NEEDING...

OOPS! I typed in the title and hit enter and it published the title by itself...I still don't remember all I need to do when I need to do it. So if I goof again, just bear with me...I AM getting old!

My thoughts on "needing others, needing things, needing activities" are not new thoughts, only revisited thoughts. We all were created for relationships. God the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit wanted a relationship with mankind, and created us in his image for that purpose. And we have been rebelling ever since Adam and Eve took of the Tree of Knowledge. We think we are so smart, and make ourselves out to be equal to God in doing our lives our way instead of His way and there is often a big price to pay for that wrong thinking.

We try to fill our lives with activities, material possessions, and other people who make us feel good. And often feel empty when those things do not satisfy the one spot reserved for the one true God which is there from the beginning of creation.

How to get back to God and worshiping Him and honoring Him for all He has done and will do? I believe the first step is to have an "attitude of gratitude". We need to learn appreciation, and recognizing "we can't do anything that is good on our own." We are not able to do good without Him in us. He is good and all good comes from Him. On our own, we make messes of our lives. Wrong choices put us on wrong paths away from God. And if He seems far away, it is us who moved...not Him. I believe the second step is to "read His Word", which will accomplish His purposes. We are like a car that can't go because it is out of gas and can't function. We try to live on "spiritual fumes", not having "filled up on the Word" to sustain us through the trials and rough spots and we lose our protection from evil. Our world is full of unprotected people making wrong choices that are taking them further away from God.

I believe the third step is to "ask God's forgiveness " and then turn away from whatever it is that you are acknowledging is harmful or destructive. He is faithful and just to forgive us when we truly repent. This is an act of our free will. It should not be forced or it is not true repentance. It is oppressive to be forced to do anything. God does not force us and wants us to accept Him as our only Master, to learn and grow from Him and love Him genuinely. We are His children, a royal priesthood of believers. We are to endure and run the race set before us, and not faint because we know the outcome and we are on the winning side. God is our only true "need".

So "fill up" and know peace!