John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Webster’s defines ‘existential’ & ‘philosophy’ as the study of the causes and relations of things and ideas; the serene wisdom that comes from calm contemplation of life, of being, the universe and our place in it. A search for the “Meaning of Life” – “Who am I “?, “Why do I exist?” & Does anyone know me?” God does! King Solomon wrote of this search in the book of Ecclesiastes – read it again and comprehend the wise message and conclusion imparted from the Teacher. We all want to know the answers to those questions also, but it is where we look for the answers that affect our life, our hearts, our minds, our souls and our peace and well-being, whether our search is based on righteousness. The One, true, and living God, the all-powerful, ever-present, all- seeing, all-knowing Creator of everything loves us, has plans and purposes for us and is in control, so we can trust and believe Him completely. The danger lies when we look away from and take our eyes off God’s Plans and Purposes to buy into the lie that life is meaningless for us and we must bring meaning to it. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The universal battle in this life is between “belief” & “unbelief”; a battle for the hearts, minds and souls of each and every one of us. You may hear of this war as light & darkness, good & evil, holy & unholy, right & wrong, godliness & ungodliness, obedience & disobedience, creation & evolution, etc., but the root of all the controversy is “belief’ & “unbelief”. Oh, it is real!
I heard an interview on the radio this week of a well-known writer, who lost her faith while in college. The secular collegiate environment of “discovering yourself” through existential philosophy, outside of God, drove her to look away from her Lord and started her searching for the meaning of life down different roads. She stopped reading and studying the Word of God and wrapped her mind so completely around the deception of a search to find herself and meaning to her life on her own, that she closed her heart and stopped talking to God completely. Wikipedia tells us that the Penguin Encyclopedia says that philosophy differs from science in that its questions cannot be answered empirically, i.e. by observation or experiment, and from religion, in that its purpose is entirely intellectual, and allows no place for faith or revelation. MTP says philosophy does not try to answer questions by appeal to revelation, myth or religious knowledge of any kind, but uses reason, "without reference to sensible observation and experiments"- aka “rationality”. Haven’t you heard that everything is relative? There is a theological term for this … it’s “non-sense”.
The enemy (the world, the flesh & the devil) do everything in their power to deceive and turn our head from the way, the truth and the life and put the focus on ourselves as the sole interest of our existence, without thinking about God … living by our own will and pleasure, rather than God’s will and pleasure. The question is: “who are we going to listen to?” The famous writer, Ann, said that she bought into the lie that life is meaningless and, without realizing, began a search by herself for her lost soul and redemption. She saw that so many give their life to alcohol, sex, drugs, and pleasure, when all they truly needed was to give their life to the Lord and commit their life to Christ. Suicide is the #1 cause of death in College students in America today, and the #3 cause of death in High School students. Why? Seeking purpose and meaning in a world that says that God doesn’t exist, there is no absolute truth, morals don’t matter, we evolved and exist for self-gratification, is the path of emptiness and lawless pride; lacking spiritual fulfillment and true personal satisfaction. Ann found that a self-image and self-worth was truly found in the God that made you & me. Our life was His idea. God, Creator of Heaven & Earth, loves us and thinks about us every minute of every day, and we are a product of His loving and purposeful plan. Life is full of meaning and that life is worth living with joy. Glory be to God, the source of all life; our Father, who art in Heaven. Now that’s something worth thinking about!
Webster’s defines ‘existential’ & ‘philosophy’ as the study of the causes and relations of things and ideas; the serene wisdom that comes from calm contemplation of life, of being, the universe and our place in it. A search for the “Meaning of Life” – “Who am I “?, “Why do I exist?” & Does anyone know me?” God does! King Solomon wrote of this search in the book of Ecclesiastes – read it again and comprehend the wise message and conclusion imparted from the Teacher. We all want to know the answers to those questions also, but it is where we look for the answers that affect our life, our hearts, our minds, our souls and our peace and well-being, whether our search is based on righteousness. The One, true, and living God, the all-powerful, ever-present, all- seeing, all-knowing Creator of everything loves us, has plans and purposes for us and is in control, so we can trust and believe Him completely. The danger lies when we look away from and take our eyes off God’s Plans and Purposes to buy into the lie that life is meaningless for us and we must bring meaning to it. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The universal battle in this life is between “belief” & “unbelief”; a battle for the hearts, minds and souls of each and every one of us. You may hear of this war as light & darkness, good & evil, holy & unholy, right & wrong, godliness & ungodliness, obedience & disobedience, creation & evolution, etc., but the root of all the controversy is “belief’ & “unbelief”. Oh, it is real!
I heard an interview on the radio this week of a well-known writer, who lost her faith while in college. The secular collegiate environment of “discovering yourself” through existential philosophy, outside of God, drove her to look away from her Lord and started her searching for the meaning of life down different roads. She stopped reading and studying the Word of God and wrapped her mind so completely around the deception of a search to find herself and meaning to her life on her own, that she closed her heart and stopped talking to God completely. Wikipedia tells us that the Penguin Encyclopedia says that philosophy differs from science in that its questions cannot be answered empirically, i.e. by observation or experiment, and from religion, in that its purpose is entirely intellectual, and allows no place for faith or revelation. MTP says philosophy does not try to answer questions by appeal to revelation, myth or religious knowledge of any kind, but uses reason, "without reference to sensible observation and experiments"- aka “rationality”. Haven’t you heard that everything is relative? There is a theological term for this … it’s “non-sense”.
The enemy (the world, the flesh & the devil) do everything in their power to deceive and turn our head from the way, the truth and the life and put the focus on ourselves as the sole interest of our existence, without thinking about God … living by our own will and pleasure, rather than God’s will and pleasure. The question is: “who are we going to listen to?” The famous writer, Ann, said that she bought into the lie that life is meaningless and, without realizing, began a search by herself for her lost soul and redemption. She saw that so many give their life to alcohol, sex, drugs, and pleasure, when all they truly needed was to give their life to the Lord and commit their life to Christ. Suicide is the #1 cause of death in College students in America today, and the #3 cause of death in High School students. Why? Seeking purpose and meaning in a world that says that God doesn’t exist, there is no absolute truth, morals don’t matter, we evolved and exist for self-gratification, is the path of emptiness and lawless pride; lacking spiritual fulfillment and true personal satisfaction. Ann found that a self-image and self-worth was truly found in the God that made you & me. Our life was His idea. God, Creator of Heaven & Earth, loves us and thinks about us every minute of every day, and we are a product of His loving and purposeful plan. Life is full of meaning and that life is worth living with joy. Glory be to God, the source of all life; our Father, who art in Heaven. Now that’s something worth thinking about!
Your brother in Christ, Brian
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