reviews

Do you know God for yourself, or do you listen to other’s reviews of God? Do you look to see if He got five out of five stars? When it comes to restaurants, I tend to shy away from reviews. Unless the testimonial comes from someone I know and trust. I have learned that people tend to write reviews if they have a bad experience. Especially when it comes to places of business that offer a service. For all I know, a good write up for a business could have been written by the owner!

There are as many reasons why someone rejects God as there are people. One man I know feels as if he would have to change how he is currently living, and he doesn’t want to. Another man stays away from God because he was assaulted (I was led to believe, sexually) by his minister when he was young. Some people even judge how those who “go to church” or call themselves, “Christians” live and decide they are just as good as them if not better and they may be. One lady told me God didn’t answer her prayer when she was a little girl and to her that meant there was no God. I had a family member who said he didn’t want to be told how to live his life. In other words, he thought accepting God meant you had to live by a church’s set of rules.

I could go on and list more reasons I have heard but the bottom line is the same. These individuals are rejecting God and His Son, Jesus Christ. What they fail to realize is this; when they stand before God, he will only be interested in them and if they know Him. They may try to list their grievances, but it won’t matter. You either accept God or reject him. God means life eternal, and no God means death for eternity.

When it comes to God, people will share their opinion totally based on their experience, much like leaving a review on Yelp*. If you base your decision to accept God or not on one’s opinion, then you very well could get mislead. So where does that leave you? The one true thing you can do to help you decide if you want to accept God or not is to read what He says about himself.

But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way,
    who can’t see where they’re going.
I’ll be a personal guide to them,
    directing them through unknown country.
I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take,
    make sure they don’t fall into the ditch.
These are the things I’ll be doing for them—
    sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute.”
¹⁷But those who invested in the no-gods
    are bankrupt—dead broke. Isa. 41:15-16 (MSG)

When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God, Isa. 43:2? (MSG)

God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love! Jer. 31:3 (MSG)

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18 (MSG)

A month ago I was the guest speaker at a writer’s group meeting. It was an honor, but this speaking engagement was different. You see with Covid-19 still a great risk, the group currently meets on-line. I had never done that before.

I was using my phone to attend the meeting, and the way it was set up, whoever was speaking is the person I viewed. The president of this group introduced me, so she was the last person I saw.

About 20 minutes into my talk, she gets up and goes elsewhere, leaving me with no one to look at while I was speaking. Normally, a speaker will scan the attendees, making eye contact, and looking for positive feedback at what is being said.

A few minutes later, she came back with a bowl of what looked like popcorn, and a drink. I thought, wow! now I know what it feels like to be a movie.

The truth is this; if you are open and outspoken about your faith, your relationship with God, then people are watching you. They listen to what you say, about current issues, our government leaders, and others around us. They watch how we respond to troubling times.

Would the people watching you give a positive review on “Rotten Tomatoes”? What if we had “Yelp” for humans? Would you, would I, receive a thumbs up, or down? Would people want to visit us after reading an accurate review on one of these platforms? Probably not, if it was negative.

“So I give you now a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you. For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you’re my true followers.”
John 13:34-35 The Passion Translation (TPT)

Jesus knew people will watch us, for they watched him. He was ever aware that he could only display the qualities of his father, God. Those would be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)

So be aware of this no matter where you are, whether at work, out and about, or at home. You want your life to be a movie people want to see over and over again.

brady, mark a.

Words to inspire you

God on Yelp*

Be the Movie