friend-of-israel
Lifestyle
Counter/Zählersigns_of_the_times
Bibel-aufgeschlagen-sepia
1homosexual20402 drug-abuse202 egocentrism20202 heavy-metal202 materialism202

Our so called ´modern´ lifestyle is often excused by statements like: “I am working hard in a nine to five job - so what´s wrong with havin´ some fun? And by the way: it´s none of your business!”


Yes, we all should have fun, shouldn´t we? But what if this kind of lifestyle doesn´t fit in the kind of life God had in mind for us?
In my view I am far from being a so called ´party pooper´ but you have to consider that our purpose here on earth is not having as much fun as one can get. Sounds some kinda new to you?
What are the ´benefits´ of a life celebrating one party after another? What next ´kick´ could be imaginable to ´spice up´ one´s life? How can I escape the daily routine and boredom?
There are more than 100 tv channels of sh.. to choose from, talkshows, sports, music, gossip, celebreties (and those who claim theirself to be), daily soaps, movies etc. etc. and commercials telling us what we need implicitly - seven days a week.

But what if the boring won´t go away? Let´s have a look into the future! Yes, there are many fortune tellers, astrologers and those communicating with the dead. This would be a thrill!

Or we try a drug - just for fun!

etc.


Do you notice something?
By looking for fun and distraction you will lose your bearings, and much worse you will get in great danger losing everything you got - and much more.
Looking for fun and distraction and/or for material things like a new car, house, much money a. s. o. is not our purpose here. You can´t take it with you! Nothing at all.

Daily work and dull ´entertainment´ keep you away from real important things in life.

 

 

God's Road Map For Our Lives I

By Lea Sylvester

It is safe to say that those of us who are Christians can look back on the time when we first accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and recall the enthusiasm we had for Him. We were eager, we wanted more information, we wanted to learn. How exciting an experience!

Sometimes, as we go through life – no, most times, as Christians, we face adversity in many ways.  All people face adversity but the difference between being a Christian and not being a Christian is that we have God to lean upon. We know He will never lead us where we are not supposed to go. Or does He? There have been many times I can recall when I had to ask myself (and God), hey, aren't we supposed to be doing it a different way? Or, hey Big Guy, this isn't what you wanted, is it?

The Bible is written for our instruction. It is our “manual for life.”  It is just as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago, if not more so. The Old Testament teaches us many things, as does the New Testament. But, so many Christians prefer the New Testament and some even believe the Old Testament is not for them. How untrue. Every word is there for a reason.

Exodus 13:17 tells us, “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not THROUGH the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.

What does this passage mean? Many of us haven't thought about the “Exodus” except perhaps that the Hebrews were released from bondage and they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Many believe it was because of their sin. But this is simply not true. What sin did they commit that they would right away be led OUT of the way which they were to go and by God, as the scripture indicates?

God is teaching us some important lessons here in these passages. He is revealing Himself to us through the account of this event.  We must learn. I don't know about those who might be reading this, but I believe one can tell a great deal about a person by the way they drive. Some people can't read a map and get lost and then won't ask for directions. Some take off on a journey with no plan, no map and no idea how they are to get wherever it is they believe they are going. Be assured, God does none of those things.

Would God intentionally lead us through detours and back roads on our journey to reach His perfect will for our lives? I say yes. How many times have we gotten spiritually sidetracked? How easy is it to find ourselves in a predicament where we are frustrated?  We might be doing EVERYTHING God has asked us to do but we run out of gas, or we get lost or we simply run out of road. God actually leads us to dead ends at times. If it is so easy for Christians to lose their way, it's easy to see how the unsaved are lost.

We ask God why these things are happening. How are we, as Christians, to react?  Let's look at the story of the Exodus, there we will find some answers. In Exodus 13:17, we read “...God led them...” Understand those three little words. Pay particular attention to those words.  We are thankful that God leads us, aren't we? He leads us each and every day! What would we do without prayer, without being able to or not knowing how to trust Him?

Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way.This passage is just one of the many promises of God. He directs our steps. Prayer is so important, it gets us in step with God. It keeps us walking daily in His perfect will.

If we are truly following God, if we are truly trusting in Him, if we are truly walking with Him and we find ourselves at a standstill, then we must know HE LED US TO THAT PLACE.  And, you can believe that He is delighted we are there. Sometimes, we might ask, “Father, what ARE you doing?” Many of us have faced detours and dead ends in our lives. Perhaps some reading this are going through these right now. When we read Exodus 13:18 we see more, “But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed (armed) out of the land of Egypt.

As  mentioned earlier, many of us think the Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness because of disobedience. And yes, later that was true. But not when they had just left Egypt! This scripture tells us that they were “led about”.  Moses, under the direction of God, led them around in circles.... They had done nothing wrong! They had celebrated the Passover, had followed Moses, and were obedient. Yet, they were being led around! From the very beginning, we see that God was leading them around, and they had to have been asking themselves, “God WHAT are you doing?” They were being taken on a divine detour.

Why didn't God take them the shortest way? The quickest way isn't always the best way and the shortest way isn't always the quickest way. Most of the time spiritually the shortest way isn't the best way. We read in Genesis 39:1-3, “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, and officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to proper in his hand.

Joseph was following God. We see he was prospering because of his obedience to God. What a wonderful story. Joseph was doing God's will. Genesis 39:6 tells us, “And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand [his master]; and he knew not aught he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

But we see there is a problem. In verse 7 we read, “And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.” 8. But he refused and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; 9. There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

This woman didn't just “look” at Joseph, she had big plans for him and Joseph turned her down, despite her strong pursuit for days.  I could see that Joseph was a good-looking young man, this was a temptation. But Joseph was firm and did the right thing. What happened to Joseph? He was thrown into prison! He did nothing wrong, yet there he was; not just in prison but in the lowest part of the prison! Genesis 39:12-14 gives us an account of what the wife did. The saying goes: there's nothing like a woman scorned. She claimed that Joseph had raped her. And so, he was thrown into prison.

How could God let that happen? Did He let that happen? Joseph's life had been full of detours but he was obedient, and how was he rewarded? Is this what he deserved? Joseph knew his brothers would be coming and that he must be ready, but he found himself in prison.  This was certainly a detour from where Joseph knew he had to go. It was a divine detour. He was headed for the palace, but he first had to take that detour.

In Exodus 13:17, we see that God had taken the Children of Israel out of Egypt, but the passage is clear: “...God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return toEgypt.”  God knew that these very people must fight, must war against the Philistines, who were known to be very fierce. If they didn't trust Him and follow His instructions, at the first hint of trouble, He says here that they would run back to captivity in Egypt!

These people were not warriors. They were stone-cutters, craftsmen, and artists. They would have run straight back to Egypt. This was a divine detour!

We can see that we are given detours [divine detours] because we may not be ready for a task that God has for us to do. He knows what this will require, but we do not. It is not for us to determine when we are ready, that is for God to determine. 

We are the workmanship of God. We keep doing the things we are called to do and God will bless them because our steps are ordered by Him.  He knows the timing and He knows when we are ready.  We must trust God all the way

[WakeUp!] [Death Is The Great Equilizer] [How Can I Be Saved?] [Holy Bible - Fact or Fiction] [Guidelines] [About Islam] [Evolution] [Lifestyle] [Intolerance] [Heaven or Hell?] [Xmas, Halloween & Co.] [Trouble ahead] [Abortion] [The Greates Sermon EVER] [Comments]