Thursday, December 31, 2009
Welcome to a Fresh New Year
God has given us a fresh new year. What will you do with it? Like a blank canvas, 2010 has great potential. I pray that you have enough faith and courage to, with God’s help, create a good and positive masterpiece this year.
Being able to look at the new year as an opportunity rather than a frightening or depressing challenge can sometimes be dependent on an accurate understanding of how God and His universe works. When God made the world and everything in it, he said it was good. (see Genesis 1-3) God is good and He wants you to have an abundant life. (see John 10:10) Yet, when life becomes difficult or someone causes us, or someone we love, great pain, we are tempted to lose faith and blame God for all that has gone wrong. Many people have asked the trite question, “If God is so good, then why is there so much evil in the world?” I’d like to propose a different perspective for you to consider.
At a recent Spanish Ministries conference in Southern CT, one of the speakers made an interesting comment. He said, “God didn’t make the Devil.” A statement like that might elicit any number of responses such as the one that immediately came to my mind: “If God made everything, then He would have had to make the Devil.” But as the speaker continued, he clearly proved that, according to the Bible, God didn’t make the Devil. God made an angel named Lucifer. Lucifer was a beautiful and powerful being who had a free will. Because of pride and stubbornness he chose to rebel against God and do things his own way. The end result was war in heaven. Lucifer and one third of the angels who chose to join him were expelled from heaven, and are, to this day, waging war against God and those who love Him. In short, God gave Lucifer a great opportunity and he blew it. God did not blow it, the Devil did.
In order for us to have faith, hope and optimism, we need to see things from the proper perspective. God made angels and people with potential for good. There are many wonderful things that angles and people make happen. The world has a great deal of good in it. But in order to allow angels and mankind to have free will, God had to take chances. He did not want to force love, joy and peace. God takes chances when he gives life and mankind gets to choose the outcome. Evil is the result of people refusing to take advantage of the good opportunities God is giving. When we live life according to God’s rules good things happen. If everyone in the world would choose to live God’s way, most things that make life uncomfortable would be rectified.
While I am not naïve enough to think that everyone will choose right, I am determined to choose right for myself. My right choices will not right all the wrongs in the world, but they will make a difference in my little spot. I plan to make the most of 2010, and I hope you do the same. Happy New Year!
Being able to look at the new year as an opportunity rather than a frightening or depressing challenge can sometimes be dependent on an accurate understanding of how God and His universe works. When God made the world and everything in it, he said it was good. (see Genesis 1-3) God is good and He wants you to have an abundant life. (see John 10:10) Yet, when life becomes difficult or someone causes us, or someone we love, great pain, we are tempted to lose faith and blame God for all that has gone wrong. Many people have asked the trite question, “If God is so good, then why is there so much evil in the world?” I’d like to propose a different perspective for you to consider.
At a recent Spanish Ministries conference in Southern CT, one of the speakers made an interesting comment. He said, “God didn’t make the Devil.” A statement like that might elicit any number of responses such as the one that immediately came to my mind: “If God made everything, then He would have had to make the Devil.” But as the speaker continued, he clearly proved that, according to the Bible, God didn’t make the Devil. God made an angel named Lucifer. Lucifer was a beautiful and powerful being who had a free will. Because of pride and stubbornness he chose to rebel against God and do things his own way. The end result was war in heaven. Lucifer and one third of the angels who chose to join him were expelled from heaven, and are, to this day, waging war against God and those who love Him. In short, God gave Lucifer a great opportunity and he blew it. God did not blow it, the Devil did.
In order for us to have faith, hope and optimism, we need to see things from the proper perspective. God made angels and people with potential for good. There are many wonderful things that angles and people make happen. The world has a great deal of good in it. But in order to allow angels and mankind to have free will, God had to take chances. He did not want to force love, joy and peace. God takes chances when he gives life and mankind gets to choose the outcome. Evil is the result of people refusing to take advantage of the good opportunities God is giving. When we live life according to God’s rules good things happen. If everyone in the world would choose to live God’s way, most things that make life uncomfortable would be rectified.
While I am not naïve enough to think that everyone will choose right, I am determined to choose right for myself. My right choices will not right all the wrongs in the world, but they will make a difference in my little spot. I plan to make the most of 2010, and I hope you do the same. Happy New Year!
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