I watched a documentary on the Amish last night and I really enjoyed it, but it also got me thinking "Are we doing something wrong in the way we live? Are they? Or does God consider all of hearts when they are humble and all of our lives when they actually do follow after Him, a good thing and not sin, etc...?" Cause I want God to guide and move my life to honor Him. I want to do the right thing...As I thought about it, I have realized that God has many colors of worship, many different styles of people who love and honor Him and not one of them is "wrong" necessarily, or within reason, but I believe that He enjoys our lives to reflect Him in the way we live our lives and the way we think and what we do and say-that it does reflect the awesomeness of our Creator! People love God in different ways and to have different denominations and say that ours is "the correct/right way" over another form of love and worship to God, is not our place. Only God can do the judging, we just have to follow where GOD leads us in our lives, not where man or ourselves lead us and then I believe and know that God will honor us as we honor Him and put Him and others above ourselves!
I remember that God does say in His word that He hates it when we bicker and fight and argue with one another. If we are truly humble we wouldn't say we are, because that could be pride if we say "Ya! I'm Humble! I've learned it..." That's the whole point of humility, we are all growing and learning and changing. We are not perfect and in our imperfection and in our pursuit and love towards God and in our daily lives of worship, we can see and know that our lives will be Holy and Pure and Humble as we pursue our God-the God who made us and forgave us even when we fail and mess up, the God who is our Father and still speaks to us even when our righteousness that we try to do is like dirty rags to Him, but He is ALWAYS there and ALWAYS loves us and is pursuing our hearts. He wants all people of all races, of all backgrounds, of all denominations and all non Christians to love Him and to really KNOW HIM! He is a God of love and a God of mercy, but He is also a Righteous God who loves us and corrects us to help and lead us into the right direction for our lives!
So are the Baptist wrong? no, Are the Pentecostals wrong? no. Are the Jews wrong? no. Are the charismatics wrong? no, Are the non-denominational wrong? no. Are the Catholics wrong? no. Are the Presbyterian's wrong? no. Are the denominations of Christianity all wrong but the one you are in (it would take a LONG list and a LONG time to write them all out, so just add yours in your mind that that list..)? I believe that they are not, I think that every denomination and every church has a point where they struggle and are not "perfect" or are not 100% right on all things, but I do know that it is not my place to judge if someone is in the wrong or a denomination is in the wrong, but it is my job to look at the fruit of their lives and be the light that Christ has called me to be based on the Bible! We are in pursuit of GOD, not the pleasing of man. I know we all have our own issues with other denominations or even other church's within our denomination or people group, but we grow and learn and become all that God has planned. Now, I am not saying that ALL of them are right because there are Muslims and Buddhist and even Mormons who I think do not believe and follow after God because they (Muslims, Buddhist's, etc...) worship other gods that is not the TRUE and ONLY God. The Mormons have taken our of the Bible and have added things to it as well and if you read the last few verses of Revelation and several other verses throughout that BIBLE it says "Do not add or subtract...." and if they have, then that means that they have sinned and are not following in the Way, Truth and Life of God's word, but they all need to be reached and as a body and as followers of Jesus, we have to tell all about our marvelous Creator and God and Father! They need to know!
That's just my thoughts, what are your thoughts on this sensitive? Now, I am just learning about this and don't really know a lot and I am interested in what is right and what is true and I want to know what others have learned in this subject and if you have any wisdom or think I might be a little off, post a comment and help me! I want to learn and if I am wrong in this, then please use scripture of GOD'S WORD and show me what I am missing...Thank you! It's much appreciated! :) God Bless!
"Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:26-27)
ReplyDelete“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:3-5)
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1st Corinthians 1:10-13)
There are so many more Bible verses I wish I could get to. But I've been thinking about this topic for a long time now, and I think God has been teaching me a lot.
Sadly, I've forgotten most of what I wanted to say earlier, but those verses are some of the ones I wanted to talk about, so hopefully they help deliver the messages that I wanted to say. (the Bible speaks so much more powerfully than I ever could anyway)
Anyway, thanks for posting this, its good to know more people besides me think about this. :)