Guide to God, part 04/41: Perception And Reality
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Perception And Reality
Impressions Of God: On the sixth day, God created man;
then man eventually returned the favour: We all have our
own impression of God. But impressions mean nothing;
reality is all that matters. The human mind hates a void.
If we lack an answer to a question, we instinctively
provide one -- be it real or imagined. Thus, we all tend
to create God in our image. As a teenager, you may have
seen various televangelists on TV, and thought to yourself:
"These guys are so phony. All they want is your money.
How can anyone fall for these scams?" These televangelists
may have caused you to form a negative opinion of God, and
this is unfortunate. There are many men who unscrupulously
use the word of God for their own selfish gain, which
is contrary to the commandment of God. If it's any
consolation, all false teachers of the word of God earn
death eternal. By the way, the real God is revealed in His
word; but you will never know Him if you don't study His
word. In fact, God is defined by the Ten Commandments,
which is also the definition of love. Once you (fully)
comprehend the Ten Commandments, you perceive the character
of God. For a list of the Ten Commandments, see Exodus 20
or Deuteronomy 5.
Physical And Spiritual: Man is composed of two components:
A physical body and a spiritual "breath": "And the LORD God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
[Genesis 2:7] The body without the spirit is dead; the
spirit without the body lacks the wherewithal to express
itself. If I ask you to describe a person, you may give a
list of attributes such as his height, weight, skin colour,
hair colour, eye colour, etc.: This describes the physical
body. The spiritual component of a person is described by
such terms as "honest", "kind", "gentle", "selfless",
"self-centred", "proud", "arrogant", etc.: A person's
spirit is often referred to as his "personality". Thus,
we see the difference between the physical and spiritual
components which compose a man. Upon death, the physical
body returns to the dust from which it came; and the
spiritual "breath" returns to God who gave it: "Then the
dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will
return to God who gave it." [Ecclesiastes 12:7] When the
spirit returns to God, it will be reserved for judgement for
the time it spent in the flesh: This is called "the Day of
Judgement". Please note that the spirit is not judged
immediately following death, but is rather reserved for the
Day of Judgement. The Day of Judgement follows the final
battle between good and evil, which follows the Millennium
(the 1000-year rule of God on the earth). The details of
God's plan for man will be explained later in this document.
It should be noted that the spirit is non-physical; no one
-- except God -- has power over the spirit; and only God
alone can clothe the spirit with a new body, which is often
referred to as being resurrected from the death state.
Making Decisions: Man's decision-making process involves
three components:
1) Spirit (Conscience);
2) Mind (Thought, Reason);
3) Body/Flesh (Desires, Passions, Feelings).
There is a constant struggle between the Spirit and Flesh
for dominance of the Mind. When it comes to making
decisions, some say "follow your heart"; however, God
says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked; who can know it?" [Jeremiah 17:9]
Others say "follow your conscience"; however, God says it is
possible to have your "conscience seared with a hot iron."
[1 Timothy 4:2] So, what's the solution? If neither the
conscience nor the heart can be relied upon, how does one
make right decisions? Simple: Know and keep the word of
God, for the word of God never changes; and you will be
judged by it -- and that judgement is eternal. If you trust
in yourself or in any man, here's what God says to you:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his
strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall
be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good
comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited."
[Jeremiah 17:5-6] If you put your trust in God, here is
what God says to you: "Blessed is the man who trusts in
the LORD, and whose hope is in the LORD. For he shall be
like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its
roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but
its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year
of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."
[Jeremiah 17:7-8]
Consequences: There is a basic law of physics which states:
"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
This is not only true in the physical world, but is also
true in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, this
law is called "justice". Justice will be fulfilled in the
Day of Judgement. Man's justice is laughable; God's justice
is fair, equitable, and eternal. In the Day of Judgement,
the following Scripture will be fulfilled: "As you have
done, it shall be done to you." [Obadiah 15]
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The above is an excerpt from a currently-available book
which can be purchased at:
www.amazon.com
www.amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.ca
Search "Books" for:
TITLE: "The Teenager's Guide to the Awesome God"
AUTHOR: "Arrant Knave"
ISBN: "1413755003"
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Excerpt from "The Teenager's Guide To The Awesome God"
Copyright 2000 Arrant Knave. All rights reserved.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are
taken from the New King James Version (R). Copyright (C)
1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.
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