Every breath we take or receive?

All of life - our own and the planets' - requires energy to operate.

Some of the main sources of energy are the sun, wind (air), fire, electricity, magnetism, atoms, water, food (for our personal energy) etc. Without these, there is no energy or life, much less the pleasures or conveniences of life.

But more importantly is understanding that we are not the cause of any of these. Yet we have regular use of them or access to them. They are always available for our use and benefit. And this gets to the heart of our true condition. 

Are we the cause of these or the means by which they continue to exist? If not, then ²who or what is or does? Since there is no life without these, wouldn't it be important to understand and acknowledge this and thank the ²provider of them?

Are we grateful for these resources, or do we take them for granted because they are always available? 

Do we assume they are ours to use whenever want or see fit? Do we demand to have them when they are not available and become angry if we are cut off from them?

Because we always have use of or access to these, we live life as if we ¹always will. But will we?

Why do we approach life this way? 

If we take these resources for granted, this is due to not recognizing that all we are and have are gifts i.e., they are available to us because something or ²someone other than us provides and sustains them. If we truly understood and believed that everything is a gift - vs a right - we would wake up every day grateful for all we are and have down to our very breath. But most don't. Many whine and complain about what they don't have.

Most assume all we have is rightfully ours. They are not gifts on loan but the fruit of time plus chance and ours to use as I see fit. They may even get upset if you suggest otherwise.

And if we lose these blessings of life, we get angry and even bitter as if it's our right to have them. And if others have greater access to or use of them, we become envious.

To pray before we eat and say "thank you for the bounty we are about to receive" should be our approach to all of life. When we wake up, we should ³thank God for the very breath we take in and for the use and enjoyment of everything else we depend on to sustain our life. And also grateful for our 5 senses that allow us to take in and experience all the good things around us, instead of being angry if we lose them.

Why? We are not the cause or the one who maintains these things, but simply the recipients and beneficiaries. We should be grateful!

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Footnotes:

¹which is why death is such a shock and blow to us. We simply take life for granted until we or someone else no longer has it.

The fact that death is such a shock indicates how much we take all we are and have for granted. Life is not a given but a gift which is owned, controlled, and maintained ultimately by someone else, not us. We may be able to manipulate things to go the way we want, but only to a limited degree -  never fully. We are ultimately not in charge and dependent on these for our very existence. 

Because we do not regularly ponder or appreciate the gifts of life, it shows how resistant (rebellious) we are to seeing the true nature of things.

²Contrary to scientific consensus, I propose there is a Creator. This is a posture or position of faith. But so is a materialistic worldview, which requires more faith than believing in intelligent design i.e. the things we observe align more with the existence of a Designer than their happening by random chance. For more on this, click here. 

³like David, we should say, "...this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

And like Job, when we experience loss,  we should say, "...the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

When we truly recognize these things, we will be full of gratitude every morning when we rise and take another breath. 

How are we able to admit our unfaithfulness

We can - and will - only acknowledge the depth of our brokenness to the extent that we recognize God's perfect acceptance - embrace - of us and love for us in and through Christ. 

If our understanding of - and trust in - His total acceptance and love is incomplete, so will be our ¹ability to see and acknowledge our distrust of God, i.e., the essence of our sinful condition. 

And what is the full extent of God's acceptance and embrace of us? It is the same as His loving embrace of His Son, i.e., it is perfect-complete-total! 

"The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." - Jesus, praying to His Father right before he's betrayed by Judas and crucified the next day - John 17:22-23 ESV

How much does the Father love the Son? However much that is, is how much he loves us i.e., it is the same as His love for His Son!!! It is equal to His love for Jesus!!! Total and infinite!! Selah (reflect on this and let it sink in. Ask God to reveal this to you more fully).

The only way to grasp this is to ask God to reveal this to you. Otherwise, you (we) will not see it.

Jesus- 

"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." - Matthew 11:27 ESV

The apostle Paul -

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (i.e., bears His image) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength (that comes to us through faith) to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." - Eph 3:14-19 ESV

For a closer look at the above passage, click here. You may wish to bookmark it to read later after you are done with this article.

Why does God love us this way?

Because...

1. We are like God - i.e. in His image - and if we are in Christ we are His beloved child, not unlike Christ is in the image of God and His only begotten Son. 

2. Christ lived a life of perfect faithfulness to His Father - the life that God designed and intended us to ²live (but failed to live and still fail now). He lived His life to honor His Father but also to honor (share His glory with) us. 

