Through God, We Control Our Fate (Excerpt from "Things I've Learned From the Word")

Many of us allow temptation to lead us to sin, and when we sin, we are likely to blame God, feeling that he should have protected us from the temptation, or given us the strength to overcome the temptation that led us to sin. We are both correct and incorrect in this assumption, and the bible, in Chapter 1 of the Book of James, explains this dichotomy, beginning at verse 12:

¹² Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

 There will be times in our lives when we will all be pushed to a point of confrontation. Whether it is someone who we work with who is always disagreeable, or someone who we work for who drives us unnecessarily hard. Many was the time when I worked on a job that I wanted to resign because I felt as if the boss was too stern for the level of work that we were doing. I have also been the supervisor who felt as if the staff should have been performing at a certain level and tried to push them, perhaps too harshly, to that level. I have also been a person who endured a good amount of bullying and teasing during my school years. There were those who were jealous of my academic success, and there were those who just didn’t like the way that I looked; but whatever the reason, I was picked on a lot. 

The bible says that the man who perseveres or remains steadfast in the face of trials, will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. So what we see here is that God recognizes that as believers, we will be tested and pushed, but, as believers, God expects a greater level of restraint. Matthew 5:16 says that as believers, we should let our Godly lights shine before men in such a way that they may see our good works, and will glorify the Father who is in heaven. This is to say that we should behave in such a manner that just through how we carry ourselves, others will be inspired by us to give glory to the Lord on their own. 

The reason that the bible says that the man who endures temptation will be blessed is because, as the bible says in verse 13, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone”, therefore, “let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’”. God will not tempt us or allow us to be tempted, but God has given us the power to overcome or to look beyond temptation, and to endure the trials that will come upon us as believers in God.

Some years ago, while I was in a neighborhood that was not the most ideal place to be, and while I was waiting for the person whom I had dropped off to return so that we could leave, I was standing next to my car when I was confronted by two armed men. The men demanded my wallet, and I promptly did as I was told. Once the two men ran away from me and got into their car, my next impulse was to get into my car and attempt to follow them, perhaps hoping to draw the attention of the police while I was chasing the robbers. After chasing them through several back allies and neighborhoods, my pursuit was interrupted when another vehicle crossed my path and impeded my progress. Since I no longer knew where the men had gone, I discontinued the chase, but the first thing that I did was to ask God why he allowed that to happen to me, and then I asked God how he could let me make such a dumb decision. 

To read the rest of this passage, pick up a copy of Things That I Learned from the Word @ Amazon.com (goo.gl/nj7ywA)

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Every Day IS a Blessed Day (With Excerpts from "Things I've Learned From the Word")

I recently had a conversation with an individual who, at the end of the conversation, told me to have a blessed day. I wished the same blessing on them and I was glad, as I had written recently, that the person was not afraid to believe in God. But as I walked away from that conversation, I started thinking about how I was already having a blessed day because I was alive and able to talk about having a blessed day.

Every time that we wake up, we have been blessed by God because there are many who go to bed only to have their lives ended while they slept. I tell people that having the ability to walk, talk, think, see, hear, touch and smell means that we are blessed. Even if we can only do some of those things and not all of them, we are blessed to be able to have the functions that we have.

I used to work in an office building and every day, I would attempt to park in approximately the same place, which meant that each day, I would pass by the car of a gentleman who truly inspired me. Each morning, the man would climb out of his van and would position himself into his wheelchair. The man had lost both legs and one of his arms, but he would use his one good arm to get himself into his chair. Aside from the fact that each day, I would marvel at the idea that he had just driven himself to work, I was amazed at his independence. He would put himself into his chair and use the mechanical device on the chair to drive the chair to the building. He would never let me open a door for him and he would never let me push an elevator button for him.

People would see him, and would tell me that the felt sorry for the man, and I would tell them not to because I knew that he had been blessed by God. When people asked how I could say that he had been blessed when he was forced to live with no legs and only one arm, I would say that he was still alive, he did not play the victim and feel sorry for himself, and he made the best use that he could of what he had, and that only a person with strong faith could endure in the face of such hardship. It was like the story of Job; no matter what the devil did to Job, Job did not turn his back on God because he knew that God had not turned his back on Job. This man confirmed for me that God blesses us every day, and that every day that we can discuss having a blessed day IS a blessed day.

