Sayings Of Samuel Godfrey George - May 2016, Part 2

God created everything. God created Lucifer. When Lucifer was created, he was perfect. But one day evil was found in him. And his evil spread to one-third of his fellow angels. And from Lucifer, evil was transmitted to the first man Adam, and through Adam, the entire world was affected with evil. So can it then be said that God is the author of evil? God is the creator of Lucifer, yet not the creator of Lucifer's evil. Lucifer alone authored his evil. His evil resulted from ambition and greed. The fruit of his evil is revolt. He revolted against God and his ways, and his revolt is ongoing. When God says that he authored both light and darkness in Isaiah 45:7, he is saying that both good and evil are under his control. Lucifer is under God's control. The devil cannot do anything without being allowed by God. Ultimately God controls everything, so he is the one from whom light and darkness proceed. This does not implicate God as the author of evil, but it certainly places him as the controller of everything, both good and evil. Yet God is not evil. John says categorically that God is light and is without darkness. And we are further told that God is love. So, for us to believe that God is the creator of evil or is evil himself is to negate the statements of John, the apostle of Jesus Christ. And if we do that we will cease to be believers in Christ.

It is he who restrains himself, who is most deserving of your attention. And it is he who is least willing to inconvenience you, who is the best reason for you to inconvenience yourself.

Bluntness may appear attractive. But if it does not serve the purpose of making another person correct his mistake, it is of no use. In addition, if it causes injury to another person, it is most unhelpful. It is best to speak sensitively, as gentleness is a fruit of God.

If only God had said, "Don't worry about sin. I have taken care of it. Only be mindful of its harmful effects", it would have been a great consolation to those who have nearly lost their sanity over their obsession with sin. Sin must be understood and avoided. It should not be feared, and certainly should not be the cause of terrible despair in life. The Bible is lamentably not clear about this, and it takes years for a person to work out the actual truth.

What shall I do with do with the half messengers of light? Should I entertain only the full messengers and discard the half messengers? Should I not feed from light wherever I find it? One is not given all the light. One is given only some of the light. Light is beyond complete understanding and retention. We may find light only here and there. And when we find it we should not reject it.

No surprise lurks under the cover. Peel away the cloth covering and the body underneath is unsurprising. What God made then he still makes. The human body is not unlimited in its appeal. Once you have seen it in its many shapes, sizes and colours, there is nothing more to see. Once you have experienced its many textures and smells there is nothing more to experience. Those who seek to unlock the delights of the human body should soon curtail their efforts. For there is nothing, truly nothing in a human body worthy of a life-long, all-consuming devotion.

The wealth one amasses weighs one down. Beyond a point wealth turns into a burden. With wealth comes the responsibility for its management. It is impossible to manage wealth, for wealth finds a way to manage its possessor. Money masters the money lover and makes him endlessly desire it. In this slavery there is no joy. For no amount of money is enough, so it is always less than enough. The desire intensifies to madness. The madness culminates in total darkness.

The love for power is an endless pain. Will a little control be enough? The one who has learned to control will not want to relinquish control. He who unleashes power will not want to relent. The power seeker is doomed never to find contentment. The more he acquires the more he finds lacking. What he lacks he will seek at any cost. He shall walk on hearts and snuff out lives. He shall pay the bloodiest price to climb the ladder of power.

Don't run away from what scares you. Don't turn away from what tempts you. Face your fear and go through your temptation, knowing that God is at your side, and even inside you. His strength shall see you through.

When Saint Paul told us to flee evil, he did not tell us to run away from evil in fear. We should not run away from evil. We should confront it in the strength of Jesus Christ and defeat it. When we run away from evil, we acknowledge that evil is more powerful than we are. The truth is that we, who are in Christ, are more powerful than the forces of evil. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. We are more than conquerors in Christ. So let us act as conquerors and confront evil and defy it in the power of God. When Saint Paul told us to flee from evil, he told us to walk away from evil deeds in the power of Christ.