Through our faith in Christ, God credits Christ's perfectly righteous life to us as if we lived it. In Christ we are now perfect in the eyes of God. We will never be more acceptable or embraced by God than we are right now! 

Do you believe this? Paul in his letter to the church in Rome says to ³"reckon" (consider) it so.

And we won't experience the depth of God's love until we ⁴acknowledge the depth of our distrust in Him i.e., our lack of faith in this infinite provision. And we won't admit that distrust until we grasp (by faith) His total acceptance and loving embrace of us. These go hand in hand. We must see both to fully know and partake of God in the fullness of His love. 

We must acknowledge our distrust of God and turn from it, so we might more clearly and fully see "...the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

For a fuller discussion of the love the Father and Son have for each other, click here

For a fuller discussion on why God values us as bearers of His image, click here

For a fuller discussion of Christ being the only begotten Son, click here. 

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Footnotes:

¹We will only admit the extent of our brokenness to others (and ourselves) to the extent we believe we will still be accepted and not rejected when we do. 

We all want to be fully seen but also fully accepted. But to be fully seen usually means we will be rejected because of our brokenness, except with God who fully sees us and still totally embraces us, warts and all.  

²as well as died the death we should have died.

 ³Rom 6:11

English Standard Version
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Berean Standard Bible
So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Berean Literal Bible
So also you⁺, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.

King James Bible
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 6:11 is not saying we are dead to the allure (temptation) of sin, but to its legal claim of condemnation on us. That claim is forever gone because our judgment was totally laid on Christ. Jesus paid it all!!! It is finished!!!

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." - Isa 1:18a ESV

must count - λογίζεσθε (logizesthe)
Verb - Present Imperative Middle or Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 3049: To reckon, count, charge with; reason, decide, conclude; think, suppose.

⁴the more we grasp how great our distrust of God is the more we realize and appreciate how great his love must be to still love us in light of this distrust.

Is "tribalism" ok or racist?

We are most comfortable with those who are most like us. 

Why?

Because we are more affirmed and feel safer (more comfortable) around those like us. It is common ("natural or normal") for everyone to feel this way. It is not unique to any one group - white, black, brown, yellow, etc. 

Why?

It takes a lot more self-denial and sacrifice to relate to those who do not have the same values and interests as we do. If we have any interaction with others we have nothing in common with, or who are at least like us, our focus and energy must be on them, not on our interests and needs. ¹This kind of interaction is more about giving than getting. It requires less effort and sacrifice to interact with those most like us.

For the above reasons, being with those most like us tends to energize us. Being with those least like us tends to drain us. If we are not full of love, loving others different from us is impossible to maintain ⁷long-term. 

For the same reasons, harmony is more pleasant and enjoyable than disharmony. We are naturally drawn to harmony. Harmonious relationships tend to energize us. They affirm and reinforce our interests. Those that drain us tend to be challenging with more conflict.

There is also a practical benefit of working with those who are most like us. When we are in a joint effort, uniformity can result in greater cooperation and efficiency. This is good, not bad.

Some accuse others of racism for having these sentiments and being naturally drawn to those most like themselves. Yet, if we are honest, this is common with all groups. 

Is this ⁵racist? If so, every last one of us - regardless of our ethnicity - is a racist. Hanging out with others for the above reasons is common to everyone. 

Some call this ²tribalism. But is tribalism racism? It is no different from when you and I prefer being with loving friends or family ("our tribe") rather than with a group of strangers.

Having ³these sentiments is common in all relationships and "groups." The very act of accusing someone else of being guilty of this - as if they aren't themselves "guilty" - is exercising this very attitude by the accusation.  

This is why a loving family is so valuable (if we are blessed enough to have one). A healthy, loving family is a place where we are best known for both our strengths and flaws, and still most accepted and embraced. It is usually where we feel most free to be our real selves, with the least concern about ridicule or rejection.

Racism, on the other hand, is very different. It is an attitude of superiority based on one's ethnicity (group/"tribe"). It is believing we - our "group" - are better, ⁶objectively, more important or valuable than others. This may be true subjectively - i.e. more valuable to us - but not objectively.

But isn't this also true of friendships? No one considers having friends racist. Good friends are good, important, and valuable to us personally. They encourage and strengthen us. That is a good thing, is it not?

While close relationships may be more important to us subjectively, they are not necessarily so objectively.

On the other hand, it is not wrong to love those who are ¹different from us. It is what we are called to do. In fact, as followers of Christ, we are called to love those opposed to us, i.e., our enemies. It just takes the most energy of all interactions and ⁴directly the least immediately rewarding, if not harmful - but potentially the most rewarding indirectly. 

