A happy July to you! This is the first summer issue (at least, it's summer here in NY!) of Inspiration from a Blind brought to you monthly by www.ShirleyCheng.com !
Have you ever wondered where evil came from? Did God create evil?
No, of course not; Jehovah did not create evil itself; evil results only when His principles are not followed. Evil is simply the absence of goodness, just as darkness is the absence of light.
Long before Jehovah created Earth and humankind, He created spirit beings known as angels who lived with Him in the spiritual realm where He calls home. He gave angels the freedom to make their own decisions, the same kind of free will He has given to us. One of the angels, who is known as Satan the opposer, abused His gift and chose to rebel against Him. Subsequently, other angels and some humans followed in Satan's footsteps. This is where evil came from.
How, you may wonder next, could loving Jehovah permit wickedness to inflict us? The prophet Habakkuk once asked Jehovah the same thing: "You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he, and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?" (Habakkuk 1:13-14, World English Bible)
In reply to Habakkuk's question, Jehovah said, "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay." (Habakkuk 2:2-3, American Standard Version)
What includes in the vision God referred to? "Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!" is the judgment Jehovah will sentence upon the evildoers, and "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" is the peaceful everlasting life under Jehovah's loving rulership for the righteous. (Habakkuk 2:12, 14, ASV)
Jehovah by no means enjoys seeing His creations suffer; far from it. Even though He is permitting darkness now, He will not tolerate it for too long. Instead, He has long ago appointed the time when He will destroy all fruits of evil, leaving no root or seed for evil to sprout ever again. Then pure good will rule for eternity.
God allows wickedness for the time being for a few reasons:
1) He wants to give the bad the chance to change their ways. He does not want to wipe everyone off the Earth without giving them enough chances to realize what they are doing is wrong. He does not enjoy killing anyone. Rather, He constantly hopes for people to turn to Him; His deepest desire is for every person to embrace a good way of living.
2) Jehovah allows some time for us to exercise our free will to show us that our independence from His rule is costing us
3) Helping prove Satan wrong. The devil cajoled the first woman to disobey God by telling her to partake in the only fruit God prohibited, saying that when she ate it, she would know right from wrong just like God, meaning that she would no longer need God's guidance; instead, she would be able to live successfully on her own. Since then, we have lived in chaos and misery, doing whatever we wish without seeking divine guidance. Moreover, from that time onward, every human being grows old and die, for God had stressed that death would be the penalty for not obeying that simple, one and only command.
Satan also, in front of other angels in the heaven, indicated that a righteous person named Job would no longer be God-fearing if God took Job's good health away: "But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face." (Job 2:5, ASV) Did Job denounce God after Satan made him ill? Absolutely not! True worshippers of God will endure Satan's testing to the end, thus proving him wrong and giving glory to Jehovah.
4) Finally, Jehovah lets some time pass in order to fill the 144,000 seats in the heavens. These seats are reserved for 144,000 highly righteous people who will co-govern the rest of the human population alongside Jehovah and Jesus during the forthcoming everlasting life of sheer bliss. "These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb." (Revelation 14:4, ASV) Such immense privilege these people will have!
Hence, all evil acts and thoughts will be things of the past when Jehovah unsuspectingly carries out His mission in His due time, known as the Day of Jehovah. This God of love will explode with righteous anger, consuming all evildoers in an instant, not burning them forever in a torturous hell but ending their existence once and for all. Good riddance, and hooray for those who will be resurrected to inherit the new Earth paradise!
What will the new Earth be like? Find out in August!
~*~Q&A with Shirley~*~
This month, I received three interesting questions from Pablo Solomon, an internationally recognized artist known primarily for his drawings and sculptures of dancers. He has been featured in books, magazines, newspapers, radio, TV and film. Currently he lives and works with his wife Beverly on their historic 1856 ranch north of Austin, Texas. Before acting as his full time muse and business manager, Beverly was a model and then in sales and marketing for Diane von Furstenberg, Revlon and Ralph Lauren. www.pablosolomon.com
Question: Do we take Christ out of salvation? Do we act as if Christ's sacrifice meant nothing and Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. are Heaven bound? Or do we stick to our beliefs over political correctness and just say they are hell bound?
