Acts 17:27

This is the only passage I know of that tells us why God made the world and everything in it. The text says, "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us." this little verse is packed with interesting items:
1) "Perhaps reach out for him" - the "perhaps" indicates that we do not have to. God is not forcing anyone to reach out to him even though he has built his image in us so that we have a natural inclination to spiritual things. We can ignore him if we want to. God has the power to make us reach out to him but then what does he have? He has those who reach out because they have to. No love, no desire just reaching out to God like an animal, by instinct. Not too satisfying huh? Kind of like telling your husband to tell you he loves you or having to tell him to wish you happy birthday.
2) "Find him" - as if he is hidden? I think the point here is that God is invisible and transcendent. He is not like a tree or a lake he is Spirit ( John 4:24) and "finding" him requires faith. In fact it is only by faith that we can find God. Hence the importance of scripture. God reveals himself there and in nature so that we will reach out AND "he is not far." He is findable.
So, how are we doing in seeking God?
3) Seeking God is left to us. That is our part in having relationship with him. We do not earn anything by seeking him and we cannot find him by being perfect since all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Seeking is our task and Jesus promised if we knocked he would open the door and if we would seek we would fine.

Happy hunting!
Foree

WONDERING

Recently we have been through a rather serious drought. We were told to only water two days a week - in some places they were told to stop watering altogether. Then, a few weeks ago in began to rain and rain it did. For several weeks in a row it rained every day and sometimes it rained "cats and dogs." At the present my sprinkler system is off and has been off for some time. So, for awhile we were dry and now we are wet.

In times like this I wonder what God has in mind. If I were God I would make things go along at an even keel. It would rain every once in awhile and then it would be dry so that things did not get too wet.

So, different times come and go. What is God doing? Maybe, nothing, he might just be letting take its course for a time. I wonder if the dry times make us pray and he waits to answer (like in the woman at midnight in the bible) to see if we will hang in there? Maybe in the long run it is good to be too dry and too wet form time to time? Maybe God mixes it up so that we will not get too secure? Maybe the dry times just make us more thankful? Maybe there is a lot about God we do not know and that is why we "walk by faith and not by sight?" (That is 2 Cor. 5:7 by the way).

I guess my job here is to trust God in all situations, at every turn realizing He does not change and is not effected by dry and wet....Perhaps my job is not to have all the answers but to trust the one who is really in control.....Foree

Grumbling

If someone asked me to make a list of sins I doubt I would include "grumbling." Maybe because I might be one? It is interesting what strikes us as unimportant. Probably we grumble along about one thing or another never really thinking about implications or even the effect it might have on others. Does not seem to be a really big thing to most of us most of the time, most likely. Then reading along in scripture you come to a passage like 1 Corinthians 10:10 and added to the list of Israel's sins (along with sexual immorality and idolatry) and there it is, "grumbling." One might even wonder why it is offensive to God. But then, it is. Given some thought it is obvious that the grumbling of Israel began the whole thing that led to the golden calf. Grumble a little, thoughts turn negative, grumble some more, thoughts crystallize, thinking changes and before you know it grumbling as developed into full grown dislike or even hate. Following that actions are changed and before long you are down on your knees praying to a calf or doing something you shouldn't and it all began with a grumble. "She sure isn't as pretty as she used to be." "He preaches to long." "Those songs sure were slow." ....grumble, grumble grumble....4E