To be able to love those least like us is not natural but ¹supernatural. For this reason, it is good to love others who are different from us. It requires greater dependence on God to love others sacrificially. 

In fact, it is impossible to love sacrificially until we experience the sacrificial love of God offered to us in and through Christ. 

God calls us to this because this is how He loves us...

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. " - Matt 5:43-48

But again, is it wrong to gravitate to others we are most like and have the most in common with? This is actually the basis for friendship. No one would suggest friendship is wrong. Yet some would have us believe it is and call it ⁵"tribalism" - which is the "first cousin" to racism according to those who throw these derogatory labels around.  

The irony is it is usually actual racists that push the narrative that being drawn to others most like us is wrong when, in fact, everyone participates in friendship and considers it not only perfectly normal but healthy.  

We are all far more alike than different.

One thing all of us have in common, that unites us at the strongest and most basic level, is we all desire to be loved, valued, affirmed, and important, i.e., we are designed for love because we are designed to be in relationship with God, who is love. We are all like God, who continuously gives and receives love among the Father, Son, and Spirit. We are in His image.  

And what is God like? The most valuable person of all. Without Him, nothing else exists. We are valuable by virtue of being like God - i.e., in His image.

In summary, it is not wrong or racist to feel more comfortable around those who are more like us. Nevertheless, we are called to a higher standard and to reach out and love those who are least like us, even our enemies. Not loving those different from us is not racist. Unloving, yes. Racist, no. 

For a discussion on identity politics Click here

For a discussion on the joys and challenges of giving, click here. 

To see if God has anything to say about immigrants or immigration, click here.

For a discussion on values, culture, and racism, click here.

For a discussion on racism and the necessity of forgiveness, click here

For a discussion on what divides us, click here.

For a discussion of the harmful nature of identity politics, click here.

What is the nature of racial privilege? Click here for a discussion.

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Footnotes:

¹People who are culturally different from us can have one main thing in common with us. A relationship with God through Christ. This connection is stronger than any natural ties we may have with those most like us culturally, intellectually, in appearance, etc. This is the most significant and deepest common denominator we can have. Especially those least like us naturally. What lovers of Christ have in common is even more significant than the connection among a loving family - though very much like it in important ways. 

If we are among others who have this deep spiritual connection with God, we are dealing with others who are focused on giving and not getting. This is the strongest possible bond we can have with anyone, even immediate family who do not have a love relationship with Christ. True believers are people who seek to love their neighbors as they love themselves. This is the greatest and most unifying value of all. This is also why Christ called loving God and others the greatest commandments.

When this is the central focus of a group of people, it is the strongest point of unity and overrides all other differences. In fact, it allows us to enjoy the differences of others as their uniqueness is a reflection of the creativity of God. This is unity within diversity.

This is why a strong church can be filled with a diversity of cultures and ethnicities yet still be united under this most central point of unity. A relationship of receiving love from our Creator and loving Him in return and our neighbor as we love ourselves. This is greater than any differences and can override them all when we are governed by love.

The two greatest commandments are the greatest not simply because we are told they are but because they summarize the purpose of our existence and the very nature of God and His creatures, i.e., to love as we are loved.

Anything we place a higher value on over our relationship with the Creator is a form of idolatry. Nothing is more valuable than God. Not our culture, race, vocation, or even our family.

This is why churches segregated by race or culture - e.g., white, black, Hispanic, Jewish, etc. - are likely not as honoring to God. To be segregated in this way is to value our culture and personal preferences over loving and valuing God and our neighbor. 

If we are separated by a language barrier, that is a separate issue that can be addressed on a church-to-church basis. But outside of this...

 "...in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise." - Gal 3:26-29

²Some subcultures are so strong they have their very own "lingo."  Some examples would be the hip-hop world, the technology world, the academic world, the world of sports, the medical or health world, etc.  These are subcultures within a culture. 

³Having common values is so important that if we do not, it can even lead to husbands and wives separating. We call it "incompatibility" when, in fact, it is actually a matter of love, or the lack of it. 

⁴By directly, I mean we rarely gain any direct benefit from those we seek to love who are different from us. The benefit we may gain, however, is from seeing others blessed by our efforts to love them. It is an indirect gain. This is not something that comes from them, but comes as a result of loving others as Christ loves, i.e., seeing them flourish because of our efforts. This is what God is like. We are acting like God when we love in this way.  