Answer: Accepting Jesus Christ's sacrifice, death, and resurrection, and exercising faith in him is the only way to God and the only path to salvation. Therefore, he is the only key that will open the door for us to salvation. However, there are many people who do not know him for various reasons, and there are good-hearted people who are unfortunately stubbornly refusing to acknowledge him, so all of these people will be given a final chance when our Messiah comes the second time.
As every single one of us is imperfect and a sinner, no one has the right to condemn anyone; no one has the ability to designate where people will go, either to inherit the paradise or be destroyed. Final judgment lies only in Jehovah's hands. It is not for us to wonder or determine where people will end up. Not all Christians will be saved, and not all non-Christians will be destroyed. We cannot judge anyone's destiny simply according to their faith. We cannot judge anyone according to anything. Period. That power is reserved for God only.
We have enough problems to worry about; why waste our time guessing who will go where and what will happen to whom? Let God take care of that as we work together to meet our daily needs.
The entire human race is a gigantic family, as we are all descendents of Noah. Why play guessing games among ourselves to see which of our sisters and brothers will be forever doomed? Rather, why not fervently hope that everyone will be saved?
Question: Do we take up arms against the communists and/or Muslims as they try to take over our country, our lives and our world—or do we submit without a fight?
Answer: Jesus does not condone violence of any kind. He said that his Kingdom, which will be entrusted to him by Jehovah for one thousand years (after that, Jesus will return the Kingdom back to God), is not a part of this world. Those who submit themselves, even onto death, just as Jesus had, will receive the crown of life, and Jesus will acknowledge them in front of our Heavenly Father.
Those who kill by the sword will die by the sword. Let violent acts be done by violent people. Reserve evildoing to only the evildoers.
When you fight off other political parties or governments, how do you actually know that they are worse than your own political party and government? Jesus told us to clean our acts first before cleaning out the acts of others. Every human government has its own unique faults. We need to fix the problems in our own homes before fixing the problems found in other people's homes. And when people have not invaded us, we should not invade them just because we disagree with their views.
Before we point fingers at others, let us point fingers at ourselves. When we are soiled, we have no right to claim others are unclean.
What every country needs to do is to focus on their own affairs. What problems need to be fixed? How can they make their nation better? What good things do they already have so they can cultivate them and expand on them to make them even better?
Question: Do we return to portraying God as expecting something out of us other than a positive attitude or do we make Joel Olsteen, Norman Vincent Peel and Oprah the new Trinity?
Answer: The two most important commandments are 1) love Jehovah, and 2) love others as you love yourself. All other principles and commandments are built on these two commandments. Christianity is the fulfillment of these two commandments. God does not require anything else from you, other than love. If you have love, you will have all other good things. If you do not have love, you have nothing else, no matter how positive, wealthy, good-looking, healthy, you are. One does not need to do something extraordinary or be someone extraordinary; one only needs to have and give love abundantly. Love is the fulfillment of all of God's laws and principles.
Jehovah and Jesus are the only two Beings whom we can trust completely and infinitely. To make anyone else (or anything else, like money and fame) god is not only idolatry—a big no-no —but also gives us a false sense of security. We cannot trust human kings and nobles, for they will all end up as animals—as dust of the ground—and they no longer can help us. God lives forever, and His love and protection therefore lasts to time indefinite.
It's my interview with Mom's Choice Awards, of which I'm a proud recipient for my book, "Waking Spirit: Prose & Poems the Spirit Sings." I was supposed to have a filmed interview with them in May in New York City, but I cancelled my trip because of the swine flu. Call me a scareddy cat, but with my various chronic health conditions, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
This is all for the July issue, folks. Until August arrives with a fresh edition, keep in mind that life without light is dark. Be the light of the world so no darkness can exist. In the end, the greatest Light will shine with us to end darkness for eternity!
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Award-Winning Author with 20 Book Awards
9-Time Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award Winner
Mom's Choice Awards Recipient
Miracle survivor, inspiring author and contributing author of 25 books by age 25, poet, motivational speaker, self-empowerment expert, advocate, and a co-author in the bestselling Wake Up...Live the Life You Love book series
Board member of World Positive Thinkers Club
http://www.shirleycheng.com Having a bad day? Then meet Shirley Cheng, A.K.A. the modern day Helen Keller, to inspire, empower, and motivate you to go for the gold medal in life!
"Although I'm blind, I can see far and wide; even though I'm disabled, I can climb high mountains. Let the ropes of hope haul you high!"
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