Have you ever been in love? Have you ever had someone in your life who was so important to you, that they colored everything that touched you? Was there ever a person who could literally brighten a grey day of yours simply by walking into the room?
That's how I feel with Jesus. When I am close to Him, the flowers are brighter, the sky is bluer, and the grass is greener. Food is tastier, people are friendlier, and I am kinder. The cultural idiosyncrasies that frustrate me to point of tears when I am not close to the Lord, become endearing and adorable when we are communing with each other. By and large, to put it simply, everything is more interesting when Jesus is in the picture.
I don't know how non-Christians survive without the Lord. There are days when I simply have nothing else to hold onto, when He is my only lifeline, my only grip on sanity. How do they make it through those days? What is their lifeline when nothing is going their way? Even on the good days...why would you want to settle for a good day, when a relationship with the Lord can make it great?
Perhaps it's because they don't know what they're missing. And what they think they're missing is nothing like the reality. Most non-Christians think of God as a distant, disinterested deity at best, and as an overbearing, domineering, or even cruel control-freak at worst.
Where have they gotten this impression of the Most High God from?? Certainly not from Him. God's word says that He is kind, that He is loving, that He is forgiving, and that He is caring. How did his reputation get so unbelievably warped? The only explanation that I can think of, is that it's been warped by us, by Christians, by the people who are supposed to reflect His very own image.
My friends, I hope I don't have to tell you how much this should not be. Interactions with Christians should never be a justification for someone to shy away from God. We are supposed to be the salt of the earth, we are supposed to be the light of the world - we are supposed to draw people to God, not away from Him. So the next time you come across someone who hates Christianity and Christianity's God, I urge you to check your heart and examine your actions, and see if you are in any way the cause of that hate.
That's how I feel with Jesus. When I am close to Him, the flowers are brighter, the sky is bluer, and the grass is greener. Food is tastier, people are friendlier, and I am kinder. The cultural idiosyncrasies that frustrate me to point of tears when I am not close to the Lord, become endearing and adorable when we are communing with each other. By and large, to put it simply, everything is more interesting when Jesus is in the picture.
I don't know how non-Christians survive without the Lord. There are days when I simply have nothing else to hold onto, when He is my only lifeline, my only grip on sanity. How do they make it through those days? What is their lifeline when nothing is going their way? Even on the good days...why would you want to settle for a good day, when a relationship with the Lord can make it great?
Perhaps it's because they don't know what they're missing. And what they think they're missing is nothing like the reality. Most non-Christians think of God as a distant, disinterested deity at best, and as an overbearing, domineering, or even cruel control-freak at worst.
Where have they gotten this impression of the Most High God from?? Certainly not from Him. God's word says that He is kind, that He is loving, that He is forgiving, and that He is caring. How did his reputation get so unbelievably warped? The only explanation that I can think of, is that it's been warped by us, by Christians, by the people who are supposed to reflect His very own image.
My friends, I hope I don't have to tell you how much this should not be. Interactions with Christians should never be a justification for someone to shy away from God. We are supposed to be the salt of the earth, we are supposed to be the light of the world - we are supposed to draw people to God, not away from Him. So the next time you come across someone who hates Christianity and Christianity's God, I urge you to check your heart and examine your actions, and see if you are in any way the cause of that hate.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
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