⁵There can be a problem with tribalism, but it isn't racism as some assert. The problem is it is basically about me, my needs, my wants. So in that sense it is wrong and contrary to our initial design, not because it's racist. 

This focus on self is the result of our rebellion against God and our failed attempt to be our own God. Based on the current condition of the world, it is clear we have failed miserably at being our own gods.

Everything is a mess because of our rebellion. We are now missing the love we once had in a relationship with God, caused by our choosing to disconnect from God, the very Source of love. Now we go about trying to fill that void caused by His absence through created things and our own efforts to obtain them.

The fact is we weren't designed to be our own god and to make life work without the only true God. We were designed to be in union with Him. The source of love, life, and all things, and experiencing a constant flow of love from Him. This enables us to pass love (from Him) on to others. 

We are not an endless spring of love. Only God is. We, on the other hand, are vessels or conduits that can hold and pass on the flow of love from God to and through us to others.

The main point about tribalism is it's not unique to a certain race but common among all humanity, for we have all rebelled from God. But this is not racism as is asserted by some. It is the broken condition of all humanity -  including you and I - not a particular group or race.

⁶ VS subjectively, where someone or some group can be more valuable to us personally.

⁷ Unless or until we find out that all humanity has far more in common at the most fundamental level of who we are as bearers of God's image, i.e., we are all designed by God to love and be loved by Him and to pass on that love to others. This is God's greatest desire i.e. will, directive, commandment etc.

whats wrong with the forbidden tree?

Was there something inherently wrong with the forbidden tree?

There was nothing inherently magical, different or evil about it. Eve saw that it was good for food and beautiful to see (Gen 3:6). It probably was very similar to or the same kind as the tree of life near or next to it (Gen 2:9, 3:3) - Don't forget, before Adam and Eve rebelled, God said all the trees were good for food (Gen 1:12; 2:9, 16-17).

The main purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil didn't lie within the tree itself. 

The primary purpose of the forbidden tree was to see whether Adam and Eve (and now we) would follow God's direction as instructed  i.e. would they trust God and follow His directions or not?

The fear of the Lord (perfect regard and respect for God and His directions/instructions) is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom = true understanding of right from wrong. If Adam and Eve had listened to God's direction - i.e. had proper regard for Him and respected His direction to not eat - they would have taken the first step onto the road of true wisdom and understanding of right from wrong - good and evil - the right way i.e. by following God's direction and not trying to gain this knowledge on their own i.e. through their independent (rebellious) efforts of taking from the tree against God's instructions.

To gain knowledge of good and evil, the right way was to trust God and His word (His warning) and act accordingly. To believe (trust) God even if His word didn't make sense (the tree looked good for food, so what's the problem with eating from it?) regarding the direction He gave or circumstance(s) He allowed. We are to still trust God - believe He's good and desires our good - no matter what we encounter or how little it makes sense. 

This is our struggle to this day (we are walking in the same footsteps of our original parents - or ancestors, if you wish). We either believe God is good in any and every given circumstance and situation or we don't.

The purpose of the tree was to simply test whether they trusted God or not. It was a test of whether they recognized their total dependence on God for true life and wisdom or believed they could somehow find it on their own - be their own god - and make life work without Him.

They chose to believe the lie that they could gain wisdom - and thereby life - without God by means of the forbidden tree. 

The tree was forbidden so they might acquire wisdom the right way i.e., through obedience to God's direction. 

They rebelled and rejected His direction and instructions. They did not trust God but suspected He was holding out on them (as the serpent suggested), so they turned away from Him and toward created things instead for life, e.g. the forbidden tree, each other, and their own understanding. As a result, they experienced just the opposite - death - exactly as God warned. 

We do this today as well and wrestle with our obedience to God daily. We regularly are faced with decisions to trust or not trust God every day.

Only by faith in His love for us - proven by Christ bearing the consequences of our rebellious disobedience - are we empowered to live for Him. Sending Christ to restore us - by living the life of obedience we should have lived and suffering the consequences of disobedience that we should have suffered - is proof on an infinitely grand scale that God loves us and wants what is best for us, even in our rebellious distrust. 

"The just (righteous) shall live by faith" is quoted in 4 different places in scripture for an important reason. God wants to be sure we "get it." It is the means by which we partake of and participate in the gospel - the "good news." We not only enter into God's kingdom by it, but we live out His kingdom daily through it. 

For a discussion on the gospel of the kingdom, click here

What is spiritual blindness?

