The Joys of Being a Christian

[By Grace]

1) Christianity gives me an eternal perspective
It begins with "In the beginning" and ends with Revelation 22: stating
"Rev 22:1  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 
2  through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 
3  No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 
4  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 
5  And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. "

That tells me that while there injustices, and evil in this world, all of these shall be rectified in the end.

2) I have an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.�
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Therefore, wherever I go, there also God goes. I am never "out of His will" nor can I escape even in a moment of self-delusion or fear.

John 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 
28  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 
29  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

3) Not only do I have Jesus with me, Holy Spirit is my Faithful Companion Who teaches me the things of God that I need to hear, learn, and apply

Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Holy Spirit helps in our weaknesses, and makes intercession for us. With Jesus as our head and the Holy Spirit in our hearts, there is nothing that can stop us from living completely according to God’s will and becoming a completely and utterly joyful. And we will be a blessing and a help to the others as well.

In other words, Joy is a "by-product" of an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. Joy is not the same thing as happiness because the derivative word of "happiness" is "happenstance", meaning being influenced by the changing things around you. Years ago, our daughter died just after giving birth at 22. Indeed, we cried, and felt sorrowful in our mourning, but we never lost our abiding joy despite being in great emotional pain.

The reason for this is explained in Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
23  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 

4) Christianity makes me free from worry
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose

Yeah, things go "bump in the night". Yeah, Global Warming happens. Yeah, the NOKO ruler is a nut job, but the Bible tells me that for those who love God, nothing is unplanned, nor free from the direction of God

Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the spirit.
3 Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established.
4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
...
33 The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the Lord.

So these are just a few joys of Christianity.
I invite all of you to come, and celebrate the eternal joys that Christianity ALONE brings

[Overcomer]

Divine Insight wrote:

If it requires having Jesus or the Holy Spirit in order to not want to do bad things then how do we explain that my atheists uncles had no desire to go out and do bad things?

Clearly this claim made by Christians is simply not true.

If you think atheists are all evil people who are lusting to do bad things, then it's you who have no clue.

I didn't say any of those things. I'm sorry you read them into what I wrote.

[By Grace]

[Replying to post 11 by Overcomer]

NOTICE TO ALL

Thank you for your responses. Due to the OP not containing a question, the original post and subsequent posts were moved here, "random ramblings". I posted to osteng, and s/he suggested that I include a question, so here is the other thread: viewtopic.php?t=34096

Some of you may want to copy and paste your original post here to there, but I also suggest that you seek permission from a mod first.

[By Grace]

Getting to heaven is not hard, all you gotta do is BELIEVE

Interesting.

I wonder why so many Christian preachers suggest that it has something to do with morality?

Morality is indeed important, but as an agent of salvation, it is insufficient, alone. What you may be doing is confusing a "call to repentance" for sins committed" with the (usually) simultaneous call to believe.

Also, don't you think it's rather cruel to condemn humans to hell merely because they don't believe?

That is an old canard because God does NOT "condemn people to hell". Instead He has made it abundantly clear both in His creation, and in His word that GENUINE belief is the only prerequisite for heaven.

The choice of belief or non belief is ALWAYS on the part of the person having free will. The rewards or punishment that comes as a result of that choice are likewise the choice of being in unbelief, or being in salvation. God will not "drag someone kicking and screaming against salvation"; that is not the way He is.

Like I say, this religion might be joyous for those who believe, but just think of how horrific this religion is for those who don't.

YOU NAILED IT! And that is why Christians post on places like this. Mostly, it is run by atheists, and it is our hope that presenting Christianity in a clear and positive manner, that may woo some lost soul to experience salvation rather than eternal torment.

BTW when the Christian mentions Hell in a post, it is because s/he is aware of the terrible properties in hell. Seriously, it is NOT a place designed for humans, but it was designed to house the rebellious 1/3 of angelic beings who swore allegiance to Satan, and forsook God. For them, there is no salvation possible.

Don't you think that's terrible that poor innocent good people who merely don't believe will be condemned to everlasting punishment?

That is another canard because there are no "innocent people". Scripture says it best:
Romans 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 
23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 
24  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

I mean, even if I thought I was going to be awarded everlasting life for simply believing something I still wouldn't suggest that this is a very joyous thing if people who don't believe it will be condemned to eternal suffering.

Good thinking! Remember that belief is a CHOICE, and it is not forced upon anyone because God respects our free will, just as he accepts the free will of the angels who fell, and those who did not fall.

Heaven is God's house. He sets the rules as whom can enter, and the manner of entrance required

I mean, if things are going pretty well for you at home, you could just turn off the news and pretend that you're already in heaven and you wouldn't know any different.

In fact, that's certainly true for me. My own personal life already is heaven. The only thing that makes life suck for me is what I see on the news.

The heaven you speak of would be nothing more than living at my house and not being permitted to have any access to the news (i.e. forbidden to have knowledge of bad things that might be happening outside of heaven).

I am not attempting snark, but according to the Bible, Heaven is much more than that. It is BEYOND what we can ever imagine, or think it is.