Mike,

What is it I have said in this post below? I have said we need to help other people. We need to do this first. We do this because of Jesus. And it is God who will provide everything we need in this world.

What part of that statement are you in disagreement with?

And why are you so angry at me for writing a post which has at it's heart one message: love (and a full-on application of that love directed to God, to people, in love)

?? What are you angry about?

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin



>Rick, I have been keeping my mouth shut with you. This time I am going to make an exception. Thursday evening I went to the funeral of a woman I knew in Chicago, the mom of two of my daughters' friends. She was Catholic and very active in the parish. She just didn't run around talking about it. She knew I am agnostic and treated me as well as she treated everyone else, which is to say in the spirit of Jesus Christ. I mention only in passing that there were over a thousand people at her funeral.
>
>
>>Continued from Message ID: 1572688
>>
>>
>>------------------------
>>>Today I feel we find ourselves in a programming mess...
>>
>>There's a way out. The door is labeled very clearly. We need only walk through it, never looking back and ... problem solved.
>>
>>What is the door?
>>It's God's forever model:
>>"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness, and all these things [a person's needs] will be added unto you."
>>
>>Meaning:
>>We have a place in this world. Every one of us was created, hand-made, placed purposely, for a reason. Our lives are not our own, and we are to follow after our Lord, seeking to benefit others before ourself, yet in that way we also always benefit ourself.
>>
>>We need to meet others at the point of their needs, and when we do this everyone grows together.
>>
>>We need to seek to better others first, and then it is a fully natural side-effect that we also increase as a result.
>>
>>And it is always God who provides the increase when we seek Him first in our lives. He does this because of His nature: He is literal life.
>>
>>
>>Bottom line:
>>If everybody sought to help everybody else first, then none of us would have any needs whatsoever. This is world-wide. All of us, everywhere, would be filled and satisfied. The one true God has given us a world, even one which He cursed to grow thorns and thistles (the result of man's sin), which yields more than enough for everybody when we all come together and help each other out. Imagine what Heaven is like, with trees yielding their harvest every 30 days, and leaves healing the nations.
>>
>>God is an abundant God.
>>Jesus is life.
>>There are no barriers with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. No barriers.
>>
>>It is only sin, men wielding a closed, self-seeking, proprietary, money-based, empire-building mindset that keeps us all pinned down. This mindset is introduced, fostered, and encouraged by the enemy of God, the enemy of every one of us, the enemy of this world, and is taking the world over because of sin. People do not want to do what's right, they do not want to seek the truth because of sin. As a result, they are lazy, and unwilling to stand up for what's right, investing the time and effort necessary to do it correctly, in the manner they know deep down using that which they have been endowed with by God( special gifts and abilities unique to their surroundings). Rather than giving in love, in sin they seek their own personal gain, and to the detriment and destruction of all.
>>
>>The ways of doing it right seem hard, but that is only because we have a powerful enemy working against us, and we, in sin, follow after his draws and pulls rather than seeking after the Truth, seeking after God. Were we to seek after God, the enemy would have no influence over us whatsoever. We would stand up for God with our lives, and then it would not be us fighting against the enemy, but God living in us fighting Him. This is the nature of the "spiritual battle" which is taking place. This invisible mindset dominating men's thoughts, feelings, activities, because of the influence of sin and an enemy that preys upon our weak flesh. We must turn to God, who is Spirit, and seek Him in our lives, in our hearts, and run in it with the fullness of our being.
>>
>>God is true.
>>God is right.
>>God is always loving.
>>And God's model works. It was the original, perfect model, the one man turned his back on.
>>
>>Still, even today, nothing was created by accident.
>>God has a plan for each and every one of us.
>>Every component was laid out for a purpose (if we'll listen to Him and obey His call in our life).
>>And Jesus is life. The restorer. The bridge between sinful man, and perfect eternal God.
>>Without Jesus ... we only wallow in sin.
>>With Jesus, we are made free by His very nature.
>>
>>By seeking God first, and giving of ourselves unto others, all needs are met because it is God at work, not us. It's what Jesus did at the cross ... gave of Himself for our needs. And what did we receive as a result of His giving? An eternity restored to be with God forever, as He is, in Heaven.
>>
>>God's model works.
>>It is the only model that works.
>>It is the solution for every issue we have in this world.
>>Because the entirety of the world was made by God, including each and every one of us.
>>
>>"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you."