One of my friend who is not a Christian shared his/her thoughts on how he/she finds it difficult to abandon his/her god.
He/she gave me an example saying "assume you are brought up by your foster parents and found your real parents when you became an adult.
Would you abandon your Foster parents (who nurtured you for your whole life) for the real parents?
How can i explain this to that person?
xoxo
1love
Story Box
The Big Rocks
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered over achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz."
Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good."
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the 'big rocks' in your life?
Your relatinship with God?
Your husband or wife?
Your children? Your loved ones? Your health? Your education?
Your dreams? A worthy cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Doing things that you love?
Time for yourself? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you worry about that don't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks). So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the "big rocks" in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.
Matthew 6:33
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
ARE YOU 'THE CRACKED POT' ?? . A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house." Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste. So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway. Go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we find His strength, and that "In Him every one of God's promises is a Yes." DID GOD CREATE EVIL? At a certain university, there was a professor with a reputation for being tough on Christians. At the first class every semester, he asked if anyone was a Christian and proceeded to degrade them and to mock their statement of faith. One semester, he asked the question and a young man raised his hand when asked if anyone was a Christian. The professor asked, "Did God make everything, young man?" He replied, "Yes sir He did!" The professor responded, "If God made everything, then He made evil." The student didn't have a response and the professor was happy to have once again proved the Christian faith to be a myth. Then another man raised his hand and asked, "May I ask you something, sir?" "Yes, you may," responded the professor. The young man stood up and said "Sir, is there such thing as cold?" "Of course there is, what kind of question is that? Haven't you ever been cold?" The young man replied, "Actually, sir, cold doesn't exist. What we consider to be cold is really an absence of heat. Absolute zero is when there is absolutely no heat, but cold does not really exist. We have only created that term to describe how we feel when heat is not there." The young man continued, "Sir, is there such a thing as dark?" Once again, the professor responded, "Of course there is." And once again, the student replied, "Actually, sir, darkness does not exist. Darkness is really only the absence of light. Darkness is only a term man developed to describe what happens when there is no light present." Finally, the young man asked, "Sir, is there such thing as evil?" The professor responded, "Of course. We have rapes, murders, and violence everywhere in the world, those things are evil." The student replied, "Actually, sir, evil does not exist. Evil is simply the absence of God. Evil is a term man developed to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. It isn't like truth, or love, which exist as virtues like heat or light. Evil is simply the state where God is not present, like cold without heat or darkness without light." The professor had nothing to say............ Does God Still Speak? A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study. The Pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord's voice. The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God still speak to people?" After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message. Several different ones talked about how God had led them in different ways. It was about ten o'clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, "God.. If you still speak to people, speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to obey." As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought, to stop and buy a gallon of milk. He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that you?" He didn't get a reply and started on toward home. But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn't recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli. "Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the milk." It didn't seem like too hard a test of obedience. He could always use the milk. He stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home. As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, "Turn down that street." "This is crazy," he thought and drove on past the intersection. Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street. At the next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh. Half jokingly, he said out loud, "Okay, God, I will." He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in semi-commercial area of town. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed. Again, he sensed something, "Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street." The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat. "Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look stupid." Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk. Finally, he opened the door, "Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to be obedient. I guess that will count for something, but if they don't answer right away, I am out of here." He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man's voice yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?" Then the door opened before the young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans and T-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face and he didn't seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep. "What is it?" The young man thrust out the gallon of milk, "Here, I brought this to you." The man took the milk and rushed down a hall way speaking loudly in Spanish. Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face. The man began speaking and half crying, "We were just praying. We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some milk. "His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I ask him to send an Angel with some. Are you an Angel?" The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put it in the man's hand. He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were streaming down his face. He knew that God still answers prayers. A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination. As the one lone ember's flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and "dead as a doornail." Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday." John 3:16 In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner, the people were in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell many papers. |
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8 comments:
It can be right or wrong, but here is my answer:
In this situation,
1)You need to know which parent can give you grantee for your future/life.
2)Your real parents don't want to share you with foster parents.
Do you love your real parents? Do you want live with them? It's your freedom of choice. But... if you choose the real parents, you will have to live according to their rules.
This scenario does not completely apply on the original thought of leaving his/her god. You may ask why the real parents left you in the first place.
But our GOD never left you nor forsake you. HE was always there protecting and guiding you, you just didn’t notice.
If one believes that all roads lead to Heaven then there is nothing left to say.
To make things simple, try to look at the "Foster parents" as a car you use everyday. If you know for sure by riding that car you will get to your destination then go for it.
Is it possible to erase/wash/undo mistakes, sins and crimes a person has committed with good deeds.
Example: you stole $100,000 from a bank last year but didn't have to go to jail because you recently donated $200,000 to a local school!
What if someone says that He can reconcile you from all bad things you did, you are doing and will do in the future!
Well.. Are you really sure all road lead to Heaven??
If you are sure... what is the definition of Heaven for you? For me Heaven mean the place where I'm going to live for my eternal life with all the best and great things. There will be no sorrow, only joy and happiness.
