45. PAIN VERSES PLEASURE AND SIN.

Pain is something we all have to suffer, some more than others and a number of people think at least in some cases it is inflicted by God for something they have or haven't done. This is neither true nor new, we remember the story of the blind man Jesus healed. One of the first questions the law abider’s asked Jesus was {paraphrased}“Was it his sin or his parents sin that he was born this way” Jesus' answered “It wasn't anyone's sin except that God be glorified. It was the same with the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Jesus told Martha “Don't be worried, just believe and you will see the Father glorified” and the widow of Name, when Jesus saw this grieving mother He knew that she, being a widow had not just lost her only son but also her only means of support. This raising to life would show not only that The Father would be glorified, but the love and mercy of God would also come through. So all that, begs the question does God get glorified through our pain? No! He gets glorified through our acceptance of it, in the knowledge that we are fulfilling His will and in so doing we pray and ask for healing. A prayer like “Oh God You know all things, You know I accept Your holy Will in this discomfort, pain or disease, but I ask You in the name of Your Son Jesus to take this from me now, however, not my will but yours be done.” Jesus prayed a similar prayer in Gethsemane, and we also know that the Father never took the cross away, instead He sent an angel to minister to Him. If anyone deserved to have that up-coming suffering to be removed surely Jesus did, one drop of His precious blood would have been sufficient, but for the Father's plan to be out worked and the scriptures to be fulfilled the Passion and death of Jesus was necessary for our redemption. Of course it's not wrong to pray for healing, scripture says “By His stripes we are healed” All our sins, all our suffering, all our discomfort, was taken upon that cross So it's not wrong to pray for healing, But It's in our humble submission that God will act, not necessarily by healing or even immediately, but we can be sure our prayer is being answered, His will is being accomplished and that should be our ultimate aim, not the healing. As Christians, we have to accept that God's will is paramount and His knowledge of the situation will cover our request perhaps not in the way we think it should, but it will be for the best for us and the persons we are praying for “For who knows the mind of God.” We know that pain, sickness and death came into the world through Adam's sin and The gates of Heaven were shut to them and us because of that sin which defiled us and scripture says “Nothing defiled shall enter Heaven” It took The death of the Son of God the only undefiled person that would ever live on earth to get those gates open for us. However, we still have to suffer the consequences of not only their sin but those we ourselves commit which often shows its’ s elf in “The curse” of sickness, pain, and death etc. So we thank God for Jesus and His Holy Spirit which He also sent to help us through this “Vale of Tears” I'm not saying God doesn't heal, we all know people who have been healed miraculously, what I am saying is God has the final say for reasons best known to Himself and we must not think because a healing is not apparent or immediate God doesn't hear or care or even that we've been too sinful, and God is paying us back or any such thing. God loves us more than we could ever imagine and He will always do what is best for us, even if it entails pain and suffering, He is on our side no matter what we have done in the past. And the only appropriate way we can approach Almighty God is through our Humble Submission to His will. PLEASURE. In years gone by almost any pleasure was considered sinful, so much so that people would go to church on Sundays come home and do absolutely nothing except perhaps read the Scriptures. Even to day in Jerusalem I understand there are areas where the Sabbath is a day when everything stops. However, thankfully Jesus spoke about that “The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath” saying it's a day of rest from the week's work, a day to enjoy the pleasures of life God has given us. In his humanity man has taken this to excess, and in some cases made it sinful, so we have to ask ourselves what is sinful and what is not? Where do we draw the line? Have you noticed, as I have, how world values have changed, even WHEN GOD SPEAKS . 45. PAIN VERSES PLEASURE AND SIN. Pain is something we all have to suffer, some more than others and a number of people think at least in some cases it is inflicted by God for something they have or haven't done. This is neither true nor new, we remember the story of the blind man Jesus healed. One of the first questions the law abider’s asked Jesus was {paraphrased}“Was it his sin or his parents sin that he was born this way” Jesus' answered “It wasn't anyone's sin except that God be glorified. It was the same with the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Jesus told Martha “Don't be worried, just believe and you will see the Father glorified” and the widow of Name, when Jesus saw this grieving mother He knew that she, being a widow had not just lost her only son but also her only means of support. This raising to life would show not only that The Father would be glorified, but