When Jesus was speaking once, someone pointed out that Moses had given them some rules about divorce. They implied that divorce was approved by God since Moses talked about it. Jesus said that it was not that way from the beginning.

How was it in the beginning? In the beginning there was a man. There were animals. There was not a woman. The man was all of humanity. One guy. There was God and the one man. God wanted the man to have a relationship with him. But God said, “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make one along side to help, one comparable to him.”

Why does God do this? If he wants the man to be his friend, why add another person? God gives him a choice. Does he do his best work when forming the woman? I think he did.

God is a completely unselfish being. That’s hard to believe, isn’t it? We have never met someone like that. He insists that each person be free to choose. If you don’t choose him, that is your choice. But he does want you to change your mind about him. He knows you have him all wrong.

That’s why he sent Jesus. Jesus is God but in our context. Some people thought he was doing bad. How could they see this good person as bad? It tells us two things about him: He could be mistaken for an ordinary guy. And that they saw him as someone who wanted to take their job. They liked being in charge of telling people how to behave. They even thought God would back them up. But Jesus came as one here to show how God really was.

Near the end of his life, someone close to Jesus asked him to show them God. Jesus talked about hima as The Father. This guy, Thomas, said to Jesus, “Show us the Father.” You might think Jesus would say, “You ask too much, Thomas.” Or, “He is invisible, I can’t.” But he looks at Thomas and says, “That is exactly what I have been doing. I have been showing you what the Father is like in reality. I have been behaving in just the way he wanted me to as a human like yourself.

Later, Thomas and others who had been close to Jesus for maybe three years or so, went around talking about Jesus to people. They became examples of guys who were with Jesus and knew what God was really like.

Back to Jesus saying, “It was not like this at the beginning.” He knew how things were supposed to be. He knew the intentions of God for human life on earth. He also knew that our reality was nothing like the original plan. But he went about explaining how it was supposed to be. Not only that, he offered a way to reconnect with God in a real way. He said, “I’m leaving. You won’t see me anymore. But there is even more to God than you realize. There is another who will help you. He will be with you at all times. It will be as though I am with each of you wherever you are.”

That someone is the Holy Spirit. He is with those who choose God to be in their lives. He helps people be like God in their character. Because they know how God really is (although they are continually learning more about him), they want to co-operate with him. And he helps them in a very real way.

God wants each of us to change our opinion of him. He wants us to believe what is true. He wants to make each of us into the best person we can be. The part that is ours is this: change your mind about God because he is not like you and I thought. And we are not what we should be. Something is wrong. And we can’t fix it. Even if we knew exactly what we want to be and tried our hardest to be that good person, we would fail. But with God’s help, we can begin to change into a better person. That new person is the real you. Hard to believe?

But it is up to you. God will not force you to do anything. You can ignore him. He can say he doesn’t exist.

But he has a door that is open to you. I would advise you to be good. Try and be a really good person. Don’t be satisfied with anything less than you being a wonderful, loving person. If you can do it without God’s help, then great. You don’t need him.

I mean, love others. Don’t be selfish. Don’t judge people. Treat them with respect. Don’t do things that are good for you but bad for them like steal their spouse. Or steal their stuff. Or lie about them and misrepresent yourself as better than you act.

You can check yourself from time to time and see if you live up to your own standards.

Unfortunately, if you do anything wrong, you will just have to forgive yourself since we are leaving God out of it. And if you are misunderstood or rejected, you will have to take a deep breath and go on being good.

Basically, you will become a great example to others. If they ask you how you do it, you can say, “Just try your best. Don’t give up. Find your strength within yourself.” Or something like that.

See how it goes. Don’t get discouraged. Believe in yourself. You are your own god.

Don’t cheat and ask God for help. The fact that he made you should not influence you. You know you are just an accident of nature. Don’t even ask yourself how you know good from bad. Also, do not spend time thinking about how complicated your body is. It just is. Don’t think about it.

Another thing, if you see something beautiful, don’t ask why it is beautiful or why you enjoy it. It just happened, okay. And you just happen to like beautiful things.

One last thing, do not think about how you can evaluate your own behavior. I mean, if you think, I could have done better in that situation, do not even consider how you would know that.

So, forget about the fact that you are conscious of being yourself. Forget that you somehow know right and wrong. Forget than you have this idea of a perfect person somewhere in you. And disregard your sense of beauty. Some things look good. You like the way they look. So, what? Doesn’t mean a thing. All accidental. Now go be that good person.

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“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”   Matthew 7:7‭-‬8 NIV

Who said this?  Jesus Christ. The person God sent to give us the best way of knowing God. And the simplicity of these statements and their balance tell us something about him. There is nothing hidden here. There is no need to look beneath the surface. There is no reason to misunderstand. The speech is straightforward and clear.