Okay ... it is true that as a car it can take to any destination. But what if the car you used is something wrong with it? It looks ok from ouside but something missing inside. You think it can take you to destination, but what if it broke down on middle of nowhere?? What are you going to do in that case??
It is not possible to erase/wash/undo mistakes and crimes a person committed with good deeds. No matter how many good deeds you do, it won't replace your sins. You are still guilty and you will still go to prison. Only way you will not go to prison is if the judge favor you and let you free from all charge. In this case.. God is our judge deciding if we can be free from our mistakets, crimes and sins. Because God is a faithful Judge, he didn't free from our sins with no cost. God give us a choice which is Jesus Christ who came to earth and died on cross for our sins. If we believe in Jesus, we will be free from all charges. It's very simple... you want to go to prison or you want to be free?? It is up to you. So, we are not being erase from sins because we do good deeds. We are being erase from sins because God give us a choice and we chose it.
Great thoughts and very practical answers to the question. I like to add something else that is; If someone only analizing what is wrong or how it is.., it will only end up in lists of analysis yet no definite answer to itself. It will be like; we are imposing incomparable parallelism of God’s grace and truth with what we think we know how in our unfair analysis. The best thing is when we put our trust in God, the things that we never can comprehend become clear. As if, we were blind before and now we see. The only challenge is would you put your trust in God who gives eternal assurance in Christ Jesus?
To me, theological terms and ideas will not help nonbelievers to know God. There is not much help in making them believe that they do indeed need a SAVIOR in life.
However, Apostle Paul in Romans 2 said that even non believers know God’s basic moral law, it’s ‘written on their hearts and their consciences also bearing witness.
So one must find out on his/her own who God is. Why not starting from some very basic questions. What are we doing on this earth? Is there life after death? Who created that place that you think you are going after death?
If a person truly seeks God that person will find Him. Only God can change a person heart. One suggestion is to read the Bible as an adversary and start looking for things that seems to be incorrect.
I agree with pastor Lone. The truth is truth. The truth can’t be measure by which side is better.
To be honest, I got stunned by the question and really kept me into deep thinking. This whole afternoon I spend most of time to prayer for xoxo 1 love’s friend. Who seems so close, yet stuck in between … I assume he or she must be responsible person..taking value of life seriously...I feel his and her longing for the truth.
With my all respect …. I humbly like to tell him or her … It is not about the relationship between foster parents and real parents. It is battle between cold heart kidnappers and desperate birthparents who had found you. All these years you are brought up by kidnapper. Finally you found out … who real parent is …
Then, here is my simple question …. What would be your choice to spend the rest of your life …. with the kidnapper? or with the real parent?
Hmm... after reading the comparison questions, I've been cracking my head thinking and came to my own conclusion.
For me, I can't compare my relationship with God to foster parents/kidnappers/cars. Haha.. I tried and tried! Because it's quite irrelevant. It's really hard for me to compare it with anything. Well, that's just me.
If I had foster parents who raised me, I'd definitely stay with my foster parents even if my biological parents show up later. Because my foster parents were the ones who were faithful to me from the beginning. That's a complete story from my relationship with God. So I can't compare it.
So if the non-believer is happy with his god, there's really nothing for me do to show him the way except to keep on sharing the W.O.G., live as a living testimony to God and the bible, and pray that he would recognize the truth. When he sees how faithful our God is to us, how wonderful as a person we've come to be, how our love for one another is unlike anything else in the world, how much we welcome him (the non-believer) continuously with open arms without judgement, he would see that this kind of love God has given us is incomparable to the love any other god can give. That's when revelation occurs and in an instant he would be saved. Not by force and threats like "You will go to hell." I have met Christians like that and it is true but throughout the bible, people are converted because of Jesus' amazing love. But of course, even after we've done all that we could, many will still be blind. I mean, yeah of course, because that's why more than half the world is not saved. We just have to keep on keeping on until people open their spirts. If he still asks me, "Would you leave your foster parents to go to your biological parents?" I would say, "My God is my God. Not my foster parent or biological parent. I don't know how to compare them."
If my parents turned out to be kidnappers who kidnapped me from my biological parents to raise me, I'd definitely leave them and return to my biological parents. However, for all their love and care for me throughout the years, I'd love them the same. What they did is bad but I would still forgive them and support them to death. However, I would live with my actual parents; My heart would be with them. In a way, this is the same as losing me. This could be their judgement from God but that's not for me to say. So, that on the other hand is also quite irrelevant to my relationship with God and I don't know how to compare them. Buddha didn't come kidnap me. I went to Buddha. You could think the devil set it up to make me go to Buddha but I prefer not to think like that for now. Because if Buddha kidnapped me but still treated me good through all these years, I would still worship him even after finding God. But in reality, I no longer worship Buddha. In reality, Buddha was neutral to me. He didn't do anything for me so I also don't want to think he kidnapped me. He's just there. So I prefer to think my God is my God and it's really hard for me to compare it with anything else. When I saw the real God, everything else goes out the window.
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