Am I the only person who notices that alot of quotes that people post about God are sort of right, but sort of not, even ones from people who should know what they are saying? Some quotes deceptively state in essence that God has no problem with what you do, you don't have to answer to anyone but Him, everything you want do is God's will and His goal is to bless you not matter if your actions go against His word? Does that makes sense? They sound good, but might not actually be right. There is enough truth to them that they could pass by anyone who doesn't know scripture. Yet, I could post scriptures that actually goes against the things I've seen stated. If I did I would probably be jumped on for making people feel bad.
These FB quotes that feed the "Its all about me nature in each of us" certainly make you FEEL good, but something is a bit off. The Bible says "The heart is a very deceitful thing." Jer. 17:9 and "There is a way that seems right to man, but leads to death." Prov. 14:12. Does that mean instantly your drop dead? No. Does it mean that every door will shut and bad things will happen? Probably not! Actually, sometimes you can be doing everything wrong and still appear to be blessed. Anyone????
People find the quotes that make them feel good about where they are or what they are doing even if its false comfort. For instance, somebody may say God's answers you, but all of them make Him sound like a grandpa or genie in a bottle working on getting our wishes fulfilled. Sometimes God's answer is NO. N-O. But that doesn't feel good to hear so nobody likes those quotes. What of the person that leaves his spouse for an affair and remarries? Can God restore?!? ABSOLUTELY! Will God redeem? YES!!! Can they go on and have a good life?!? By God's grace yes! BUT, to say it must have been God's will because God graciously allowed you to move forward is hardly truthful. Actually, anyone who have ever truly repented of such things would be all the more cautious to steer clear of anything that would make them appear to take the shed blood of Jesus for granted or as no big thing. If you have ever had His blood wash you of heartbreaking sin, you know His blood is too precious to trample upon. I don't think most people truly understand how their decisions and choices affect other people. It's no doubt the reason Jesus cried, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!".
We all make choices, good and bad, and many times because of His goodness, God turns the situation around. NOT because we necessarily DID right, but because HIS end goal is righteousness and His word states that His goodness leads us to repentance. Not sure this makes sense, but sometimes it's disheartening to read posts from people that are gravitating towards what tickles their ears or should I say "eyes" on FB. It just makes me sad. I've seen people borrow money and not pay it back and then when the lender pardoned them of their theft, they praise God as if they were innocent all along. Not so. It was that lender's goodness and not the guilty party's righteousness that reaped the reward. I've seen people leave jobs and bash their former employers and things seem bright at their new job, but only because they haven't shown their true selves yet. I've seen people abandon children and go on to have more and feel like they must be ok with God, even after having no thought of the children they left behind. I've seen people lie on applications and get picked and they praise God as if their lies were acceptable. I've seen people shout "God is love!". AND THAT IS TRUE! But that does not mean He would support same sex marriage when He calls that type of relationship sin, so if you post a picture alluding to that its deception. It might be your right, but that doesn't make you right. See? Not popular, but it's truth.
As one who has broken God's heart more times that I would like to admit, I can never justify my choices, but I can humble myself and be justified through His grace. I can choose to make better choices. Ones that line up with His word and I can expect to begin to see changes in my life because His word if TRUE! God, in His awesome way, works all things out for the good of all who love Him, but that doesn't mean it was because we are good, but because HE IS! God's grace allows us to grow wise and more Christ-like. So yes, hopefully we are ALL better every day we serve Him.
Now in all fairness....there are ALOT of great quotes, posts and picture messages that are true to the word, nature and principles of God. Many of them minister encouragement and hope! Many of them speak a timely word or remind us of our proper focus. This is not a word of correction, but a word of caution. We must all guard out heart and minds. We must all seek to give proper attention to motives of our hearts....because God does. It's like a heard someone say recently, "I want to check my heart that the reason I have relationship with them is for real love and not just to manipulate them." What wisdom my friend has! What beauty that they would seek to be pure in ALL things. God is looking for such hearts. He is searching to and fro. May everything thing we do from family, to friends, to church, to job, to social media and so on, be pure in motive and for His glory!!!