We should question and test everything. No knowledge is as satisfactory as that which is proven in experience.

"It is good to be positive", they say. For good things happen to positive people. Does that mean good things will not happen to negative people? Some negative people outlive the positive. Some negative people enjoy far more than positive people do. Some negative people have created philosophies from their negativity. Some negative people have made a ton of money with their negative prognostications. Is the negative then really undesirable?

Sometimes God seems distant from us, though He is really quite near. Our prayers don't seem to reach Him, though He actually hears them. Yet His apparent silence and inactivity send the wrong signals to us. So we must persevere in faith and expect Him to intervene and save, though there seems to be little hope of that happening.

To unlearn is to relearn without former mistakes.

Why do I continue to make videos that have little or no profit for me? This is a question that reveals much.

The human body is a beautiful creation of God. The naked body is nothing to be ashamed of. But shame comes from the knowledge of our inner corruption. In our minds, we have corrupted what is beautiful, and made it ugly in our eyes.

God does not prohibit pleasure when it is good. For that is the kind of joy that God designed this life for. But God is certainly against the pleasure that promises more than it delivers. Such pleasure will surely wreck the one who experiences it. It is against this pleasure that God is decidedly against.

An honest sinner is more in God's territory than a lying saint.

We cannot connect with God without honesty.

As long as we pray less and discuss more, we will continue to have our problems with us.

There is a price to be paid for every curse that we utter. Conversely there is a reward to be received for every blessing that we speak.

Why did Jesus tell us to bless those who curse us? When we bless those who curse us, we render powerless those curses that were uttered to us. When we bless the one who cursed us, we do something that ultimately benefits us.

Let’s savour the good things of God. Let’s say to God, “You have done well.” And we’re not lying when we say that because God has done well. He has done well with this world. He has done well with us. If we can sit here and acknowledge the goodness of God, surely God has accomplished his purpose. Yes.

You can speak volumes about Jesus love. Or you can serve someone, and be the best friend that you can to that person.

Sayings Of Samuel Godfrey George - May 2016, Part 1

May all mothers rejoice in their great ability to love. Their love is an expression of God's love for his children. May mothers continue to express love. May children be grateful for their mothers' love and celebrate their mothers every day.

I wish all mothers could be seen as friends by their children. But there are mothers who are not perceived like that. Many mothers are great care-givers and lovers without being intimately connected with their children. Many people are not comfortable with revealing their innermost thoughts and desires to their mothers and fathers. It is the rare parent who transcends the parental boundaries, and enters into the realm of friendship. It has been said that there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. I will dare to say that there is a friend who sticks closer than even a mother.

Thank you God for my mother. Thank you God for all mothers. Thank you God for loving us so much, and we see your love in the love of our mothers.

I remember all mothers today. Every mother has done a lot for her child. Every mother has done a lot for her children. Mothers are the great care-givers of the world. Mothers are the great lovers of the world. There is no love in the world as sweet as mother's love. And we, the people of this world, should not fail to give thanks to our mothers, not only today, on Mother's Day, but also every day of our lives. We should give thanks to God for our mothers every day of our lives.

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The man who is believed to have written these words, himself departed from his father's teaching. Solomon was not half the man that David was. And David himself was half a man of God. Life is tough and treacherous. I would like to have had a child. I would have loved to hear my child call me "Dad". The privilege of hearing that alone is enough for me. Ultimately, the joy in parenting is about expectations. Expect nothing, and you may have everything. Expect everything, and you may have nothing. Be grateful for even the little things. Then nothing can upset you. But insist on everything being what you want it to be. Then everything can potentially disappoint you.

No joy is pure joy on earth. All joy is alloyed with sadness. All joy allows for heartbreak. So take care with joy. Enjoy with care.

A good day to all God's children. Whatever you are going through today, know this. God loves you. And he is with you always. So walk boldly and happily today.

Give thanks to God when you have to. In fact, give thanks to God always. Nothing is possible without him ever.

Don't focus on the offender. You show love. And love conquers all.

