequences of sin. A clear sign that he also wanted to abolish illness was the many healings he performed with authority.

And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 NLT

God sovereignly allows sickness, genocide, domestic violence, bullying and human trafficking, but Jesus as a man aggressively resisted all kinds of sickness, cruelty and hypocrisy.

Why this contradiction?

Jesus is simply God's eternal Son.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” Jn 14:6–7 NLT

Jesus is the perfect representation of God's character.

God is sovereign, but he has given people the task of ruling this world.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Gen 1:28 NIV

But then people went wrong and handed their authority over to the devil.
That is why the devil is called “the god of this world”.
Jesus came as a man to take back this dominion from the devil.

Adam handed over his authority to the devil.
Jesus was the last Adam who lived without sin and took back this authority.

Then Jesus said to his disciples and to us.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Mt 28:18 NIV

Authority implies not only power, but also legitimate authority.

Then he commissioned his disciples to exercise this authority as his representatives in the world.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt 28:19–20 NIV

Some people only want this assignment to apply to the apostles, but the apostles died in the first century.

Jesus said: “I am with you always, to the end of the age." Then this commission is for us.
The end of the age has not yet come.

God Wants to Comfort You

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Mt 5:4 NRSV

Who can expect comfort from God?

According to some commentaries, this only applies to people who are sorry for their sins and want to repent, or to Christians who mourn in a close relationship with Jesus because of the sins in the world.

It is undoubtedly true that God forgives and comforts us when we hate our sins and want to repent.

It is also true that Jesus weeps over the sins of the world. When we weep in close communion with him, we experience the comfort of his tender love.

But can we only expect God's comfort when we mourn over sin?

When your child or sister dies, are you happy? No. You are devastated. This has nothing to do with sin, but God is love. He loves you deeply and wants to comfort you.

If your beloved dog dies, do you think your grief is not important to God?

I appreciate good Bible commentaries. I've been an avid student of the Bible for years.

But beware of pious sermons that focus on sin with a narrow religious view.

This religious mindset all too often leads to a critical attitude when dealing with neighbours and colleagues.

With a narrow focus on virtue and sin, one can become unconsciously judgemental, like the Pharisees in the Bible.

This way of thinking also often leads to unloving religiosity in congregations and painful guilt complexes in Christians who want to be holy.

Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Lk 12:1 NRSV

He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3 NRSV

Whatever your reason for suffering, Jesus wants to comfort you. If you choose to believe in His love and trust Him, you will experience His comforting love.

Am I saying that your sin is not an issue for Jesus?

God forbid! Jesus died to take the punishment for our sin. Jesus feels your pain; He loves you unconditionally just as you are, but He not only wants to forgive your sins completely, He also wants to remove them.

He wants to help you live a whole new life and enjoy His loving friendship.

Hiding from God

 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Gen 3:8 NIV

Adam and Eve had believed the enemy's lies and betrayed God. They were ashamed and afraid of God, but they still believed in God.

We are all in the same position, whether we believe in God or not. We hide and look at God as if from a distance. We can be so far removed from God that we deny God completely. We can become atheists, witches or Nazis, but Adam and Eve were not that far away.

Eve ate the forbidden fruit first, but Adam was no better. He was by her side and said nothing.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Gen 3:6 NIV

If your husband or wife makes a terrible decision and you go along with it in silence, you are equally guilty. A husband should restrain his wife from sin and a wife should restrain her husband from sin.

Adam and Eve immediately recognised their guilt and were ashamed.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Gen 3:7 NIV

Shame is a direct consequence of sin and sinful human nature. We no longer see our sexual nature as innocent and beautiful.

Many religious people believe that a celibate life is better and holier than a Christian marriage. Some theologians have invented the idea that sexual procreation only came after the fall of man, that sex was somehow God's plan B and was only meant to produce children.

Such absurd theological ideas are just symptoms of the shame that resulted from the Fall. These theological traditions are just fig leaves that do not help us find reconciliation with God.

When God walked around in the garden, He of course knew what Adam and Eve had done. Nevertheless, He came to restore the broken loving fellowship with the first couple.

• No matter where you hide, God still loves you.

• Are you hiding in your job, or in your busy domestic routine?

• Are you hiding in drugs or alcohol or occultism?

Are you perhaps hiding in religious traditions or theological studies?

