Changing God’s Mind

 

No, God is not going to change His basic character for our wants or desires.  However, we do read “So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people,” (Exodus 32:14, NASB).

So then, we read where God does or at least is willing to change His mind:  Does that mean our prayers should center on that very issue?  On the surface or even beyond that, of course not, we should make no attempt to address God’s judgment on us. However, our prayers should more often be centered on changing OUR will, our desires and wants.  The change in effect is that we are the ones in need of changing and not God.

To pray without ceasing, continually is not for the purpose of breaking God’s will to conform to our own, but  rather so that we might be in alignment with God’s will, whatever that might be.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t influence God or His decisions. It does mean though that we should be in reverent attention to our Father’s will and his commands. Quite frankly this also means that we are usually at odds with God’s will.

Moreover, generally speaking, we are usually selfish in our prayers and don’t have a fully pure heart when we pray, yet want one expectation or another.

In common terms it usually means we don’t trust God enough to take care of us or those we love.  If God doesn’t heal our family members or friends, does this mean that God didn’t hear our prayer or that He doesn’t love us?  Of course, not.

God always loves us and is concerned for us.  We should stand certain that His ways are not our ways and that He has all in control.

If in many ways we were to approach our Heavenly Father the way we approach our earthly father, we could see that more than anything else, the task is not to discover how much God loves us, for He truly does, but to inject the notion that we actually love Him as much as we way.

No father wants to be approached over and over again simply to be used, because we want something or desire for our wants to be filled.  In no uncertain terms, this is not the method to change God’s mind.  I assert that if we are willing to change our will, our Father who is caring and judge will do whatever is within our own best interest.  None of this involves changing God’s mind.

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In The Absence of God

It is so easy to dismiss the presence of God, His Church and the work that is daily performed. In fact, it seems that the secular world takes a full time job doing nothing but making fun of the endeavors of the Christian church. A strong sense of history would paint another picture: the more recent history of Nazi Germany with the almost total removal of the church. There, we witnessed the cold, black hearts of men when the removal from God was off the agenda and where the plate rapidly filled with lawlessness, criminality, death and destruction of millions—most which were innocent except for the one fault of being born. Almost identical to Germany was the absence of God in the atheistic communistic rule in the previous Soviet Union. The bones of millions that fell by the wayside are testimony to precepts that are dictated by societies in the absence of God. We might remember our friend Mao in China. In excess of 30 million perished. There is Cambodia where once again, millions expired in the Pot regime, all in the absence of a creator with moral laws. We see the expressions of man doing things ‘His way: drive by shootings, drugs, robbery, murder, and even worse crimes. And in the thick of all of this: the church takes a hit because it believes in the incorruptible of Jesus, the Christ. Jesus is the man who espoused God as the epitome of love and a love which was to serve and to yield, not murder nor maim. In the absence of God, we have reached our pinnacle with greed and a hunger for avarice. We dispose of people of who are no longer useful, reject patience, detest honor and castigate those that attempt to make life better, the world a better place to reside. In the absence of God, we have ‘rights’, we have demands, insistence, and the total lack of responsibility. In the absence of God, we blame God; blame his church for the failures of the world. Isn’t it so convenient to prop up the scars and blemishes we have imposed on ourselves to a scapegoat? In the absence of God, we find rebellion and deceit. We witness imposters, false promises, lies, and in the end, we have destruction. Finally, in the absence of God, we see ourselves all alone, with nothing to hold on to but the loss of our heritage and the sins of our handiwork. I find anything better, anything welcome in our lives, but the total absence of God. At the rate we are going, soon, we might also be absent as well. For soon, we will no longer recognize the world that we have created in the total absence of God.

And You Say You know G0d?

Anyone with any common sense can detect the nature of God as different from the Old Testament and the New. In the Old Testament, we see a God that was Jealous, who zapped those who went against Him and who also killed women, children, animals or anything that was alive. In this sense, anyone can see in the Old Testament, that killing was a large part of being God’s Children. All one has to do is look over the roles of Joshua or even David: at one point David took 1,000 foreskins simply to appease his upcoming wife.