We should acknowledge our need of God every day. This is the meaning of weakness. And this is what Saint Paul was referring to when he said, "When I am weak, then I am strong." He meant that when he acknowledged his need of God, it prompted him to seek God, and God responded to him by granting him strength graciously. And since God's gracious help is always sufficient, Paul could triumph every time he was in trouble, because of his human weakness.

With God all good things are possible. Without God no good thing is possible.

We should be more concerned with our own faults than with those of others. For every fault we may find in another there may be two in us, which we must attend to.

Sometimes it takes just one prayer from one person, who does not believe so much. God particularly pays attention to the lost son's inarticulate pleading.

If you are living with an unbeliever, I think God wants you to stay with this person, so that you may learn to love him. You should love him despite his faults. You should accept him just as he is. You should be Christ to him. And maybe then he will believe.

God knows how to reach out to people. I hope the overzealous servants of God don't stand in the way of that. Even then, God will have his chosen ones.

The one you are worrying about may be closer to Christ than you think. Don't estimate the inner condition of a human. No person is equipped to do that. And one more thing. Don't believe that you are in a better place than someone. That kind of thinking will not please God.

You should not try to make anyone believe in Jesus Christ. You should show Christ in the way you live. And if people see Christ in you, and if they like what they see, they will go where you would like them to go.

Even Jesus Christ had to endure religious fools. There is little hope for the Jesus follower who wants to avoid that fate.

To say that a man does not belong to God because he denies God can be a misjudgement. Even I denied God once. Now I cannot deny him, even if I try. Some of us already belong to God without our knowing it.

There is a great danger of following Christ to the letter, without knowing his heart. And his heart is love. When you know his love, and receive it, in all your unworthiness, you will be transformed into a new person. That is a part of being born again.

The idea of being born again came from God. But the label "born-again Christian" came from Man. Spiritual birth is what takes us to God. Yet to classify ourselves as "spiritually born" could be an exercise in distinguishing ourselves from others. Such an attempt is both unnecessary and unhelpful. Everyone who belongs to God is born again.

Sometimes the best thing an ardent Christian can do for his unbelieving neighbour is to leave him alone.

Don't give up on anyone. For God will not give up on you.

Always aim to see the other person as God see him or her. Ask God to show you how. And learn to accept people just as they are. Learn to love the one you will normally hate. Learn to bless the person whom you will normally curse.

Don't try to change people to be like who you are. Accept them the way they are. And do your best for them. That is love.

True worship is to experience thankfulness and then express it simply without exaggeration and insincerity.

Every time I doubt the existence of God, I should think of how I was led to meet my father just before his death. A most disturbing dream impelled me to meet my father and do something uncharacteristic. I, who was at loggerheads with my father nearly all my life, was finally moved to apologize to him for my many faults. This humbling must have given him some relief. It surely gave me relief from my guilt, which had I not apologized would have been unbearable. He gave me his blessing before the end. So every time I wonder whether God is real, I should ask myself, "How did I meet my father just before his death? What made me say the words that freed both of us from the yoke of discord? This cannot be just a fortuitous event."

When you have God living in you, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Where the Lord dwells is indeed a holy place. And he dwells in you. So don't be ashamed of what you find in yourself. The Lord can accept it. Why can't you?

Knowing my own weakness is crucial to my knowing where my strength comes from. And my strength comes from God.

My goal is this: as long as I am alive and am able, I will do whatever I can to bring out the good in me, as a tribute to God who points me to the good and for the benefit of those in the world who may need my good.

When we worry, we waste time and energy. Instead of worrying we could do something good that would bring benefit to our lives or to another person's life.

Is God waiting to punish people in this world? The answer to the question lies in the story of the prodigal son, which Jesus told in the Bible. This is the story of a man who longs for the return of his rebellious son. And when that son returns to his father defeated and repentant, that father is already waiting and ready to receive him and restore him to his position in the family. The forgiving father, brimming with gracious love, is the representation of God, and the sinful, prodigal son, who disgraced himself thoroughly, is the representation of the sin-ridden humanity. If the human father in Jesus' story could forgive his son, so could the divine father forgive every human child, who returns to him with a heart laden with remorse.

