Tonight, I was reflecting on what some (condescending) people say:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you need religion, it\u2019s ok for you\u201d or:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReligion is good for those who need it\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seriously? If you\u2019re an ex-addict who has met Jesus, you know how ludicrous these sorts of statements are. Religion? Easier? Really?\u00a0<\/p>\n
First off: religion can\u2019t help *anyone*. Religion is a man-based system of rules to help people think better of themselves. From Atheism to Islam, religions simply deceive People into believing their perception of morality is correct and that they are *good*.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second: if you\u2019ve met Jesus & know what He He wants from you (to live differently)\u2026life is *far* harder at times. He calls us to live without medication, whether it be food, drugs, alcohol, success etc. He calls us to love & forgive people, to serve them even if they use or mistreat you. And let\u2019s face it – they do. A LOT!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of escaping of avoiding or ignoring or minimising or medicating, Jesus calls us to front up, address, forgive, experience and walk in love with everybody – even those who hate or attack us.<\/p>\n
For people who have lived a life of escaping, made it a habit to avoid these painful feelings, this is *very* hard. Far from Jesus being a \u2018crutch\u2019, Jesus is the example for those who are ready to grow up, to address and deal with the more difficult aspects of life.<\/p>\n
As He was dying, tortured, bleeding and and in agony (even though innocent), He cried out:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u201cFather forgive them, for they don\u2019t know what they are doing!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Sounds like a weakling who needs support and a \u2018crutch\u2019 right?!! No, far from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here, the only Son of God, was being tortured and killed for things He did not do, had the power & authority to walk away from the cross. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Did He run away? \u00a0Deny the charges? Or command angels to rescue Him? Destroy the Romans?<\/p>\n
No. He willingly submitted to is treatment, rejections, torture and then death. Not for His good, but for you and me. So that we would not have to face God with our sin & suffer the deserved punishment. You still can – don\u2019t get me wrong – ignore what Jesus offers & you will still get to experience judgment & hell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But you don\u2019t have to. Not only can you go free because of what Jesus did – you can also be part of God\u2019s family & experience His life *today*. Why wait?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Far harder, far more painful, much more unpredictable – but secure and never lonely. The Creator of the Universe will be with you! Forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lord, help us in our struggles, make us aware of your presence through the valley but more than that, reveal Yourself to those who look down on us. May they experience the wonder of Your love. Today!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tonight, I was reflecting on what some (condescending) people say:\u00a0 \u201cIf you need religion, it\u2019s ok for you\u201d or:\u00a0 \u201cReligion is good for those who need it\u201d\u00a0 Seriously? If you\u2019re an ex-addict who has met Jesus, you know how ludicrous these sorts of statements are. Religion? Easier? Really?\u00a0 First off: religion can\u2019t help *anyone*. Religion is a man-based system of rules to help people think better of themselves. From Atheism to Islam, religions simply deceive People into believing their perception of morality is correct and that they are *good*.\u00a0 Second: if you\u2019ve met Jesus & know what He He wants …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[67,154],"class_list":["post-1821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-thought","tag-addiction","tag-encrouragement"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/JESUS-my-crutch-religion-is-useless-without-Jesus.jpg?fit=1024%2C1310&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pasDCW-tn","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1822,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions\/1822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}