Struggle

It take effort to be a Christian. I'm just going to go ahead and put that out there, y'all. It takes effort to believe in the bible (an ancient book), and in God (an invisible, not physical deity). You may not get any physical reward, and you may not be any better off. At first glance, that's very discouraging. I mean we're all humans, and we naturally seek and value physical things.

I'm sure that the bible didn't promise us any physical gain if/when we believe in Christ as our savior. Instead, the bible assures us that we gain Christ (duh?), and thereby gain salvation and forgiveness. So faith in Christ definitely means hope for great things to come.

But wait...Does that mean the God isn't here, right now? He's just sitting back, waiting for us to die and come up to Heaven? Did He just give us Christ, and leave us to figure everything out ourselves?


NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! (If you could only hear me yelling, this would be much more effective.)

Jesus himself states, "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." This means blessings, this means grace, this means...a lot of things! God not only forgives us, thereby saving us, but he also promises that is we ask him for grace, for help, he'll give it to us. This could mean healing, sure. This could also mean hope and strength. It could also mean patience.

What it doesn't mean is wealth, good social stature, muscles, or anything like that. God desires Himself glorified in all ways, which is why he doesn't answer our selfish requests. I ask, how can God be glorified by giving you a brand new mustang? Sure, you could say I'll use it to get to church, and maybe carpool somether there, too. I mean, anything can be construed to make spiritual sense. By what defines selfishness is not plausibility, but your heart. When we're saved, we start this process called sanctification, whereby we're being made holy. What happens in this process is a heart change, an attitude change, a bunch of change. It's here where God gives us his holy spirit, which works to conform us to His image.

The neat thing is, though, that this process changes our desires. We no longer want to serve ourselves, but instead desire to serve God and desire that His name be glorified. So,we don't pray selfishly any longer, but learn to seek His kingdom and blessings to promote that kingdom here on earth.

So, boom! There ya go. Your selfish requests and desires don't fly well with God. Perhaps, you need to re-evaluate who and what you really believe in. :)