No matter where you have chosen to seek refuge, God is seeking you out. He already knows where you are and He is looking for you right where you are.

He understands your heart and your wayward ways, but he does not want to punish you. He is looking for your trust so that you can have heart-to-heart companionship with him.

God knows that we are intimidated by his greatness, his holiness and his omnipotence.
He knows that we are afraid of his judgement.

That is why he has made himself small. He sent his eternal, almighty Son to earth as a human being in order to live and suffer with us as a human being.

Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our unfaithfulness upon himself.

On the cross we see God's broken heart, not only because we have gone wrong, but because he had lost loving fellowship with us, and also because you and I had lost this fellowship with him.

God wants this tender friendship with us as his children back. It is the longing of his heart to have our fellowship back and to give us the blessing of his friendship.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

Salvation without Repentance?

 A Catholic friend of mine once told me that her husband was having an affair with another woman. He went to confession every week, confessed his sin, went to communion and then did the same thing again. It's not only Catholics who mock God's grace in this way.

There is no salvation without repentance, but is one not saved until one can demonstrate a completely virtuous life?

Some Christians claim that all sins are equally evil. If a man no longer visits the brothel, but he still smokes cigarettes, then he cannot be recognised as a Christian. But is that true?

Only perfect holiness can escape God's judgement. That is why God the Father sacrificed his Son on the cross to take our punishment upon himself.

But if all sins, big or small, are forgiven, do we have to give up everything that is not holy? Some Christians take this idea for granted, but how does God judge?

Are all sins equally evil in God's eyes?

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 1 Jn 5:16–17 NIV

What sins are so terrible that intercession is useless?

God does not explain everything in the Bible. That's why we need mutual communication with the Holy Spirit through prayer. We need a listening heart. Some Christians claim that all problems can only be solved with biblical teachings, but this is not the case.

But one thing is totally clear in this Bible text. Some sins are much worse in God's eyes than others. Even in the Old Testament, the offender had to be executed for some sins, but God would forgive many sins without punishment.

A Christian who visits prostitutes is on the way to hell, but in my opinion God will not condemn anyone for smoking cigarettes.

God will also forgive serious sins, like David's, but not without repentance.

A young woman had Christian parents, but she had not chosen the Christian life. As a teenager she was a party girl. When her father was dying, she visited her parents to say goodbye.

When he died, he was suddenly supernaturally revitalised. He sat upright and shone with the glory of God. His daughter was converted on the spot. From that day on, she loved Jesus with all her heart.

She often sat in the garden, smoked a cigarette and had loving conversations with Jesus. She had not experienced a visible visitation and she did not hear an audible voice, but her spirit was wide awake and she heard God's loving thoughts from Jesus.

One day she heard the voice of Jesus in her heart: ‘You don't need those cigarettes anymore.’ With God's grace, she gave up cigarettes without painful difficulty.

Jesus is holy but also gentle and loving.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Mt 11:28–29 NASB95

The Holy Spirit in You

 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt 5:48 NIV

There are several Bible verses where you can find the expectation that we can be completely free from sin, and must be without sin.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom 5:1 NIV

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Rom 6:1–2 NIV

Sin poisons your life. We must never lightly appease or tolerate sin.

But the Bible also warns us that we will never completely reach the goal of sinlessness.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 Jn 1:8–9 NIV

The apostle Paul experienced a painful inner struggle against sin and guilt.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Rom 7:24–25 NIV

As the apostle John wrote (above), we will never be 100% without all sin, but if we focus on our faults and sins, we will live a miserable life.

An empty glass may not be completely empty, just as a good life is not completely sinless. An empty glass is full of air.

How can you get rid of the air? If you pour water or coffee into the glass, the air has to come out.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Gal 5:16 NIV

You can never obey God through virtuous exertion. It is impossible.

You can only satisfy God by living in a close personal relationship with the Holy Spirit every minute of every hour of every day.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, Eph 5:18–19 NIV

Paul says that we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again and live in loving fellowship with God and other Christians.

In this way we will live in God's light, and God's light reveals what is evil and casts out darkness.

Deliverance from Addictions, Trauma and Sin

There is a big difference between a person who wilfully and unscrupulously follows evil ways and a person who is overcome by sin.