It is perilous, this business of correcting others. We will do better correcting our own mistakes. More grace is required for that. Moreover, this is what pleases God. He wants us to inspire others simply by the way we care about ourselves.

We should be more concerned with our own faults than with those of others. For every fault we may find in another there may be two in us, which we must attend to.

Sometimes it takes just one prayer from one person, who does not believe so much. God particularly pays attention to the lost son's inarticulate pleading.

If you are living with an unbeliever, I think God wants you to stay with this person, so that you may learn to love him. You should love him despite his faults. You should accept him just as he is. You should be Christ to him. And maybe then he will believe.

God knows how to reach out to people. I hope the overzealous servants of God don't stand in the way of that. Even then, God will have his chosen ones.

The one you are worrying about may be closer to Christ than you think. Don't estimate the inner condition of a human. No person is equipped to do that. And one more thing. Don't believe that you are in a better place than someone. That kind of thinking will not please God.

You should not try to make anyone believe in Jesus Christ. You should show Christ in the way you live. And if people see Christ in you, and if they like what they see, they will go where you would like them to go.

Even Jesus Christ had to endure religious fools. There is little hope for the Jesus follower who wants to avoid that fate.

To say that a man does not belong to God because he denies God can be a misjudgement. Even I denied God once. Now I cannot deny him, even if I try. Some of us already belong to God without our knowing it.

There is a great danger of following Christ to the letter, without knowing his heart. And his heart is love. When you know his love, and receive it, in all your unworthiness, you will be transformed into a new person. That is a part of being born again.

The idea of being born again came from God. But the label "born-again Christian" came from Man. Spiritual birth is what takes us to God. Yet to classify ourselves as "spiritually born" could be an exercise in distinguishing ourselves from others. Such an attempt is both unnecessary and unhelpful. Everyone who belongs to God is born again.

Sometimes the best thing an ardent Christian can do for his unbelieving neighbour is to leave him alone.

Don't give up on anyone. For God will not give up on you.

Always aim to see the other person as God see him or her. Ask God to show you how. And learn to accept people just as they are. Learn to love the one you will normally hate. Learn to bless the person whom you will normally curse.

Don't try to change people to be like who you are. Accept them the way they are. And do your best for them. That is love.

True worship is to experience thankfulness and then express it simply without exaggeration and insincerity.

Celebrate your mother while she is still with you.

Every time I doubt the existence of God, I should think of how I was led to meet my father just before his death. A most disturbing dream impelled me to meet my father and do something uncharacteristic. I, who was at loggerheads with my father nearly all my life, was finally moved to apologize to him for my many faults. This humbling must have given him some relief. It surely gave me relief from my guilt, which had I not apologized would have been unbearable. He gave me his blessing before the end. So every time I wonder whether God is real, I should ask myself, "How did I meet my father just before his death? What made me say the words that freed both of us from the yoke of discord? This cannot be just a fortuitous event."

When you have God living in you, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Where the Lord dwells is indeed a holy place. And he dwells in you. So don't be ashamed of what you find in yourself. The Lord can accept it. Why can't you?

Knowing my own weakness is crucial to my knowing where my strength comes from. And my strength comes from God.

My goal is this: as long as I am alive and am able, I will do whatever I can to bring out the good in me, as a tribute to God who points me to the good and for the benefit of those in the world who may need my good.

When we worry, we waste time and energy. Instead of worrying we could do something good that would bring benefit to our lives or to another person's life.

Sayings Of Samuel Godfrey George - April 2016, Part 2

Seeking the Lord always, seeking his face always - this is the key to our living well.

A pure heart is a gift from God. No human has it at any point in time. Purity, if possible, is only in Christ.

