Posts filed under ‘christianity’
Privacy Is Dying Thanks to AI
There’s something happening that most cannot see because it is hidden under the surface. Artificial Intelligence (AI), is more and more included in the design of too many things: cars, appliances, telephones, TVs and too many other things to list. People are using AI to help write their papers or books. AI is being used as part of company coding that unfortunately, has had some very negative effects, which we’ll get to in a minute.
We are losing freedom in huge steps due to the Internet, which can be hacked. Yet most of us are completely unaware that this is the case. The reason? Because we do not see any real physical signs of the digital prison being built. Oh sure, when we go to stores, we see those cameras but we tell ourselves those are to stop shoplifters. They do work for that purpose, but they go well beyond that purpose too. Maybe we no longer see the cameras.
No One Knows…
Certainly, to be clear, things are ramping up and each day brings us one day closer to the Rapture and/or the start of the Tribulation (if you do not believe the Rapture precedes the Tribulation). However, we cannot know the day or hour of those events. We can know the times and the seasons but that is all. That still should not pull us away from the God-given task at hand, which is to live lives that glorify Him and we do that by dying to our own self will and reaching out to the lost.
Forgiveness How To
If God is love (He is), we who call ourselves believers, Christians and followers of Jesus must also live lives of love. It all starts and ends with forgiveness. If we cannot truly forgive, we are simply not loving others.
God did not have to, but He chose a way to forgive those who come to Him in faith through His Son’s sacrificial life, death and resurrection. That forgiveness granted to us is permanent, unfailing and results in our true justification before Him. How can we call ourselves believers and followers of Jesus if we cannot forgive (love), as He forgives us?
Absolutely Free
If God literally lives within us, then why aren’t we living a life of power that enables and compels us to be imitators of Jesus in the way He lived, by loving God and loving others? Doing the Father’s will was what He loved and He considered it food (John 4:34). What does that mean except that He was so filled with the desire to fulfill every aspect of the Father’s will, even when it meant sorrow, pain, discomfort and ultimately, death?
Seeing Jesus
Today, we spend a good deal of time seeking things that have some value, but compared to God and eternity, have little to no value really. God tells us we should not glory in any wisdom we might have. We should not glory or praise ourselves because of any strength or might we believe is ours. We should also not glory in any riches we have acquired. None of these things have any real staying power, no real eternal worth. We can lose them in a moment. Of course, this does not mean that if the Lord has given us wisdom, might and even riches, that these are necessarily bad things. They are not, but when we focus on just those things, we are missing something very large and very eternal.
Expressions of His Love
Jesus continually expresses His love for us. It wasn’t a one time deal at the cross, though clearly that action as He hung on Calvary’s cross was the expression of His love like no other. However, just because He has gone into the heavenly realms and now sits at the right hand of the Father until His enemies are made His footstool (Psalm 110; Luke 20; Hebrews 10), does not mean that His love for His own is no longer seen in the way He cares for His own. He didn’t change His demeanor toward us because He is now again exalted in heaven. He. Loves. Us.
Acquainted with Grief
What I’ve begun to realize is that when Jesus says we are to count the cost in Luke 14:28, He is saying more than I’ve considered. One of the things He is implying is that the cost of following in Jesus’ footsteps involves being willing to allow God to create within us the same unrestrained compassion that existed in Jesus. Think about what that means. It means that often, our efforts to reach people will be stymied by those we are trying to help see the light. It means they might ignore us, laugh at us, attack us verbally (or even physically), castigate us, make fun of us, label us something we are not and more.
Unrestrained Compassion
Jesus’ heart of unrestrained compassion knew what people needed and in effect, knew what they were seeking even if they did not fully comprehend it themselves. He was angry at what sin had done to their hearts and minds as well as the world in general. He was angry that this world was under the sway of the evil one. Yet, what overwhelmed Him was His deep sense of compassion that literally rose up from His bowels and yet, was met with resistance, complacency and even rebellion leading to outright rejection. He knew they were spiritually blind and He so desperately wanted them to see the truth…but they were unwilling.
Burdens We Unnecessarily Carry
The other day, in church, as our pastor walked up the two stairs to the platform, I pictured Jesus sitting on those steps and me walking over to Him. I took a seat on the floor and looked up at Him. He looked at me and sincerely and compassionately asked, “Fred, how are you doing?” This was not a vision. It was my imagination, yet it concurs with Scripture because of how much He cares about you and me. He didn’t ask me because He wouldn’t have known. It was His way of drawing me out, telling me it was safe to share with him by deepest, darkest thoughts and concerns. He knows them already yet does not reject me.
He Empathizes with Us, Pt 2
n my last article, I spoke of being in the Word. No one will completely master His Word in this life though I’m amazed at the ability of some to quote it verbatim. If we are honest with ourselves, we will be forced to admit that we probably do not read or study it enough. We also do not likely apply ourselves to memorizing parts of His Word to carry it in our hearts at all times. We may not even think about it or contemplate it enough throughout each day. We become what James 1:24 says; we look in the mirror, walk away and immediately forget what we look like. It takes effort to dwell on, contemplate and remember God’s Word even after we are done reading it and walk away from it.
StudyGrowKnow 