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Was this a message/lesson do you think?

kimmyh51

&quot ;liv i ng proof that god
Apr 23, 2011
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HI, this is some thoughts I had last week, while on the way to work...

(By the way - St John mentioned below is the St John Ambulance Service here, the only ambulance - the only ppl who show up when you call emergency, but for some odd reason they are not at all funded by govt and 100% of their income/costs are from donations etc)

I was taking the train into work as my car was at the mechanics overnight being repaired.

Anyway got on the train and the lady who was the ticket lady on the train, kept walking past and back past and not looking at me or approaching me to get my money for my ticket. Till it became apparent she was not going to come and take money off me. I thought thats cool, then thought as a good christian I should pay that money. But she didnt come back except walking past really fast and I didnt want to yell out at her.
So I compromised in my head and said, ok, if she does not come and get my money, I will give it away first chance I get (ie first donation tin, homeless person or whatever)
So I get off at the city station, and before even getting off the platform into the main station area, there is a st johns guy in a big bright outfit collecting for st johns. He was not approaching people, but I saw him and thought - handy, I dont even need to go find somewhere to give away the $. So I went up andput my $7.60 or something like that that was in my pocket in the collection bucket and he thanked me (I felt guilty he was thanking me for my generousity and i thought he should be thanking the train service as most of it was technically their money)

Anyway left there and was walking to get a bus to work, and was thinking how coincidental that the st johns were collecting right there when I had decided to give the money away first chance I got

Then thought about things like jesus and the pigs (where he crosses the lake and puts demons into 200 pigs which are killed as a result - all to save one person).
And started wondering, would god... maybe.... get me to; firstly have my car in the shop, then be on that train, then get the train lady not to get my money, and me to think ill give it away....

all so that the st johns guy could get that $7?

Lot of effort for $7, but I remember thinking - would you god? Would ya?, and thinking maybe he would (and thinking that was kinda funny (in a nice way) and also how loving a god is he to manage all those things for $7) - and also wondering how many other commuters days might have been adjusted in some way to put them in front of the st johns collectors LOL

So from there, my mind was on the topic of god, and somehow meandered over to sin and so on, and I started thinking about sin, and wondering why god had to take it away etc and the thought came into my head what if it was actually for our own goood.
What I mean is that when we do some small sin (like maybe dont call a person back or snap at them for something that was nothing to do with them, or do not go to their bbq or whatever. So not the life changing sins, but the little ones, that later on we think I should have done that or shouldnt have. And feel a little bit guilty.
What if each time that we do that, it puts a little weight on our shoulders. Such a small weight we never see it. But then there is another, and another and another.
So a non christian, over years, builds up a great big weight on them. But because it happens one tiny little piece at a time they do not notice it is there, until god takes it away.

And that is why the peace that cannot be found on earth is what a person feels when they are first saved, its that big weight being taken off

Then from there I thought about the fact that most people think being a christian means being made to feel bad about your sin, and so on
But in reality, satan is the one whispering to non christians to make them feel bad and worthless

While god just says, give it to me, I will take this weight off you...

So god is the opposite of whateverone thinks

thoughts?:thumbsup:

:groupray::clap::preach: (<--- icons here cos they are cute, no message is intended or provided as a result of these cute icons ;)
 

jehoiakim

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Jun 24, 2011
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List of random thoughts in response to... :)

1. as I assume you figured out already, I think God made this happen not for the $7, but to get you thinking...

2. the part about the burden reminds me of Pilgrim's Progress, great book.

3. Satan or the accuser also makes Chrisian's feel bad, not only non-believers, he uses guilt to try and drive a wedge in our relationship with God. There i however a natural guilt when we sin that is conviction and that isn't a bad thing, but it is often warped and used as a tool to drive us away from God when it is supposed to drive us too him

4. I agree that God say's give me your burden, is God the opposite of what we think though? I dunno I kind of feel like that is communicated clearly in the scriptures although I think your right most people don't get it, and certain Christian theologies ( I won't mention any names) seem to promote that Idea to the enth degree. Don't get me wrong, I belive in total depravity, we are nothing without God, but I also believe as new Christians it is a better motivator for us to know that we are new creations in him and we are to be holy as he is holy. I feel like that is a much better motivator then your are a sinner and you will never be worthy... certainly that is true, and we do need to recognize that, but it is also important that we balance that with the Joy God brings us in being his new creation, otherwise we seem to end up dead and depressed in our faith... a lot of people also do the opposite and only focus on the joy, that is dangerous too.
 
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