God is stronger than some people imagine him to be. He knows human nature thoroughly, and he is no longer shocked by it. There was a time when he was revolted by the depravity of the human heart. But God is no longer surprised by human misbehaviour. In any case his love is stronger than any human sin, and can overwhelm any depravity that the heart can think of. God is not quite the Victorian prude or the Puritan of the pre-restoration times. He is also not identical to the moral police of this day. He created the human. So he knows what the human is all about. Sin is indeed offensive to God. But he is also very aware of sin and sinners. One third of his angelic sons, were led astray by one extraordinary angel that God himself lovingly created. Human sins cannot hold a candle to angelic rebellion. Also God has paid the required price to erase the guilt of Man.

No good parent withholds forgiveness from his or her child because that child has not yet asked for forgiveness. I believe the God of the Bible can do better than a good human parent. And in fact, he has done that already. When Jesus Christ was nailed on the cross thousands of years ago, it was for one purpose only - to pay for the sins of humanity. When the payment was made, forgiveness was granted. Now what humans ought to do is not to doubt that forgiveness, and believe that they can merit it by asking penitently for it. They should just receive it gladly and boldly.

Who insincerely asks God for forgiveness? Such an act if possible, is a terribly self-defeating one. Only a great fool will be guilty of that. Still God is more tolerant than most human beings give him credit for. He is willing to forgive even without being asked. Jesus forgave his killers, because they didn't know what they were doing. God does take human ignorance and moral bankruptcy into account, when he chooses to forgive. Those who even think of asking God for forgiveness are those in whom remorse has already planted its seed. Finally those who ask God to forgive them do so with the help of God. No repentance or remorse is man-made.

When a man wonders whether God would forgive him for his past misdeeds, he is surely at the threshold of repentance. No unbeliever or godless person ever wonders like that.

Do you have to ask God for forgiveness to be forgiven? Does your child need to ask for your forgiveness so that he or she may receive it? Do you normally harbour unforgiveness in your heart before someone asks you to forgive him or her? Did Jesus Christ wait for his killers to ask for his forgiveness, before he pleaded with his Father to forgive them? Did he wait for people to ask for his forgiveness, before he forgave them in the accounts we read in the Bible? True, repentance is a divine requirement. But repentance itself is a grace from God. It is not humanly produced. What a human needs to do is to recognize his need of God and take a step towards him. And then God will move forward, and the rest will follow in God's timing and working.

Prayer may not be enough. You should show that you care by doing something about it, if you can.

Be encouraged. There are some who are fighting the same battle. God is for us. And though it may look terrible, we are already victors. And no matter how many times we fail, we have already triumphed in Christ. Stand firm in this.

Christians reveal Christ to the world. Christ is God. And God is love. But when the world looks at Christians does it see love? Or does it see bigotry and hatred and petty narrow-mindedness and ridiculous in-fighting? Does it see a community that is willing to love the marginalized and the downtrodden? Will Christianity welcome the criminal and the prostitute? Will it be a haven for all those who have committed unspeakable acts of sin? As an observer of the world, I see Christians likely to be more unlike Christ than like him. And when people see Christians they are likely to see a degraded Christ incapable of grace. And that is putting it mildly.

Learning is an act of humbling, sometimes great humbling, and a disarming loss of pride.

You are a great person in Christ. When you know that, you will feel a lot better.

If God be for us, who can be against us? Don't be afraid. Just believe. We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.

Satan is near the person who seeks God. Satan is always near those who trust in God. And Satan will do all that he can to destroy their trust in God. Don't be surprised by your temptation to disbelieve in God. It comes from Satan. And he will not tire of offering that temptation time and again.

If you think God is like people, who say they will forgive, but will not, then you will expect God to be the same. But God is not like man. When he says he will forgive, he will forgive. He has forgiven us of all sins already. All our sins have already been paid for. There is no other payment to be made. Your sins are forgiven. All that remains for you to do is to accept that forgiveness, and accept your privileged position as a child of God. Will you dare to believe in the forgiveness of God today? Or will you cringe in unbelief and treat God as a liar? It is a decision that will determine the quality of your life in the long run.