Spiritual blindness. What is it and why does it occur? 

There are two parts.

The 1st part has to do with our being creatures (finite) and not the Creator (who is infinite). Even though we are like God in many significant ways we are not God. This is not a blindness per se but more a limitation as created beings. 

The 2nd deals with our rebellion to our creaturehood i.e. to our limits.

How do these affect our moral choices?

 

1. We are finite (limited) - which includes our understanding - and do not know everything there is to know, and must know, in order to make the right and best choices - though we often think and act as if we do. 

Only God is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and everywhere present. These characteristics enable Him to know the right and best course at all times, in all things, with the unlimited ability to carry it out. We, on the other hand, are not all-knowing and do not know the best course of action or have the ability to live it out perfectly without His wisdom, enabling (power), and direction. 

2. We must recognize we are in rebellion against God, the Source of all knowledge and understanding. We have turned away and cut ourselves off from Him whenever we seek the right course on our own - i.e., when we seek to "be like God" knowing good and evil; right from wrong - without His input and direction.

Adam and Eve choosing to eat from the forbidden tree clearly demonstrated they did not know right from wrong, or have infinite knowledge, otherwise they would not have eaten from it i.e. it was forbidden for a good reason. A reason they clearly did not understand or feel the need to agree with. 

We often choose the wrong course, believing (trusting) we are right. We seek to take the role of God - i.e., to be like God in knowing right from wrong - when we clearly are not God - demonstrated by all the pain and suffering of humanity as the result of making the choice He warned them not to make (which was clearly the wrong choice).

Only God has full knowledge of good and evil i.e., He knows all things. In other words, only he knows perfectly the best course of action to take in any and all situations. We do not. 

Because He does, we must seek and follow him - His directions - to know what is truly good and evil, and not seek to ¹determine this on our own. This is what Adam tried to do in the Garden of Eden when they chose to eat from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

For us to receive understanding and direction from God, we must do the opposite of what Adam sought to do. We must humble ourselves i.e., accept our limitations and admit we are not God who knows all things. ¹We do not know right from wrong without God revealing it to us. Whatever understanding we have of right from wrong only occurs because God has told or shown us. 

As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, we are to...Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, (that He alone knows all things) and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

¹We do not see how arrogant and flagrant a violation of reality this truly is - unless God reveals it to us. In fact we sympathize with Adams choice. We are rebels and in rebellion to God who alone knows right from wrong. 

If Adam and Eve had made the right choice and rejected the serpent's proposal (a promise to be like God in a way they aren't designed to be), they would have stepped onto the right road of knowing (understanding) good and evil the right way, i.e., in faith-filled obedience to God vs rebellious distrust of Him. The issue wasn't that God didn't want them to know good and evil, but to know it the right way, i.e., under His care and guidance, not on their own with our limitations. .

For a discussion on how God created us with choice before we rebelled against Him, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Though over time, through trial-and-error, we learn there is design in the physical universe and act accordingly e.g. we learn that going without air or water will eventually result in our death or putting our hand in the fire will result in getting burned. This article is addressing our moral and spiritual understanding i.e. what is right and wrong and that right and wrong is a real thing - it actually exists objectly.

Advancing in pain

The age-old question is if God is good, why is there so much pain. 

But maybe that's the wrong question and the answer is not what we usually think. Maybe God allows pain to remain to humble us and help us see our need for Him, with the long-term goal of our spiritual advancement and ultimate gain. 

Christ said, "...What does it profit us if we gain the whole world but lose our own soul?"

Isn't the opposite also true? What if we lose the whole world and gain our eternal soul? Is this not far more valuable than having the things of this world? How we answer these questions may determine our ultimate destiny and therefore well worth asking.

While pain is ultimately the fruit of our rebellious distrust of God, He still uses it for our good. If God could not bring good out of evil, evil would not exist. Christ's death would be the ultimate example of this profound paradox. 

Acts 2:23 "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."

What a mystery that God used lawlessness to bring to us the greatest gift of eternal restoration to the Father who is the Source of life! 

Therefore, we must not allow suffering to discourage or shame us, or ¹cause us to fall into self-pity e.g. "You're a loser! Why keep trying? Just quit!..." etc. 

But we must embrace pain and embrace God and His love for us in our pain and failures for our advancement to occur (God is for us, not against us. Nothing separates us from God's love...Rom 8:31-39). 

"...Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in ²hope of the glory of God. 

