Stile writes:
I became an atheist when I realized that there's nothing unique about the benefits I was getting through my honest efforts towards God and religion.
Not sure if I responded to this thread but it seems from reading over it, and your first message, while your opening post says some honest things which I'm fine with, I would say the overall theme is, "what can God do for me", as though God is some type of vendor machine.
God's will is no picnic. Ask Christ, He can vouch for that, for the Father's will was for Him to die on the cross.
In my life God's will has hurt, particularly when there was a time of trial which lasted about 45 days for me, which was probably the hardest thing I have had to deal with in life, a spiritual matter of course, which there is no point in describing to the natural man.
But there is a special benefit to knowing God, which comprises of the gifts of the spirit and the fruit of the spirit. The love of God for example, is an incredible thing to have, and it compels us to do things which we were always meant to do.
But when we look at the world, the Godless world, ultimately it's message, like your opening post, is man-centred. The world doesn't want to deal with things, so you abort (murder), it doesn't want to do the right thing so it re-brands sin. The world's message is to get ahead, step on people, get your own success, and don't bother with God because He is only there to spoil your fun.
So I have to say this, your message is pretty expected, because the flesh only knows the flesh, it does not know selflessness. So perhaps the message should be this in response to your opening message; "FORGET SELF, and follow me." - Jesus Christ.
And you know the cool thing about it? Well God's so smart, you know what He does? He flips the script. As soon as your focus is OFF self, then guess what? The blessing come pouring in!
What an awesome God we have!
™ Version 4.2
