Where Is God - Jamestown Health & Rehab
We had a very interesting discussion about where God is in such turbulent times as these with the worldwide slaughter of Jews and Christians; Christians being beaten, attacked, and arrested for praying and standing true to their values; and the physical and mental destruction and indoctrination of our children and youth.
None of these topics are fun or comfortable to discuss but are so prevalent in our society that it does not do any good to pretend they are not there and can benefit everyone by finding Christ in all this chaos.
John 15:18 Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before [it hated] you.”
This verse was not only meant for the apostles with Jesus during The Last Supper but was also meant for us, in this time, letting us know that if we follow Him, we too will experience that same discontent and persecution.
Jesus knew we would experience all that is happening in these times, and all in His name. And like the apostles, we must remain strong and unshakeable in our faith for the reward is an eternity in Heaven with our wonderful Lord & Savior!
Jesus never said following Him would be easy but He offers salvation and an eternity in heaven with Him if we believe, take up our cross, and follow Him.
Matthew 7:13-14
13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad [is] the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 "Because narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
So to answer the question where is God? Jesus has returned to the right side of the Father in heaven to prepare a place for us. Remember that this is not our home, and we have been promised a perfect place to go to when we leave here. Jesus is waiting for us with open arms and perfect love as He gave all for us first!
So what does that mean for us for now?
Luke 21:13 "But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.
This is an instruction for us to remain strong in our faith in God, hold true to the gospel, and share Jesus with anyone and everyone we can. Let us accomplish God’s work. Let us be a light in the darkness of this world right now.
The last question we discussed was why does God allow bad things to happen? Wow is this a loaded and lengthy question and answer. We gave a condensed answer and vowed to devote an entire presentation at another time just to this question alone.
Todd Friel said it like this, “God both causes hard, non-sinful things to happen and then allows sinful things to happen for your own good and for His plan. For the believer, He may be preparing you or having you grow for the next step or journey. For the non-believer, He may be giving you His wrath in order to save you. Maybe God wants you to pray more, rely on Him more, read your Bible more, trust His promises more, pry idols away from your hands, to examine your walk, to heal relationships, He may have a different plan for your life than your plan.”
Because of sin, we were never going to be allowed into heaven because God is perfect and cannot look upon sin in heaven. In the Old Testament animal sacrifices had to be made for us to be forgiven of our sins. The animals sacrificed had to be the best, cleanest, and most pure of all. For us to be able to enter heaven, the ultimate sacrifice of all sacrifices had to be made on our behalf. That ultimate sacrifice was Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. He came to this earth from heaven, born of a virgin, fully God and fully Man, lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, died, was resurrected 3 days later conquering death so that if we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior, confess our sins, and confess with our mouths, we will be saved and spend eternity with Him in heaven.
This is what we need to share with everyone when we feel like the world is lost or when someone says how lost the world is or that there is no hope.
God bless.