Are You Living Up to God’s Standards?

God's standards, God, relationship, faith, knowledge

If we think about relationships, do you think it’s possible to have a successful relationship without having any standards? Maybe in a romantic relationship, you want to be with someone who lives a certain lifestyle that matches yours. Maybe in a friendship, you make an effort to keep friends who are positive and encouraging instead of gossipy or cynical.

Even if we don’t want to admit it, we all have standards and expectations for our relationships. And we should. Having standards is a way of ensuring you can trust the other person while also protecting your own heart. But let’s also think about when you have clear or set standards in a relationship, but the other party constantly breaks or ignores them. How would you react? Even when you sincerely love a person, you set standards that you hold them to and usually they do the same for us. For any of us who say we’re in a relationship with God, should we expect God to be any different?

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…And God Will Wipe Away Every Tear

hope, wipe away every tear

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 

Revelation 21:4

God will wipe away all of our tears. Hopefully this gives you hope and comfort. Especially considering the way the world is now, with wars, death, and suffering at every turn. Is this a world that we want to live in and are content with the way it is? For certain, it’s not for me. I’m pretty sure, none of us are content with the current state of the world. But, although we may be in the midst of endless miseries, please take heart. Because God promised a time when all of those things would come to an end. He made a promise to wipe the tears from our eyes, to create a world where there would be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

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Does God Hate Me?

Has this thought ever crossed your mind? Maybe it’s in the midst of losing your job. Maybe you’re going through unimaginable heartbreak or grieving the loss of a loved one. And we all know that when it rains, it pours. Painful thing after painful thing just keeps piling up until you hit a breaking point. You cry out to God, “Do you hate me?? Why are you letting all of these things happen to me? Don’t you love me, God? Where are you??”

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One Sin to Rule Them All

If you’ve read the “Lord of the Rings” books or have seen the movies, then you probably know about the “One Ring,” right? 

“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them.

One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them!”

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This ring was made by the dark lord, Sauron, to rule and dominate all life on Middle Earth. Through the use of the ring, his influence spread, and all kinds of races – elves, men, dwarves – began to fight with and distrust one another. A result of the evil that was now all over the world. The evil power of that ring allowed Sauron to control others with his will. Anyone who carried that ring began to look more and more like it’s owner – dark, evil, greedy and selfish. It caused wars between kingdoms and peoples. While the Lord of the Rings is just a story, if you look at the world today, don’t you feel the similarities? In our own world, are people more united or more divided? What is the cause of the division and fighting? 

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The Origin of Suffering

Isn’t it an easy habit to think that man’s destiny is to live a mere mortal life? To suffer, to become old, and eventually return to dust? Do you ever wonder if every misfortune, even death, is God’s will?

origin of suffering, pain

In truth, God’s purpose was not for His creation to go through hardships, suffering, or even death. As we can see in Lamentations 3:33, God doesn’t willingly bring affliction or grief upon anyone. Then, where does this suffering really come from? Couldn’t we conclude that death and suffering come because of the absence of God who is life?

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