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Gal 6:1 NIV

A young man thinks he is a born-again Christian. He loves to read books about faith. He talks enthusiastically about missions and wonderful testimonies. He is a Jesus fan.

At the same time, he has a pretty girlfriend. She works in a brothel and wants to continue working as a prostitute. She has no inclination to seek a different life.

This young religious man seems to have no remorse. He wants to continue to enjoy his sexual adventures and at the same time remain a Jesus fan.

Is this man on the path that leads to heaven? What does Jesus say?

“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. Mt 7:21 NIV

Should we help this man with gentle counselling? Perhaps he needs to fear God's judgement.

Then there are completely different situations in which true disciples of the Lord are overwhelmed by temptation.

Peter told Jesus that he was ready to die for his Lord.

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Mt 26:34 NIV

Jesus did not scold Peter, but corrected him mercifully with love and grace.

I know a pastor who was overwhelmed by his responsibilities and financial problems. He loved Jesus with all his heart, but he was overwhelmed that his faith was not strong enough to get out of trouble.

He tried to pay his debts by gambling with poker machines. He not only lost his own money, but money that belonged to the church. When he openly confessed his sin, he was  deeply humiliated had to resign from his position as pastor.

Peter was not condemned when he failed before the cross, nor do I believe that this pastor and his wife were condemned. They repented and are faithful servants of the Lord to this day.

I also know Christians who go wrong after unbearable abuse and bullying. Some with gambling addictions, others with porn or sexual sin, others with alcohol or other drugs.

God understands your trauma. You hate your sin and Jesus hates that sin too. He does not look down on you. He wants to heal your broken heart. He wants to set you free from your addiction and sin.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3 NIV

Freedom from False Guilt

 A girl is sexually abused as a small child. As a toddler, she is sexually aroused and at first understands nothing about sin.

Her family is Christian, and the man convinces her that this sweet experience is real love.
Only later does she learn that this is taboo and forbidden.

As a teenager in the church, she learns about sexual sin. She is no longer sexually active with the man in the family, but she has strong sexual urges and satisfies herself.

Then the church tells her that masturbation is a sin because it is supposedly unclean.
She feels overwhelmed by shame and guilt because she feels responsible for her forbidden sexual experience with the man she loved.

She then tries to suppress her sexual urges. When her desire becomes almost irresistible, she satisfies herself and then thinks she is a dirty, condemned sinner, and she is terrified of ending up in hell.

Is this girl or young woman really guilty in God's eyes, or is it about false guilt, guilt in her own eyes or in the eyes of the ministers in the church?

Where do I find a teaching in the Bible that little children are responsible for such sin? I do not find it.

Where do I find a teaching in the Bible that masturbation is wrong in all circumstances? The subject is not mentioned in any biblical text.

Why should I discuss such a controversial topic? I want to save lives. There are victims in such situations who become prostitutes or commit suicide.

The victims of such abuse are not only girls but also boys.

If guilt has been imposed on you with teachings that are not in the Bible, you no longer need to bear that guilt.

When Jesus hung stark naked on the cross, he bore your guilt but also your shame. He not only bore the guilt for your own sins, but also the guilt of the people who abused you and the guilt of the people who put false guilt on you.

If this post is relevant to you personally, please don't let false guilt ruin you anymore.

Masturbation is unfortunately often entangled with porn addiction and dirty fantasies, but maybe often not. Please don't misunderstand me. I am not advocating porn or pornographic thoughts.

Some find masturbation to be a kind of safety valve that can also help resist strong temptation.

Hold fast to God's word. Ask Jesus for help. He totally understands you, just as you are.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom 5:1 NIV

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Rom 8:1 NIV

Failure is not Final

 You failed. Perhaps you tried your best, but you failed.

We are all flawed, even when we want to do the best we can. Then your friendship, your job, your love relationship, your ministry explodes. You can now see how you went wrong.

But something is broken. You are suffering. The people you care about are suffering. What can you do?

We can cry out to God for help. Only God can knit your heart together. Only God can repair broken friendships.

Jesus died to reconcile you with God. He also wants to reconcile you with your neighbour.

Are you now ready to recognise your mistakes? Then God can help you in a marvellous way.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3 NIV

Jesus came to save sinners. No one is excluded. Jesus is also the good shepherd who restores his already saved sheep when they go wrong.

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? Lk 15:4 NIV

Perhaps you are already a faithful disciple, but you have failed.