the love and mercy of God would also come through. So all that, begs the question does God get glorified through our pain? No! He gets glorified through our acceptance of it, in the knowledge that we are fulfilling His will and in so doing we pray and ask for healing. A prayer like “Oh God You know all things, You know I accept Your holy Will in this discomfort, pain or disease, but I ask You in the name of Your Son Jesus to take this from me now, however, not my will but yours be done.” Jesus prayed a similar prayer in Gethsemane, and we also know that the Father never took the cross away, instead He sent an angel to minister to Him. If anyone deserved to have that up-coming suffering to be removed surely Jesus did, one drop of His precious blood would have been sufficient, but for the Father's plan to be out worked and the scriptures to be fulfilled the Passion and death of Jesus was necessary for our redemption. Of course it's not wrong to pray for healing, scripture says “By His stripes we are healed” All our sins, all our suffering, all our discomfort, was taken upon that cross So it's not wrong to pray for healing, But It's in our humble submission that God will act, not necessarily by healing or even immediately, but we can be sure our prayer is being answered, His will is being accomplished and that should be our ultimate aim, not the healing. As Christians, we have to accept that God's will is paramount and His knowledge of the situation will cover our request perhaps not in the way we think it should, but it will be for the best for us and the persons we are praying for “For who knows the mind of God.” We know that pain, sickness and death came into the world through Adam's sin and The gates of Heaven were shut to them and us because of that sin which defiled us and scripture says “Nothing defiled shall enter Heaven” It took The death of the Son of God the only undefiled person that would ever live on earth to get those gates open for us. However, we still have to suffer the consequences of not only their sin but those we ourselves commit which often shows its’ s elf in “The curse” of sickness, pain, and death etc. So we thank God for Jesus and His Holy Spirit which He also sent to help us through this “Vale of Tears” I'm not saying God doesn't heal, we all know people who have been healed miraculously, what I am saying is God has the final say for reasons best known to Himself and we must not think because a healing is not apparent or immediate God doesn't hear or care or even that we've been too sinful, and God is paying us back or any such thing. God loves us more than we could ever imagine and He will always do what is best for us, even if it entails pain and suffering, He is on our side no matter what we have done in the past. And the only appropriate way we can approach Almighty God is through our Humble Submission to His will. PLEASURE. In years gone by almost any pleasure was considered sinful, so much so that people would go to church on Sundays come home and do absolutely nothing except perhaps read the Scriptures. Even to day in Jerusalem I understand there are areas where the Sabbath is a day when everything stops. However, thankfully Jesus spoke about that “The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath” saying it's a day of rest from the week's work, a day to enjoy the pleasures of life God has given us. In his humanity man has taken this to excess, and in some cases made it sinful, so we have to ask ourselves what is sinful and what is not? Where do we draw the line? Have you noticed, as I have, how world values have changed, even in some churches? the line has been moved, things that were sinful yesterday are not so today, e.g. Homosexuality, Abortion, divorce, Tax evasion, changing boundary lines etc. I want to reiterate something we all know, God doesn't change, “He is the same yesterday, today and forever” What He said Centuries ago still holds good today. Rich or poor, Black or white, young or old. He expects us all to know and to understand when we are doing wrong and when we are not. The pursuit of pleasure is not wrong, until it takes God's rightful place in our lives, read Ecclesiastes: 2 v1-8 We see there King Solomon had everything. He denied himself nothing, So pleasure is wonderful but only lasts a short time. Then boredom sets in. Boris Becka, twice Wimbledon champion was asked what was his next ambition now that he was King of Wimbledon he said “To find a way to combat the daily challenge to commit suicide.” How tragic. The captain of the team that won the Super Bowl in the U.S. football league recently said straight after the game, when all the hype had died down he went back to his Hotel room and ordered a Lamborghini, He then lay on his bed and felt so terribly empty, so he rang a Christian friend and told him how he felt “I've won everything I put my hand to and lost the only things I really treasured, I want to have my wife beside me and hold my little girl in my arms .again” He was told by his friend to get down on his knees and ask God into his life” which he did and his only ambition now is to please his Lord. I don't know if you have read Jack Huggins” He's a famous writer, and millionaire he wrote many best sellers “The Eagle Has landed“ was one of his more famous books He was asked the question “What do you know now, that you wish you had known when you were younger?” His immediate answer was “When you get to the top there's nothing there, you're all alone” You see there's only room for one on the top rung of the ladder of your heart. If that is You and your ambitions, there will be no room for the Lord and it's a very lonely place to be. The glow of anything that is achieved through selfish ambition fades very quickly. “All that glitters isn’t gold.” If you have ever read the biography of John Wesley you will have read that when he was 10 years of age he asked his mother how would he know if something was sinful or not. That mother of 19 children took him aside and explained “Son, any pleasure that refreshes you and diminishes, dilutes or detracts from your relationship with God is an elicit pleasure and therefore it is sinful”. I don't believe any theologian could have put it better. So I repeat any thing that diminishes, dilutes or detracts from our relationship with God is sinful At least 2 of her sons went into ministry John became a preacher and Charles was a Hymnist. John at 83 became annoyed at his doctor because he was told he could only preach 14 times a week, and at 87 he wrote in his diary “Laziness is creeping in, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to rise before 5-30 in the morning,” What a burning faith that man must have had!! I hope I have made things a little clearer for us to understand about Pain Pleasure and Sin. God made all things and said they were good, we just have to look at them in the light of God's revelation and always put Him first. Thank you for reading my thoughts on “Pain verses Pleasure and Sin.” I hope I have been of some help. Phaline. __________________ References:--NIV & NKJV Bibles. INSPIRATION FROM:--Archival copies of “THE WORD FOR TODAY” by Bob & Debby Gass. & Calvary Chapel App “The Bridge Programme New Jersey U.S.A.in some churches? the line has been moved, things that were sinful yesterday are not so today, e.g. Homosexuality, Abortion, divorce, Tax evasion, changing boundary lines etc. I want to reiterate something we all know, God doesn't change, “He is the same yesterday, today and forever” What He said Centuries ago still holds good today. Rich or poor, Black or white, young or old. He expects us all to know and to understand when we are doing wrong and when we are not. The pursuit of pleasure is not wrong, until it takes God's rightful place in our lives, read Ecclesiastes: 2 v1-8 We see there King Solomon had everything. He denied himself nothing, So pleasure is wonderful but only lasts a short time. Then boredom sets in. Boris Becka, twice Wimbledon champion was asked what was his next ambition now that he was King of Wimbledon he said “To find a way to combat the daily challenge to commit suicide.” How tragic. The captain of the team that won the Super Bowl in the U.S. football league recently said straight after the game, when all the hype had died down he went back to his Hotel room and ordered a Lamborghini, He then lay on his bed and felt so terribly empty, so he rang a Christian friend and told him how he felt “I've won everything I put my hand to and lost the only things I really treasured, I want to have my wife beside me and hold my little girl in my arms .again” He was told by his friend to get down on his knees and ask God into his life” which he did and his only ambition now is to please his Lord. I don't know if you have read Jack Huggins” He's a famous writer, and millionaire he wrote many best sellers “The Eagle Has landed“ was one of his more famous books He was asked the question “What do you know now, that you wish you had known when you were younger?” His immediate answer was “When you get to the top there's nothing there, you're all alone” You see there's only room for one on the top rung of the ladder of your heart. If that is You and your ambitions, there will be no room for the Lord and it's a very lonely place to be. The glow of anything that is achieved through selfish ambition fades very quickly. “All that glitters isn’t gold.” If you have ever read the biography of John Wesley you will have read that when he was 10 years of age he asked his mother how would he know if something was sinful or not. That mother of 19 children took him aside and explained “Son, any pleasure that refreshes you and diminishes, dilutes or detracts from your relationship with God is an elicit pleasure and therefore it is sinful”. I don't believe any theologian could have put it better. So I repeat any thing that diminishes, dilutes or detracts from our relationship with God is sinful At least 2 of her sons went into ministry John became a preacher and Charles was a Hymnist. John at 83 became annoyed at his doctor because he was told he could only preach 14 times a week, and at 87 he wrote in his diary “Laziness is creeping in, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to rise before 5-30 in the morning,” What a burning faith that man must have had!! I hope I have made things a little clearer for us to understand about Pain Pleasure and Sin. God made all things and said they were good, we just have to look at them in the light of God's revelation and always put Him first. Thank you for reading my thoughts on “Pain verses Pleasure and Sin.” I hope I have been of some help. Phaline. __________________ References:--NIV & NKJV Bibles. INSPIRATION FROM:--Archival copies of “THE WORD FOR TODAY” by Bob & Debby Gass. & Calvary Chapel App “The Bridge Programme New Jersey U.S.A.