If God isn’t Real, will you still try to be Good?

The Bible tells me to be good and Holy. But what if I don’t believe in God, will I still try to be good?

If I don’t believe in God I can have several reasons to be a good person:

One, being good is good enough in itself. However, I know from experience and from observing many people from different cultures that being good is impossible. Don’t misunderstand me, a person can do good acts, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that such a person is good. For sure, that person will fall short soon in many areas of life. I am not aiming for perfection, but being good means being consistent in his good ways.

Two, being good is great even without its rewards. To be a good person selflessly is a very good thought. However, again this is false. Being good basically means embracing suffering and pain. If suffering and pain are the only things you will get from trying to be good, then why pursue it? No way, if there’s no reward! Looking for a reward is a source of hope in the times of sufferings!

Third, being good attracts good relationships. Love begets love, and this is great incentive. However, even the most satisfying human relationships will never satisfy a human heart. This has been proven again and again. Our hearts is designed for something bigger.

What then, now? Being good is good only if there’s God who is living, loving, and Himself quite Good, or Holy. And that Only God has a Name, His Name is Jehovah, or Yahweh, or Jesus.

Going back to the reasons above, only God can meet the challenges for us to be good:

One, only God can give a person a good heart. The human heart is so corrupt only God can change it.

Genesis 6:5 (KJV) And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 31:33 (KJV) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So, without God, it is impossible for a person to be good. Very imposible

Two, God gives eternal rewards to those who try to be good. It is God’s Character to reward. And these rewards do not negate the virtue of good deeds, but rather validate their goodness before God, indicating that God values goodness highly.

Ruth 2:12 (KJV) The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Psalms 18:20 (KJV) The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (KJV) Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Third, only a relationship with God a man can be satisfied. Human relationships will never be enough, only in God there’s lasting happiness and peace.

Psalms 27:9-10 (KJV) Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

Psalms 16:11 (KJV) Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

I affirm therefore with the Apostle Paul that if I do not hope in anything else in the after life for doing good and for being righteous, then I am to be pitied most among all else.

1 Corinthians 15:17-20 (KJV) And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

So, I try to live a pleasing life to God because I have this hope of being resurrected and being totally one in Christ Jesus. Amen, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

Christians seem to not receive God’s unconditional love after Salvation

I have been asked in Quora if Christians are not receiving God’s unconditional love. For him, it just seems so.

Well, from the Bible attested by personal experiences, here’s what I could say.

First, straight from the Bible, Christians or the children of God are receivers of God’s unconditional love. This is evident from Ephesians 1, Romans 5:8, and many others.

However, to say that they seem to not receive that is purely based on observable experience that is misinterpreted or not correctly understood according to the Scriptures.

1. We misinterpret the nature of God’s Love. God’s love includes giving pain in many forms. It could be from a hard lesson, a test of faith, rebuke or discipline. If you are loved dearly by God, expect dearly that time to time God will intentionally hurt you, but not to destroy you (like what Satan does) but to build you up, mold your character, and bring Glory to His Name.
2. We do not understand God’s long-term purposes. We humans are basically narrow-minded and short-sighted creations. We do not see as God sees. When Jesus was about to undergo pain and was in pain, many of His followers could not understand it. The Father hurting His Son? In Acts it is said that it was the Father’s will to hurt Him and to kill Him (not of Satan’s). But in the end, it was necessary to exalt both the Father and the Son (Philippians 2:5–10).

The Broken Christian

There are some instances that what we feel is only pain and it seems that all joy is lost.

Frustrations do come, in most cases they are inevitable. There are really phases of life wherein we realize our limitations and see our weaknesses. In those times we feel utterly helpless.

The feeling of helplessness, incompetence, inability, and incapacity is more than a monster that eats the soul – it is a decay that destroys from within, inside-out. A person who suffers from this for extended periods of time will result to a troubled and frustrated life, one that has no meaning or purpose.

A fulfilled life begins with Jesus. But often, the Christian life is frustrated, and is full of setbacks. Many factors contribute to the brokenness of the Christian life – inherent weaknesses and flaws, sins and God’s discipline, and most importantly – trials and tribulations. If we desire to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it has been promised that we should first go through trials and tribulations.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10: 25-30)

There are major differences though between the three major sources of pain and sufferings in the Christian life: 1) of sins and weaknesses, 2) of God’s discipline, and 3) of trials and tribulations.

Regarding the first one, of sins and weaknesses, the source of pain is very inherent and inward. It is something that the saint continuously fights and struggles with all the day of his/her life since the day of his redemption. The fight stops only when the saint reaches perfection in heaven. The weaknesses alone of the saint, like lust and greed, cause much pain already, but when the weaknesses bloom into acts of sin, the pain and the damages are magnified a hundredfold.

Regarding the second one, of God’s discipline, the pain is even worse in greater proportions than the sin itself committed, for it is God Himself who does the discipline and He intends to hurt the Christian. The more the Christian choose to live in sin, the more the discipline intensifies. It is only appropriate that we respond humbly to the discipline, submitting to God’s standard of righteousness, as the only way to benefit from the pain of the discipline.

My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord,
Nor faint when thou art reproved of him;
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,
And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12: 5-11)

And lastly, regarding trials and tribulations, the pain like the second one is also caused by God, directly or indirectly, for it is often thru pain that God teaches His greatest lessons. If we think that most of what is bad that comes to us is caused by the devil, then we have a wrong understanding or belittling of God’s sovereignty. Remember when Satan wanted to hurt Job, he had to secure God’s permission, ultimately it is by God’s will that Job was hurt.

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” (Job 2: 3)

Indeed, it is part of God’s plan to hurt us first before we bless us; God wants refinement of our character so we could handle His blessings.

Overnight Prayer – A moment of God’s Revival

07 JULY 2017, 11:51 PM
A week of utter weakness; a single hour of healing.

All that it needs is a single moment of praise and worship, and suddenly the shattered soul is healed.

As we sung our praises to God, what could I possibly offer to Him? I had no righteousness for the past week, virtually no prayers and Bible meditation. All that I offered to God was my broken heart – broken in true sorrowful repentance.

Psalms 51:17 (KJV) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

That offering was what God was looking to receive from me – no hypocrisy, no hiding, but complete honesty and surrender. And through that humble submission, God was able to do His wondrous work of reviving my once-wounded heart, ready again for service.

Psalms 51:12-14 (KJV) Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

Saying Sorry

Saying sorry means you are acknowledging that you are wrong and you are ready to change your ways. Sometimes it means that if given the chance (like to turn back time), then you will undo your actions. Saying “sorry” means a lot to heal a broken relationship. Saying sorry is the first half — the second half is the forgiveness of the other party.

What if sorry is given but the mistake is repeated… again and again? Two reasons why that happens: 1.) The “sorry” is not sincere; 2.) The sorry is sincere but the person who said it suffers from a weakness that he could not overcome, which results in the mistake being repeated.

The question is: How much can you forgive?
Tougher questions: Does forgiveness has boundaries? Does forgiveness means having adjustments?

I will keep on coming

Trials!
They are all over around me
Whistling noise
Calloused hearts
Allover follow me

Putting me down
Trampling over me
Handing me over
To my enemies behind

What can I do
But to fight back
With my little strength
Yeah, with tiny force I got left

Back me up!
Yeah, You support me up
With You I can do this
And even more

Do not leave me behind
For I will not survive
Yet with You this is possible
And very much attainable

No matter how many setbacks
I have endured and will suffer
I will keep on coming
For His force is pushing

Forward, yeah, forward
And step towards victory
For I am not alone
You are with me!