And the words are repeated in a different way to assure us that we heard it right. So, we can accept them without any doubt.

Ask and it will be given to you. There is only to admit need. He says ‘ask’, not beg, not petition, nothing but a simple request is required. 

What else is required? Only what is always required, believe in the power and goodness of God. Believe that God can and will give the good that you ask for. Jesus wants to fill us with confidence when we ask. He does not say “may be given” or “might be given”  but says, “will be given”.

And the words “to you” have intimacy in them. You ask God and he gives to you. It is between you and God. Your asking is heard by him and he responds to you directly. No one stands between you. There is no go-between in this relation of you and God. No one carries your message to God. He hears you.

Now what you ask for is not qualified. But we ask God. Let our asking be worthy of him. Let us not ask small. And let our asking be worthy of us as well. Let us ask our benefactor who has given us so much already, for something that is good, not something that will diminish us.

God can only give good and perfect gifts that are without repentance. Consider who we ask. Is it something another could give you? Is it a test request? If he gives me this, then I will ask my real request. No, ask with abandon. Ask with confidence. Did we not hear him? Ask wholeheartedly. Ask from your heart to God’s heart.

Listen to him repeat: Everyone who asks, receives. Do not doubt his goodness. To doubt his goodness is to doubt his Godness. And don’t qualify your request. Don’t include how or where or under what circumstances. Ask freely and trust him to answer you as he will.

But what if you want something that is not so easy to simply request? What if it is deeper? What if it will take something more from you? Seek. Yes, seek. Take on your quest. Begin with confidence. Seek and you will find. Be patient and don’t give up. Be cheerful and confident as you seek.

But what if there is an obstacle? What if the way is blocked? What if the door is closed? Don’t walk away. Knock. Is the door heavy? Does it seem very solid? Does it seem impossible to open? Knock and it will be opened. Be patient and expectant like God was while waiting for you to open your heart to him.

A closed door is forbidding. It may look like it will never open. But is there something good beyond this door? Then it will be opened. He did not say open the door yourself.  He said the door will be opened. The opening will be done by one able to open it. It will not be broken down but opened.

Every good gift comes from God. Your answer will be good. Your seeking will result in finding good. And when the door opens, you will not be disappointed. God cannot give bad gifts.

Look at what he has given. After thousands of years, his gifts continue to do good. An apple tree gives apples. Water quenches thirst.  He is thoughtful and wise. He wants to be asked by you. He wants you to have good. He wants to give you all good things.

Why don’t some have? Because they ask not. Or they ask small. They ask for so little from God. They don’t see his great heart. They ask like the prodigal. What the prodigal asked from his father was unworthy of him and his father. He asked too little. He asked too small. Let us ask large of our Father. Let us ask him for something great that continues, and not like the prodigal for something limited as if we wrested it from a reluctant giver. 

Ask like a son from a great Father. You will receive good from him.

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You have heard it said, “Here is a secret I learned,” or “The secret is…”. There are secret societies. There are secret codes. But I tell you that God has no secrets that he wants to keep.

Do you think God has some dark secrets he is keeping from us? He does not. There is no darkness in him to keep them. His place is light with no darkness at all. He wants to reveal all to us. But we may become blinded by that great light.

God is the revealer of secrets not the keeper of them. It is written, ‘In the fullness of time, God sent his son.’ Was the son of God a secret? No, he had been revealing him since the beginning. Adam talked to him. Enoch walked with him. Abram ate with him.

God wanted to reveal his nature through his son. This close interaction with men began as soon as possible. God revealed as much as he could now that men understood sacrifice and sin. Jesus showed that God wanted to bless people as he did from the beginning.

He did not judge but showed kindness to all. He came as a teacher. He called disciples. Men understood this practice. At the end, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This is God’s greatest gift. To impart his goodness deep within us. This will change us only if we are willing. He empowers us to do good as he does.

God wants to reveal all secrets to his children. There is nothing he wants to hide. But we must let the Spirit produce fruit in us. As we let the Spirit work, we will learn more and more of him. We will learn Jesus. All things have been given to him. Living as he did, and does even now, we share all that he has.

God wants to give us much but our hands are too small. You would not make a child carry something too heavy. And our hands must be holy or they will burn at the touch of his wealth. Now, holiness really means that our hands must be empty of other things to handle the gifts of God.

How can we begin? God is rich in mercy. Empty your hands of judgement and show mercy. Don’t carry about a hard heart but show kindness. Now we are handling God’s riches. Do you think he won’t help us? And as we give out, we are refilled. To him that has, more will be given. Give that which you have and you make room for more. And make it a point to forgive. This makes room for God’s forgiveness to pour into us.

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Can you prove God?

First, we must realize that God needs no proof. God is God and was God and will be God. He is not worried about his reputation and he knows a lot of lies have been spread about him. Sometimes, by well-meaning people.