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us..." - Romans 5:2-5 ESV 

As long as we look at loss, failure, or mistakes as losing and not stepping stones to advancing, we will not embrace them with thanks, learn from them, and let them develop our maturity and advance our walk with God. When we recognize our losses, failures, and mistakes are vital to our spiritual advancement, we embrace them with gratitude and experience God's grace, mercy, and love in them. 

Having our identity and value rooted in God as the bedrock of our existence - and the very Source of love itself - frees us from seeing failure or loss as losing. The whole mindset of the Bible is that ³failure is a necessary stepping stone to progress and maturity. 

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence..." - Jas 1: 2-8. J B Phillips translation. 

This is foundational to understanding and embracing pain with thanks instead of becoming disillusioned, angry, or bitter over suffering and seeking to manipulate our circumstances to avoid it. 

The importance of humility

Another vital key to the value of loss or failure is humility. To understand we will never reach the maximum potential we were created for without God (which failure or loss helps us to see) causes us to look to Him in greater dependence. Greater dependence on God as the Source of life, love, and all things is the essence of humility. Only through humility can we reach the potential God intends and designs us for.

Christ himself, who deserved far better, did no less... i.e. he experienced the greatest suffering and humility. And that for our benefit as well as His Father's glory.

"...Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:5-11 ESV

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/

grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

For a discussion on the necessity of humility, click here

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Footnotes:

¹nor let pain embitter us. At the root of anger is the belief that we know what is best for us - and/or the world - better than God. Yet we are finite, not all-knowing or all-powerful. Only God is infinite in these things. 

And not only so, but he is also all-loving. He not only knows what's best (all-knowing) and does what's best (all-powerful) but wants it for us also (all-loving).

But many object and say, "How can God be all-loving and continue to allow all this pain in the world? What proof do we have that He is all-loving?" 

Glad you asked! He became a man just like us and fully embraced our pain so that we might ultimately be free of it forever.

² "...we rejoice in hope of the glory of God..." What a curious expression. What is it about the glory of God that gives us hope. To explore this further click here.

³This is contingent on our seeing failure as a means by which God can ultimately advance us. If we do not, it will embitter us.

3 realities most ignore

Three primary realities are absolutes. To ignore them without consequence is unavoidable and leads us away from our maximum flourishing i.e., from reaching our greatest potential ¹for the glory of God. If we remain on this path of denial, it ultimately leads us down a path of destruction. 

1. Everyone - atheists included - operates by faith. 

Because we all are finite and do not have infinite knowledge, no one can know with absolute certainty whether our views or conduct are or aren't on the right track. To know and live correctly, we must confide in the Source of infinite knowledge, life, love, and all things - i.e. the Creator and Designer of everything. 

For related discussions, go to:

The necessity of faith in an infinite God.

The essence of relationships

The necessity of dependence

2. The object of our faith is more critical than faith itself. 

Because we are finite in our knowledge and ability, we can pursue a course of action we believe is life-giving when it is actually harmful - at least long-term if not in the short run. This results in harm, destruction, and eventual death. 

To use an analogy, we may consume food we believe is life-giving when in reality it is harmful and life taking - i.e. toxic. We actually do this all the time.. Our certainty in the direction we choose, no matter how strong, does not change the nature or harmful effects of what we are consuming.

The problem isn't our faith but what we place our faith in. 

3. Everything is designed to operate a certain way i.e., there is design.

Because of this, there are always destructive consequences if something or someone operates contrary to its design. 

This is why following God's law is vital. For example, in science, we refer to the laws of nature. Why? Because when tested and applied, these laws or principles always result in the same outcome. This is evidence of design (and a Designer). For us - and any other created thing - to go contrary to its design results in things breaking down and eventually self-destructing.

There are also laws in the metaphysical (non-material) world, since we are not only physical but also spiritual beings created in the image of God, who is Spirit not physical 

Laws are the tracks or guard rails by which something (or someone) is designed to operate. If we ignore our design and these laws, things do not work properly and to their maximum potential. As a result, we suffer loss, breakdown, and eventually self-destruction. 

Just like a train needs tracks to run on for maximum performance, so it is with all of creation; from humans, who are the most complex, to the smallest elements of the quantum world. Everything has a design and purpose, which is to operate according to God's design and intent.

Only the Designer knows perfectly what that is. We can experiment, test, and discover how things are designed to function only because design exists and is observable. 

But to know our design and purpose, we must confide in the Designer, heed what He says and observe what he's done, as well as observe how things function. 

How? 

