I will be your God

Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

There are numerous verses in the Bible that tell us of God’s plan for His people here on Earth. While God’s love for mankind is never ending, and freely given, God offers us a conditional promise that accompanies His unconditional love. Namely, if we obey His word, He will be our God, and we shall be His people. As testimony to His grace and mercy, the Old Testament records this promise several times as God speaks through His Prophets to a rebellious and “stiff-necked” people.

A promise like this sounds to me like an exercise in frustration, but for our God, who forgives upon asking, and whose mercies are new every morning, it appears to be do-able. In addition to the promise itself, it’s His Word throughout all generations, and not applicable to the Jews only. Heaven is open to all who will return His love, and honor Him in all His mighty works by praising Him and living in righteousness.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it is a simple promise, with simple parameters to follow in order to be blessed by God.
You may ask, “But what about Satan’s temptations and all his wiley ways?”
God asks for obedience leading to blessings. Satan uses blatant lies and slight-of-hand to trick us by making good look evil, and evil good. Temptations are deliberately made to look appealing to us; he designed them to mimic good choices to be filtered through our free will. Discernment and Godly reasoning will always reveal the truth of them, but quite often, the temptations presented to us are a “Limited-Time Offer,” and we are presented with a choice before we’ve had time to seek the Lord about it and discern the long-term effects.

A temptation may be an act, or a person, place, or thing. Reasoning will bring us to this question: Will taking advantage of the temptation draw us closer to Jesus, or cause us to hide from Him, as Adam and Eve did? Remember, as soon as they ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, their eyes were immediately opened, and they knew they had sinned.

Take a moment here, and read Philippians 2:1-11. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” ~ Philippians 2:5