Follow Eric E. Jenkins on Twitter @ericejenkins65

The Big Lie (Excerpt from "Things I've Learned From the Word")

Consider for a moment that everything that we have learned from the bible and about the bible is false. Imagine what life would be like if we did not believe in God and if we chose not to follow the Ten Commandments. Our lives might be very different if we didn’t have God. We would not have to worry about what God would do to us if we did not obey the Commandments, so for a moment, consider what life on Earth would be like.

The Sixth Commandment says that we should not commit murder. As we know, murder is against the law, and if we are found guilty of committing murder, we will spend a long time in jail, or we might possibly be sentenced to the death penalty. Aside from this, I know that I would not like to think about the prospect of someone killing or wanting to kill me, so the idea of being a victim of murder is something of which I am not in favor. Also, I have no desire to kill anyone else, and most sensible people do not wish to be murdered, so this is a law that many follow whether or not they believe in God. 

The bible also says that we should not steal or lie, referring to lying as bearing false witness against one’s neighbor. Simply put, no sensible person would want someone to steal their property or to tell lies about them. There have been many people who have gotten in trouble with the law, with their spouses, or on their jobs because someone told a lie that involved them. I have both almost lost a job, and have been punched in the nose because of lies someone else told. I have also had my possessions stolen from me, both by strangers and by people who claimed to be my friends, so I, like everyone else, can attest to the fact that living in a society where people did these things regularly would not be a society in which many would choose to or would prefer to live.

To put this plainly, even if a person chose not to believe in God, if that person was rational and reasonable, that person would not want someone stealing from them, telling lies about them, killing them or sleeping with their spouse while cursing at them constantly, so whether or not they are believers in God, most people obey a majority of the Ten Commandments, and if they are going to obey most of them, they might as well believe in God, live according to the whole word of God, and reap the blessings that God has for those of us who believe. It seems to make sense that if a person lives according to some of the word anyway, that they would want to have the abundant, prosperous life that comes from obeying the rest of the word of God.

Do Not Be Afraid to Believe in God

Recently, after being served my food at a restaurant, the server told me to enjoy my meal and to have a blessed day. My son, who was with me, was surprised because, as he explained, didn’t hear people wishing him a “blessed” day as opposed to a “nice” day very much, in addition to not hearing “God Bless You” after a sneeze, the “God” part being left off. I explained to him that many people are afraid to openly express their religion or their spirituality or their belief in God because they are afraid to offend someone who might not believe. I told him that this made as much sense as people trying to hide their race or gender for the very same reason. 

Matthew 5:16 says that we should let our heavenly lights shine so that others will see our good works and will thus be led to give glory to God in Heaven. The simple act of wishing that someone be blessed by God is an example of someone fulfilling this instruction. This server was clearly not afraid to show that he was a believer in God, and in showing that he was not ashamed to be a believer, the bible says that God will not be ashamed of him at judgment.

There are many who will read this who may not believe in God, but for those who do, we should be as willing to let people know that we believe in God as we are willing to discuss the NBA Finals or the Real Housewives of Atlanta. This is not to say that we should attempt to force our beliefs onto every one that we see, but a simple act like saying “God bless you” or wishing that someone has a “blessed” day might just be the thing that lets a person know that there is a way to overcome whatever problem the person might be suffering through. 

As I told my son, there are people who do not like certain races, or who might have a problem dealing with one gender or another, but we persist knowing that we still need to live our lives. In a similar fashion, we should not be ashamed to let others know that we believe in God. If someone is offended because we wish them a “blessed” day, they will let us know, just as they will probably let us know that they do not like Whites, Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, men or women. In those instances, we move on, knowing that we did what God has asked us to do, and then we ask God to bless them anyway. 

Follow Eric E. Jenkins on Twitter @ericejenkins65