God actually took on human form and lived among us, living out God's design and giving us direction through His words and example. These things have also been put in writing and left for us to study and understand.

¹For a discussion on how we are created for joy in God and His glory, click here.

For a discussion on how God's greatest glory and our greatest good are tied together and not at odds, click here.

Free will or free choice?

While our choices are ¹free and 100% ours (i.e. we freely choose to do what we want), our ³wills are not. Our wills are tied to our desires. 

To say it another way, our "chooser" is not broken but our "wanter" is.

²And our wants (desires) dictate what we ¹choose to pursue. 

If we desire (want) the wrong things we choose to pursue the wrong things. 

And our desires are tied to what we value. The more we value something, the more we desire it and the harder we pursue it. 

And we value only what we ⁴see as valuable. 

If ⁴we are blind to seeing God's true value, worth, beauty, wisdom, glory, majesty, and power as our infinite loving Creator - i.e. the Source of life, love, and all things - we will never pursue Him as the infinitely valuable and significant being that He is. We will desire and pursue created things and beings instead. 

(For a further discussion on our ability to see things as they truly are, click here.)

Why? ⁵We are like God and created to enjoy (delight in) Him who is most valuable, beautiful, wise, glorious, majestic, and loving. Absent a personal relationship with Him, we go after His creation (the next best thing) to fill the void of His absence. Particularly other bearers of His image (you and I) who, by design, are most like God and have the greatest capacity to love and reflect Him most when in union with Him through Christ.

And what is truly valuable is experienced by faith more than pleasant circumstances. 

"...without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Heb 11:6

For a further discussion on the importance and necessity of faith, click here.

So do we have any evidence that God is trustworthy outside of - or inspite of - our circumstances? Yes, Christ himself and what he went through to restore us to the Father. If this was the only evidence to prove God's love to and for us, it is more than sufficient. No other evidence is necessary.

God's glory is our glory.

Scripture tells us God is infinitely valuable (glorious) but what about our value and our feeling significant or important? Are we valuable? Does it matter? If so, why?

Because God is significant, important, and valuable, we are and must be like Him in this same way in order for us to be able to appreciate and enjoy these qualities in Him. 

We are told in Jas 4: 

[5] "...Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”"?  

What kind of spirit has God put within us? A spirit that longs (is passionate) for infinite love, worth, and glory. Love that can only be satisfied fully by the Source of love - our Creator; not by creation  including the innate talents and gifts we already possess... such as musical, mechnical, business, artististic, speaking, writing, or intellectional skills etc.  

He will not share in (is jealous over) our pursuit or loyalty to any other "lover" because He knows our greatest joy and satisfaction is ultimately in Him. There is no other true "lover" who can fill this need and desire in us for love; love that He designed to be filled ultimately and only by God who is love. Not because He needs our love but because we need His. This is "the spirit He has made to dwell in us."

Our capacity to value and enjoy Him is unparalleled by any other creature - even celestial beings.

Our being in His image wasn't happenstance. He designed us this way. He is the Creator, we are His creatures...but unlike the rest of creation we are created in His image. Therefore He loves us and desires we experience Him to the maximum extend of His true worth and our capacity as bearers of His image. 

Everything in creation we seek for life outside of God is temporary. Creation is good and has value but it is limited. Therefore it comes up short of filling our need for and sense of value-worth (glory). God gives us creation as a means of revealing Himself to us and as evidence of His infinite love for us. But it was never meant to be our god i.e. that which we worship and pursue.

GOD alone is the Source of infinite love. To experience His love to the maximum extent of our capacity, we must give Him all our loyalty and faithfulness (i.e. have no other "gods" before Him). Otherwise we will never experience His love as it truly is and as we were designed to, but instead we will pursue created things for love, meaning, and purpose outside of and instead of Him. We can not worship both God and mammon.

Where does this need/desire for significance (glory) come from? Click here. 

Why was there a forbidden tree in the garden? Click here.

For a discussion on the necessity of choice click here.

For a further discussion on how our "wanter" is broken and not our "chooser" click here. 

For a further discussion on how our choices are effected by our ability to see, click here.

For a discussion on ability vs responsibility click here

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Footnotes:

¹And our choices are ours alone. No one else's, including God. Therefore we are fully accountable for what we value and chose to pursue. 

²Note the progression of the "ands" above. Each deals with a significant shift, but also a vital connection to the previous and following "and" statement. To get to the 2nd "and" you must acknowledge the 1st. And to get to the 3rd we must recognize the 2nd etc. 