Second, everything proves God. All that exists proves God and needs no voice added to prove God exists.

Third, man proves God. Just be existing, you and I prove God. We are self-conscious beings with a moral sense. More than that, we have a sense of the ideal and appreciate beauty.

Fourth, we prove God in that we desire something more than we have. We believe in something more than we see. We have a sense of wonder. This tells us that we have, at the least, a spiritual potential.

Have you ever wanted to change yourself? I don’t mean change your habits. That may improve something but it does not really change you.

Some tell us, “Just be yourself.” This sounds great until we look at ourselves more closely. Maybe we hate. So “be yourself” means hate some people. Or we are jealous. Then “be yourself” means you should envy other people and want what they have!

Oh, that doesn’t sound quite so good. Let’s try, “Be your best self.” Use all your abilities to be a great human being. Overcome all bad inclinations by being good all the time. Well, now we are finished. We have a simple plan: be good.

Have you tried it? Have you tried being good all the time? To really do this, you need a flow of goodness inside you. You need to have goodness filling you up so much, it has to escape in good behavior. You need your very being to be good. And this goodness must be self-sustaining and internally generated by you. Otherwise, being good is going to be a lot of work. You need to be so good, doing good comes naturally.

On top of this, you will be misunderstood at times and must meet adverse reactions with patience. And some won’t appreciate you at times and you will again have to draw on your inner goodness to go happily on when ignored or even criticized. We are all set now. Ready? Go!

You can stop reading here.

You didn’t stop. Maybe we need a different philosophy entirely. What about , “Enjoy Yourself?” That sounds good. Just enjoy yourself. Self. Hmmm. That seems to be the problem sometimes. Our self can be really selfish. In fact, if we think about it, many of our problems come from our selfish self. Our self-consciousness is a little too self-conscious. Our conscience is a little too moral to suit us. Can we truly just enjoy our self?

Imagine it’s just you, alone. Time stops and you don’t need anything. It’s just you and no one else. Can you enjoy yourself?

You know, that is a weird thing about self-consciousness. We seem to be two people. There is an internal conflict of some sort. One part says, “I want to do this.” Another part says, “You better not.” The first part says, “Why not?” The second says, “It’s not right,” or “You will get in trouble,” or “That is unwise because the result may be bad.” 

Now the conscience can be shouted down. “Great, it seems to have gone. Who needs a conscience anyway.” Silenced, it may be, but gone? Not a chance. Like someone you owe money, it shows up at the worst time. And to keep it under control, You have to be more and more selfish. Your iron grip becomes: Me First at all times. 

But the conscience will not compromise with you. It will be silent, sure, but it won’t approve. It won’t call bad, good. Again, imagine that forever with a conscience that says, “I told you so.”

Now, try and enjoy yourself. Which self? The moral one or the other me? Wait, we are both together. This is what self-consciousness means. And to be free from morality means to slowly spiral down into becoming your worst self.

Yes, given enough time, you would become the worst. But you don’t get that much time. And look how bad some people get in that 70 years or so. Imagine them having 700 years to continue their bad behavior.

You know, your choice here on earth is to become really good or really bad. Hard to believe? We have explored two ideas: “Be your best self,” and “Enjoy yourself.” C’mon, there must be a middle ground, you say. No, I’m afraid not. It’s gotta be this or that.

Whether you believe it or not, you are a created being. Ask your parents. Ask them if they thought you up and created you. You certainly didn’t create your own body. You’d remember doing that.

If you find this kind of talk boring, then fine, forget all about it. You evolved. You became a sentient being by accident. It all just happened. Earth is just full of life and air and water and just the right distance from that star we call our sun by accident. And all this means that all this means whatever you want it to mean.

But somehow, we have become detached from the source of all this life. Something is missing. We need something more!

Can you be reconnected? Well, you may be closer than you think. If you’re unsatisfied with yourself, there is good news. Your awareness or admission is the first step. Now the second step is called “a leap” by some, usually because they never took it. It is not a leap at all. It is like going home to where you really live.

It’s like finding out you were adopted but you have a real birth family as well.

We don’t know God very well so he wanted to clear up all the wrong stuff about him by sending the one guy who knows him best, his son.

Yeah, him. Jesus answers all the tough questions about life. What is the ideal person like? Can we live without God? How do you keep going in the face of rejection? Where does the power to be good come from? And, ready? What does an unselfish person look like?

And he says two things:
Believe God sent me.
Follow me.

That’s it. To connect with God, we say, “I’m wrong and you’re right.” But then he begins to transform our wrongness into rightness. Are you willing to trade selfishness for selflessness? Your true self will be delighted in this. In fact, you can only really find yourself by losing your selfish self. Then you begin to become your best self, your true self.

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