Truly, we don’t see any of this in the New Testament with perhaps the exception of the Book of Revelation.
When looking into the words of Jesus, the Son of the Living God who came here on earth in the flesh, we hear accounts from the Christ that we are to forgive, love, possess faith, patience, forbearance, kindness, and many, many other good gentle virtues.
And where I don’t even attempt to make an allowance for the God of the Old Testament as opposed to the God of the New Testament, the only way I can even say I understand God at all is by virtue of His, Son, Jesus the Christ.
Perhaps that is what the new covenant relationship is all about. Perhaps it took Jesus to arrive here on earth, roam on the earth to teach us the true nature of God where God is truly love.
That’s at least one reason we should be careful in quoting Old Testament. Jesus turned all of our thinking upside down. With Jesus we don’t see a God zapping everyone that is not in alignment with God or His commandments. Instead, because of Jesus, we see love, sacrifice as the calling and servitude as the ultimate virtue. Throughout the life of Jesus, we see where he served and even in death, He gave all for man to be forgiven.
All of this requires thought and experience whenever we say we know God.

And You Say You know God?

Anyone with any common sense can detect the nature of God as different from the Old Testament and the New. In the Old Testament, we see a God that was Jealous, who zapped those who went against Him and who also killed women, children, animals or anything that was alive. In this sense, anyone can see in the Old Testament, that killing was a large part of being God’s Children. All one has to do is look over the roles of Joshua or even David: at one point David took 1,000 foreskins simply to appease his upcoming wife.
Truly, we don’t see any of this in the New Testament with perhaps the exception of the Book of Revelation.
When looking into the words of Jesus, the Son of the Living God who came here on earth in the flesh, we hear accounts from the Christ that we are to forgive, love, possess faith, patience, forbearance, kindness, and many, many other good gentle virtues.
And where I don’t even attempt to make an allowance for the God of the Old Testament as opposed to the God of the New Testament, the only way I can even say I understand God at all is by virtue of His, Son, Jesus the Christ.
Perhaps that is what the new covenant relationship is all about. Perhaps it took Jesus to arrive here on earth, roam on the earth to teach us the true nature of God where God is truly love.
That’s at least one reason we should be careful in quoting Old Testament. Jesus turned all of our thinking upside down. With Jesus we don’t see a God zapping everyone that is not in alignment with God or His commandments. Instead, because of Jesus, we see love, sacrifice as the calling and servitude as the ultimate virtue. Throughout the life of Jesus, we see where he served and even in death, He gave all for man to be forgiven.
All of this requires thought and experience whenever we say we know God.

When In Doubt

Whenever in doubt about what is going on with our life, it is so easy to accuse God of our circumstances. Truthfully, it is okay to doubt God, but to go on your knees in truthfulness of our own weakness.
Just because God doesn’t answer our prayers how we wish or even say’s ‘no’ to our request, it is then incumbent upon us to realize that Life is in God’s hands and that He is sovereign. He doesn’t answer to us, we answer to Him.
Simply put, there is no way to return to God except through your heart. God never leaves us, never deserts us and never lies.
Easy enough. We don’t like what happens. We suffer a death or find a loved one in sickness. I don’t it any more than you do. But, in spite of this, I’ll say to you: Trust God.
Already, Jesus, the Christ came to this earth as a man, suffered and died a criminal’s death for us so that we might all live. His love is so great he would have none perish.
Consequently, when things look bad, are bad, have Faith in Him and in He who Sent Him. That is Faith.
Thus, there is no sugar coating anything. There are times and events in which we simply do not understand.
In fact, in accordance with human nature, it is so very easy to believe when things are going our way. Difficult or impossible when circumstances go against us. This is the special time to believe.
Whatever comes your way, as James: “count it all joy.” Yes, this is insane. It is insane to count bad times joy when we are in pain, but this is what the Christian duty is to do.
So when in doubt, cling on to the Lord. Hold tight to your beliefs and believe that God cares for you and what you do. In the end, He will win. In the end, we will win: more than likely it will not be on our terms. To this effect, we must believe that God loves us and he does and that He will see to the proper ending according to His terms. In all of this: as Christians we are to rejoice. And even though it appears to be nothing more than madness, it is the tenets of our faith to believe.