"Does God hate me because I fail so often? Does God want me to fail? Is God good to me? He seems to be good to others. He claims to be good. But he does not do good. He does bad. He has been bad to me. God's word is false. He is a liar." This is the testimony of some people. This is the conclusion of those who have failed badly after trusting in God. Such assessments do exist. In fact, almost all people experience disappointment with God. The question really is, "What do we do with this disappointment? Shall we let it lead us to unbelief and denial of God and his truths? If we do so, it is my belief that we are making a hasty and unwise decision. God is our Maker and the shaper of our destinies. It is never a good thing to be at odds with him. Everyone who has received the blessing of God has paid a price for it. Jacob paid it with his hip joint. Joseph paid it with many years in an Egyptian jail for a crime he did not even commit. David paid it by running away for many years from a king who was intent on killing him. Which man of God received his blessing without pain and suffering? Ask this question before you dismiss God from your life today.

When you face your fears, and not run away like a coward, you know what it is that frightens you. And when you know it well enough, you will be not frightened by it anymore.

The Lord speaks in our hearts. His assessment is more valuable than any human criticism, however worthy it may be.

So what should our response to life be, we who follow and worship God? How do we respond to an unfair life? Though life may be unfair, let us treat one another fairly. Let us show fairness despite the unfairness of life. We the children of God seek his order and fairness. Let us learn from God. Let us learn to treat one another as God treats us. So despite the unfairness of life let us treat one another fairly. Let us love one another and care for one another, because God loves us and cares for us. Let us not look at life and imitate its unfairness. Let us look at God and imitate his love and fairness. This will not be easy. We will have to know God. We will have to receive his love. Once we taste his love, we will be transformed by it. We will begin to love and we will begin to care.

Life is unfair. But it is not deliberately unfair. Life is not conspiring against those who are living. Life is the way it is because of a certain decision a human being made at the very beginning of history. A certain human being disobeyed God and bore the consequences of that disobedience. Not only did he bear those consequences, but all his descendants including us have also borne these consequences, and will continue to bear them. When the first human disobeyed God, he was sentenced to death. God pronounced the curse of death. With death came decay. Not only man, but all living creatures are also in a state of disorder.

Life is so tough that we cannot live it without God. It is to know him and to receive his love that we are alive. We just don’t receive his love and do nothing about it. We share it with everyone. We want everyone to know that there is a God, and that he loves us and cares for us. We can go to him with our problems. Life is tough. We need God’s help with everything. There is nothing we can do on our own. Let us seek him today. Let us ask him to help us. Life is tough. We need God.

God created us because he wanted to love us. God is a Creator who creates out of love. And we are the created beings. We are created to know God and to receive his love. And when we receive his love, we receive God in his totality. When we receive his love, we are enabled to be like him. When we receive his love, we learn to deal with one other.

God is the one who gives life. It is his life that we are experiencing now. It is his breath that keeps us living. Our very breath testifies to a living God. It is the belief of all those who are enlightened by God, that life is not something that happened without any reason. Life came from God for a certain purpose. What is that purpose? Some may think, “What purpose is there in life? Aren’t we here just to survive? Aren’t we here to take care of ourselves?” This is what I think. God has given us life, so that we may live for him. But to live for him, we need to know him. The purpose of life is to know God and to live for him. The purpose is to know the One who gave us life, and to find out this Person who is the reason behind our existence. He is God. And God is presented in the Bible as the Creator of all life forms. More than that, he is the Creator of the universe. In personal terms, he is my Creator. He is your Creator. He is everyone’s Creator.

Life is so tough that one cannot live on one’s own. Life is so tough that one needs the help of God. People live their lives. But not all of them live well. To live well one needs God. When a person is enlightened, he or she knows, that life is not accidental. Life is not just what happens. He or she will know that life is a gift from God.

Let us not see the sacred in a holy book. Let us see the sacred in each and every one of us. including ourselves.