Hidden Thoughts by Joe La Bianca

My daughter came in from the snow. She said it was unusually dark inside the house. What does this mean? Can you see God in this? Yes. Her eyes, while outside in the blinding snow were protecting themselves automatically without her knowledge. The lenses closed somewhat to protect the inner eye. God had to program that to happen.
This shows that Someone knew there would be a sun, bright snow, a cursed creation, blindness and a myriad of other things. This shows that real thoughts of real things are behind involuntary, everyday activities. A thought presupposes a mind. What kind of mind could do all this? A divine One.
You can look everywhere and see proof of God, unless having eyes, you fail to see. If there is a thoughtful God, separate from creation, then we should want to get to know this God. But something about us stops us from wanting to get close to God. It’s our sin that stops us.
We know, deep inside , that we are unacceptable to God. I have some news for you. Jesus makes us acceptable when we believe in Him as Savior. There is no other requirement. Just believing in Jesus as Savior is all we are told to do.
Religion adds all sorts of non-essential things to knowing God, but this is wrong. When I say “religion” I mean any organized system of hierarchy. You don’t have to submit to their rules. Jesus wants you to come to Him, not to some formally ranked group of self-appointed prophets, priests or pastors. Believers are spread out in the so called church, scattered among church goers, or in smaller gatherings. There is a great difference between the believers and the church goers. When a place gets too large, the weeds mingle with the wheat. Hold on wheat, to your faith.
To believe in Christ as Savior is nothing more than believing that He died for your sins and rose from the dead. Try to find a place where people believe this. Pray to God to lead you to a home church, or at least a place where the focus is on the Savior, not the savees, on the finished work of Christ, not the unfinished work of legalism.
If you believe in the cross, you are saved right where you are. Be free in this knowledge and grow in grace. Read the letters of Paul found in the New Testament. It is there you will find the truth in its fullness. Cling to Jesus by simple faith and never let a zealot turn you from Jesus to the false commitment found in so many groups.
If you feel that a pastor is using guilt trips to get you to perform, leave that place. But if you hear the Good News that says “Christ has done it all, and all that is left is to rest in grace”, if you hear the Good News that says “God knows how to take care of you and cause you to become what He wants through His power”, then stay there.
If you can’t find a place to hear the Gospel, remember that where two or more are gathered in His name, Jesus is in the midst of them. The smallest possible gathering was validated by Christ. The church is invisible and only those who depend on Jesus are in that special group. I hope you find such a place in this religious nation, for when the Son of Man returns, will He find the faith on the earth?