You have gone astray, but perhaps not too far. Nevertheless, you are hurt, and you have hurt your friendship or family too. You are devastated, but Jesus loves you no less.

Jesus still remains your good shepherd.

Even if you have truly sinned wilfully, you must know that Jesus wants to give you grace to repent and receive his forgiveness.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 Jn 1:8–9 NIV

Jesus, our Compassionate Friend

 I know some Christian women who regularly visit brothels, not to preach, but to offer friendship and help to the prostitutes. They have rescued some from human trafficking and others have come to faith in Jesus.

Some Christians disapprove of visiting sinful places, but Jesus himself mixed with the outcasts of society

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;

the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Mt 11:18–19 NRSV

Some Christians look at the lives of unbelievers, and focus on their sins. Jesus wanted to save sinners from their sins, but he did not just look upon them as sinners, but as people who were struggling with the challenges and disappointments of life.

Jesus really was a friend to sinners. What does true friendship mean? A true friend empathises and tries to understand how you feel.

When Jesus saw severely sick people, he was moved with compassion and healed them.

But he did not only feel compassion for physical suffering, but also the mental and emotional suffering of people living in darkness.

Life is full of struggles and disappointments, for Christians as well as unbelievers. If you put your trust in Jesus, you have eternal life, but that does not make you immune to grief and heartache.

Jesus himself knew what sorrow and grief meant.

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. Is 53:3–4 NRSV

This translation correctly shows how Jesus, as our healer, bore our physical pains and sicknesses on the cross.

Some other translations emphasise the mental grief and sorrow, that Jesus endured, and how he identified himself with our emotional struggles.

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. Is 53:4 NKJV

God looks at your sins, and he wants to forgive you, but he does not just look upon you as a judge, but as one who loves you and identifies with your emotional struggles.

After Jesus returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to be our comforter. The Holy Spirit in NT Greek is the PARAKLETOS. One who is called alongside.

God is closer than breathing. He feels your heartaches, and he wants to touch you with his compassionate love.

Desires. Good or Bad

Are strong desires sinful?

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Rom 13:9 NRSV

Coveting is forbidden, of course.

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Mt 5:28 NRSV

But is strong desire always sinful? This idea is more Buddhist than Christian, although St Augustine disapproved of strong desire and passions of any kind. We need to consider that Augustine was influenced by Greek philosophy and his own guilt complexes.

Sadly, Western Christianity has often been unduly influenced by Augustine’s writings.

But maybe you are single. You are in love and want to get married. If your heart is not burning for your beloved, you are not right in your soul.

Longing comes from God, but longing can be good or bad. If we believe in Jesus, we must not be like the Buddhists who reject all longing, who want to live without longing at all.

Greed and fornication are certainly forbidden by God, but Jesus himself was a man with a strong desire in his heart.
 
Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; Lk 22:15 NKJV

God is love and his love is not cold love.

With Paul, God's love was like a blazing fire.

I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, Rom 9:1–3 NKJV

If you don't have deep longings, your soul isn't quite right.
God wants to release healthy desires in your heart.

How to Get Close to God

 If you are in any kind of need, you need to know that God loves you.
Because God loves you, He wants to help you. His love comes from His heart, but His help is also totally practical.
 
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Is 41:10 NIV
 
This text is for all those who know God personally. He always stands by his children, for he is the faithful Father in heaven. He never abandons his sons and daughters.
 
But if you don't know God personally, then you need his help all the more. God Himself has made a way for you to find Him if you are spiritually blind and have no relationship with your Creator.

Listen! The LORD’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.

It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore. Is 59:1–2 NLT

 But despite our estrangement from Him, whereby we have become spiritually blind and like orphans, God still loves us and wants to reconcile us to Himself.
 
The word ‘reconcile’ means that He wants to receive us as His sons (or daughters).
 
Many of us have a longing for God's love. The poet Schiller summarised this longing beautifully.
‘Brothers above the stars there surely must be a dear Father.

Perhaps you are one who believes that you must be a child of the universe.

But God loves you personally. God wants to give you something much better.
God loves you and understands you. He wants you to know Him, to know God as a person;

that you can know that you have a heavenly home, belong to a heavenly family and have a heavenly home.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

Jesus is the Son of God.

