Monday, March 14, 2016

Core Godly Values, Practices, and Beliefs Not Taught by Our Culture

1. Seeking God in prayer for long stretches of time
  Sure, prayer is somewhat acceptable to the culture, but we're taught to think about praying a quick prayer that shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Then we're supposed to go about our work and business as usual. Seeking God in fervent prayer longer than one hour is not often talked about or taught, and if one is seen doing that, people think there's something wrong. Seeking God in prayer for long stretches of time is largely a lost idea in our culture. It is something followers of Christ should be doing, though. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  In Luke 11:5-10, Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
     "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened."
     There is nothing wrong with being persistent in prayer in order to seek God and strengthen our relationship with Him. 
     Just as an aside, the delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention sought God in prayer for help and guidance at Benjamin Franklin's suggestion. See- http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=144096
     There were also prayers done by the "founding fathers" at the Continental Congress as well. See- http://chaplain.house.gov/archive/continental.html 

2. God as Top Value and Priority

     The culture is teaching that work and money are supposed to be our top value and priority in our personal value systems. Jesus taught in Matthew 6:24 that "no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (see also Luke 16:13). Moreover, Jesus taught in Matthew 22:46-40 that the greatest commandment was "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (quoting Deuteronomy). People are even being to taught to feel wrong now if work and money are not the top thing in their value systems (in counseling establishments, educational institutions, you name it). The proletariat would need to be strengthened, I guess, if there was somehow a slowly encroaching communist/Marxist/socialist agenda being forwarded in America (to be somewhat sarcastic).

3. Exercising Spiritual Gifts

     No, you'd have to actually go to specific types of churches to even hear about that. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6 "to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you [him]." Everything should, of course, be done with a sense of order and decency in its appropriate time and place. How often does anyone ever talk about God's healing power, as well? Then everyone gets all bent out of shape over their health benefits and wonder what's wrong with everything. People will tend not to hear about God's healing power from the culture.

4.  Holiness

     The holiness of God and living a holy life are basics in the Scriptures. The Bible verses are too many to even list- just open up to almost any page of the New Testament. Of course our sanctification comes from God through Christ Jesus and is made thorough and a complete work by the Spirit of God and with Christ.

5. That God is triune (is a trinity).

     To simplify, God is one in essence and three in persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is a doctrine found throughout all the Scriptures- Old Testament and New.  Not taught by the culture. The divinity of Jesus is something that most people know that followers of Christ believe (I think).

6. Salvation is Christ alone

     Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through me." Salvation is found through Jesus alone and there is no other way.  Acts 4:12 says that "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." That would be the name of Jesus. The world and the culture will teach you that all paths lead to God. That is incorrect. The other non-Christian paths lead to not-God and to hell in the afterlife.



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