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Usually in life we are faced with negative, unpleasant
people, troubling events and challenges of all sorts. Although many
times we are happy and contented as we live, we cannot count on
everything being just as we would order it. The Bible teaches we
are dealing with the world of people about us, the fleshly nature
of our physical being and the demonic works of Satan.
The world is a sick place to live and if our immune systems are
not up to snuff, we will soon succumb to debilitating disease and
death. Our fleshly bodies function with a constant pressure of wants,
needs and desires. So when Satan gets into our heads with his schemes
and deceits, we will find ourselves in a living hell of misery on
earth. We will come to distrust each other, we will steal from each
other, we will lie to each other, we will have murderous hatred
in our minds.
With a besetting unpleasant situation in the world, where can we
turn for deliverance and freedom? The Bible teaches we must face
our state of being in sin (lost, without God) while living without
God's direction in a bondage of sinful addictions.
A self-righteous person will never find true peace and contentment
of life in himself/herself and in the world of people. The self-righteous
person is a miserable person who tends to make everyone else miserable.
The Bible calls self-righteousness filthy rags, unsuited for God's
holy presence (Isa. 64:6; Romans 3:9-18). The hardest person to
bring to God is often a self-righteous individual. Many of these
people will go through life without God and Christ until it is nearly
too late and then finally repent in bitter tears of a wasted life
of arguing with God's Holy Spirit.
God will make our bitterness and grief a thing of the past when
we seek His face in Christ Jesus. The world's people are so loved
by God that He gave His beloved Son in death for the miserable sinners
of the world (John 3:l6).
Although the Christian is in the world he doesn't share the world's
evil attitudes and places God's will foremost in ruling over his
own carnal trials and temptations. The Christian will do right in
love even when it appears to hurt and brings personal suffering.
The Apostle John wrote that this is the victory which overcomes
the world,... our Lord will give all our sufferings in Him a blessed
and happy outcome/ending. Let's remember Job who nearly lost everything:
family, possessions, friends but not Jehovah/God who was watching
over him and in the end delivered him from sickness and every loss
into abundance of living (Job 42:10-17). Let's remember Jesus Christ
who was crucified but raised in victory over death, hell and the
grave for each one who will believe upon and accept Him as Savior
and Lord (Romans 10).
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