Although he was truly human, he was also God in heaven, who chose to be born as a human being, to live among us humans as a human being and to sacrifice himself to death as a human being.
Why?

He was executed on the cross in order to bear the punishment we deserve for our sins as a totally innocent human being. Our debt is paid!

Now you can get to know God.

You no longer need to be separated from your heavenly Father because of your guilt. Everything is forgiven if you want to receive God's wonderful grace and boundless love.

You can never earn God's love and grace.

You can never pay your debt.

You can’t earn God’s acceptance. He wants to receive you as his child.
 
Jesus said 2000 years ago and he is still saying to you today:
 
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NLT

Put your life in His hands today. He will not let you down.

He is waiting at this moment to hear your voice.

He is the all-knowing God.

He reads your thoughts like a book that is well known to Him. But He doesn't want to be a threatening policeman, He wants to be like your father or your mother or your best friend.

It is not important to speak fine words or say a beautiful pious prayer.
     
Just tell him the thoughts that are in your heart. He understands your heart and your language.

Love is a Choice

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

God sent His only Son into this world to rescue us from our self-destruction. God’s original purpose for us all, is that we know him as our creator, who loves us and cares for every aspect of our lives.

Why didn't God just make us perfectly good and leave it at that?

Then none of us would turn bad. None of us would kill or steal. We would never mess up our lives with useless addictions.

In fact, God did make the first man and woman perfect and good.

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Ge 1:27 NIV

God is perfectly kind, loving and good. So the first man and woman were created fully formed with the same character as their loving creator: kind, loving and good.

Even today, we can see imperfect manifestations of God’s goodness in many people.

We see faithful couples, loving mothers, skilful doctors who care for their patients, judges who do their best to be fair. Not all politicians and rulers are corrupt.

So why did people go wrong?

God created men and women with his own nature.

One essential aspect of God’s nature is his freedom to make decisions. God did not have to create anything or anybody. He freely chose to create everything, and everybody, including you and me.

If we are created in the image of God, we must also have this essential attribute of God, the ability to make decisions, to marry or stay single, to love or hate, to obey or disobey.

When God created the first man and woman, he put them in a garden full of fruit trees. They could choose to eat any fruit except one, the fruit of the forbidden tree. They had to make a choice, whether to trust and obey God or to disobey.

True love is always a choice. A newborn baby feels the love of its mother and returns that love, but as boys and girls grow up, they must choose to love their parents, or they can rebel and make bad choices. 

We must also choose to forgive our parents, which can be a serious problem.

God did not make us as perfect computers, infallibly programmed to do what we were programmed to do. God made you and me to be unique individuals who mature by making good choices.

When we love as God wants us to love, it is always a choice.

What will you choose today?

We have all inherited a degree of corruption from our parents, and we have all been exposed to bad influences by the world we live in. 

We don’t live in a perfect relationship with God because the first man and woman ate the forbidden fruit and passed on a corrupted nature to all generations.

But God knows all things. He saw that we would misuse our free will. Free will involves rewards for good choices and bad consequences for bad choices. By distancing ourselves from the only source of love and goodness, we are all doomed to die and continue in the next life without any hope or goodness.

God is the God of justice. He did not want to punish us. He sent His own eternal son into this world to pay the penalty for our sin. If we turn to Jesus, we will be forgiven and given a new life, life in the image of our creator.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  Jn 3:16 NIV

Loving and trusting are choices. Believing in Jesus is a choice. How will you choose today?

Freedom from Real and False Guilt

 Psychologists warn us about the toxic effects of guilt. But many preachers condemn psychologists because they want to explain away feelings of guilt as neuroses, instead of recognising our guilt in God's eyes.

In reality, all people are guilty because we disrespect God and treat our fellow human beings unjustly.
 
When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they immediately became guilty because they disobeyed God.

But their feelings of guilt were also partly neurotic and false. They were ashamed to be naked, even though it was not a sin to be naked together as man and wife.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Ge 2:15–17 NRSV

Then Eve was deceived by the devil's lies.

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die;

for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Ge 3:4–5 NRSV

That was a lie. Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, and immediately they became unable to properly discern good from evil, because it was not a sin to be naked.

We still see this confusion. There are women in Africa who walk around with bare breasts without feeling guilty, and there are women in the Middle East who feel guilty if they don't wear a headscarf.

