Christianity Oasis Forum

[dema]

Part of my spiritual journey:

God is God. We aren't. Historically, the king had absolute power. And so the people understood sovereignity. Most people today do not. We accept Jesus as Lord. A Lord had power of life and death, of riches or poverty, to conscript into service.

There are laws that God has agreed to follow. Because he chose to agree. But God is the creator. God made the rules.

Take the word perfect. Perfect can mean without flaw. And that is what people focus on. But the first definition is usually, "Meeting a standard."

By definition Christ is perfect because he is the standard. No matter what he does - he is the standard and that action is therefore perfect - because it is the standard.

This concept makes a lot of people mad. "But you just define God into perfection - what a cop out."

No, I don't define him as perfect - that's what the definition is.

If we ask according to God's will. That's another twisty thing.

If we only get what's according to God's will anyway, then why ask?

Because somehow if we don't ask, stuff doesn't happen right. If we do ask according to God's will, we get it God's way which isn't our way, but which is rather twisty and sticky and not to our liking.

But if we don't ask, then we don't get God's involvement at all.

And there it is:

A law God said he would follow - if we don't ask, he doesn't get involved.

If we do ask, he does get involved - but HIS way.

And that's our choice. God helping us his way? Or God not helping us at all.

God gave us free will. The bad stuff in this life is largely due to free will. Really entirely due to free will. Satan convinces people to do things - he can't force. Not without another human actually doing the forcing. The bad stuff gets blamed on God - but it isn't God. God didn't step in. Why did God not step in? The law of free will.

If we don't ask - God doesn't step in. I know some of you asked and begged as children and you weren't rescued. Children are under the dominion of their parents. And this whole thing is complicated - all involved with so many people having free will.

But the simple part is:

There is free will and chance and happenstance. And God respects that. But,

If we ask - then God will get involved His way. And only His way. And only as we let him.