*our wants-desires dictate what we ¹choose to pursue. 

*our desires-wants are tied to what we value

*we value only what we ⁴see as valuable. 

*our partaking of and participation in His love is primarily by faith

³Is God free to do whatever he wants? 100%!  But because God is holy He only wants (desires-wills) what is good and best and freely choses righteousness i.e. His character or nature dictates His will/desires, as does ours.

 For a fuller discussion click here.

⁴To see truly, the Spirit of God must reside in us. And that only occurs after we've been "born again" i.e. after we are spiritually regenerated. 

"Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (1st) he cannot see the kingdom of God.” " John 3:30

Before we are born again we are blind to spiritual things - i.e. things pertaining to God's kingdom. The Bible says we are dead to God. Last I checked dead people don't see very well 😉! 

⁵Why does our feeling and desire for significance, importance, and value matter? 

We are like God who is significant, important, or valuable. We must be like Him so we can appreciate and enjoy these qualities in Him. Those persons or beings most like God are most able to appreciate and enjoy Him as He is.

God's  significance, importance, and value (glory) are the foundation for (and Source of) ours. Our recognizing this about God is essential to experiencing our own true value (glory). The more we see his glory the more we experience our glory in and through Him. 

Trials, tests, temptations

What is the difference between trials (or tests) and temptation? 

All our internal turmoil, anger, anxieties, fears, etc., come from the threat of losing something we believe we must have to experience a sense of significance, importance, meaning, value, and love, etc. 

The more we see and experience God as the source of our worth - i.e., our glory - the less internal turmoil we have. Instead, we have peace that is beyond understanding - i.e., peace that makes no sense in light of hard circumstances or struggles. 

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” - Jesus - John 16:33 

Every test/trial becomes a temptation. Any change in your circumstances - whether good or bad - is a test/trial. If you fall into poverty or receive great riches, adversity or prosperity, success or failure, it tests your faith. i.e., whether you will be drawn away from God by the successes or struggles, or to God in greater trust and dependence.

Anything we pursue - be it praise, money, fame, recreation, physical intimacy, entertainment, etc. - which becomes the basis for our worth, significance, importance, value, approval, acceptance, etc., more than God - is our god, i.e., an idol. 

Tests will push you to become a better or worse person based on how you handle them, i.e., with humility or pride; in gratitude and greater dependence on God, or as a reason (excuse, justification) to become more independent of God.

Either way, you will not stay the same. Trials are opportunities for growth or distraction, making you better or worse, grateful or bitter.

Jas 1:2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed (i.e. humbly dependent on God), not deficient in any way. - The Message translation

The only legitimate reason for any pursuit is to honor and glorify God, not advance our personal agenda. It is also in pursuit of God's glory that we find our true and greatest worth and joy. 

good and bad "obedience"

Doing what God tells us to do (obedience) out of love for and trust in God is legit - as well as commanded by Christ himself. John 14:21-23

Doing what He tells us to do for any other reason is not. It is performance-based, operating in the flesh, etc.

The key is knowing why we act and not just how we act or what we do. For example, praying in itself isn't necessarily a righteous act. We can pray to impress others or solely for our personal benefit and not out of a desire to honor God and advance His purposes.

So why do we act... when are our actions legit? Always and only when done out of love for and trust in God so we would honor Him i.e. give him glory.

1. Sometimes we obey God out of loving affections for God

2. Sometimes out of faith alone.  

As long as we do so for his honor and glory and not to secure our own honor, we are to pursue him in faithful and loving obedience. 

We can never wait for feelings/affections or use lack of them as an excuse to not pursue him in faithful obedience. 

If we are to grow and experience more and more of the beauty, majesty, love and glory of God, obedience is not optional. It is the means by which our faith is exercised and we draw near to God.

NOTE, I did not say obedience is the means by which God draws near to us. We are exhorted to draw near to God, not the other way around. God being near to us is already set because of Christ's work on our behalf. God is 100% with us and committed to us if we are in Christ. Nothing we can do or not do will change this one iota. "It is finished" to use Christ's words. His loving us is never determined by our work...ever!

The beauty however, is God, in his grace and kindness, will often stir affections toward Him once we step out in faith for the right reason.

We obey so we can better honor and glorify God and be the most effective for Him in doing so.

Obedience, submission, and trust aren't about winning God's love for us, they're evidence of our love for Him.

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What about "waiting on the Lord?"

We only wait when it is not clear what Gods will is in a given circumstance. But when it is clear (e.g. his commandments), we act and don't look back.