Jesus died on the cross to free us from our sin and guilt.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Is 53:6 NRSV

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 Jn 1:8–9 NRSV

But many Christians confess their sins and still remain burdened by feelings of guilt. They still feel guilty, even though God promises that their sins are forgiven.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Ro 8:1 NRSV

They are plagued by shame, unworthiness and self-loathing.

A woman sins or is raped and has an unwanted child. The child always feels unwanted and rejected. Children like this often feel responsible for their mother's suffering

The child feels guilty about his or her own existence. If the child then really does sin, there is never any forgiveness in his own eyes.

It is well known that women who have been abused or raped are often rejected and judged by others. They then feel guilty, even though they were actually victims.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they broke off their close relationship with God. Without a loving relationship with God, they could not clearly distinguish between good and evil.

Are you burdened by guilt and shame? Jesus wants to invite you to come to him so that he can forgive you completely and heal your deeply wounded soul.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NRSV

Holy Spirit and Sin

 Some Bible verses seem to imply that we can be completely free from sin, and should be sinless.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 

Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Romans 6:1–2 NKJV

Sin poisons your life. We must never complacently tolerate sin.

But the Bible also warns us that we will never completely reach the goal of sinlessness.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8–9 NKJV

The apostle Paul experienced a painful inner struggle against sin and guilt.

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:24–25 NKJV

As the Apostle John wrote (above), we will never be 100% without all sin, but if we focus on our faults and sins, we will live a miserable life.

An empty glass is not completely empty, just as a good life is not completely sinless. An empty glass is full of air.

How can you get rid of the air? If you pour water or coffee into the glass, the air must come out.

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 NKJV

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. Galatians 5:16 NLT

You can never obey God through virtuous effort. It is impossible.

You can only fully please God by living in a close personal relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,

singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. Ephesians 5:18–19 NLT

Paul says we need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit and live in loving fellowship with God and other Christians.

In this way we will live in God's light, and God's light reveals sin and casts out darkness.

GOD TRANSFORMS YOUR SHAME INTO BLESSING

"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth,  Isaiah 54:4 (NASB) 

God remembers everything in your life, the good, the bad and the ugly. 

But doesn’t the Bible say that God forgets your sins when He forgives?

God decides not to remember your sin as sin. But God keeps a record of everything in your past and in your history for another purpose. 

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV) 

God keeps a record of your entire life for the purpose of healing the wounds in your soul. 

• Better than that, God uses the wrong things that have happened in your life to bless you and others.

When Moses died, Joshua took over the leadership of Israel. 
Before the Israelites miraculously crossed the Jordan River, Joshua sent spies into Jericho. 

• They narrowly escaped capture when they took refuge in a brothel. The prostitute Rahab protected them because she believed in the God of Israel. 
• When the city of Jericho fell, Rahab’s house was preserved and she was welcomed into Israel as a convert to the true God. 
• She became the grandmother of the grandfather of King David. 
• Rahab is one of only four women listed in the family tree of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. 

Jesus said to the self righteous Jewish religious leaders:

 ... Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. Matthew 21:31 (NIV) 

How many prostitutes have been encouraged to respond to the love of God by the story of Rahab? 

• God uses the record of our past lives to bless us and bless others.

I once heard a very interesting missionary preacher. He told a story of a church made up mostly of converted ex prostitutes. They were wonderful street evangelists. 

• As prostitutes they had hunted for men with shameless boldness. God used this same shameless boldness to make them wonderful evangelists. 

God forgets the sinfulness of your sin but He uses your sinful past to do wonderful things.

A quite different example is the Apostle Paul.

Paul’s sinful past was not adultery or witchcraft but self righteous religious pride. 

• Paul’s religious ambition drove him to be an outstanding biblical scholar but there was not humility of love in his heart. His religion led him to persecute and murder followers of Jesus. 
• Paul became an enemy of Jesus and an enemy of the God he thought he served. Then came the day when everything changed.

Acts 9:3-6 (NIV) 

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 

• "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 

God never forgot Paul’s sin. It is recorded in the Bible, the Word of God.

• Paul also remembered his sin.

1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NIV) 

• Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. 
• But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 

Paul was a living example of the mercy and grace that was at the heart of his message and his ministry.

If there is extreme shame in your life, be encouraged. 

"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth ... Isaiah 54:4 (NASB)