To quote a famous playwright "to be or not to be..."

To be or not to be that is the question.  I don't know the rest of this quote but I do, at least, remember that part which is the important part to remember in this particular entry.  That seemed a bit long-winded don't you think.

Any way.  As I learned in college, there were a group (or should I say "there is a group) of Christians who follow the thoughts and teachings of John Calvin. I don't claim to have read his teachings but I was taught that one of the things he taught was "predestination".  Here's the definition I found online:

 

pre·des·ti·na·tion

prēˌdestəˈnāSH(ə)n/

noun

noun: predestination; noun: pre-destination

(as a doctrine in Christian theology) the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others. It has been particularly associated with the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo and of Calvin

Which means, basically and probably over simplified, that God knows what choices we are going to make in our lives.  He knows who will take the gift of salvation and who will not.  The thought then becomes, well if He knows, then there is nothing left for me to do, the decision has been made fore me.  This takes out free will. Because God knows everything, then we have no choices in the matter.  No matter how hard we try, we cannot change our destiny and that has been written in stone for us.

It sounds good in a way, because it means we don't have to think about it.  We are going to do what we are going to do and the thinking and choosing involved is not necessary.

On the other hand others believe that we still have a choice to follow God or not.  But how does that work with a God that knows everything?

It's simple.  God gave us free will, yet still knows what we will do.  In the infinite choices we make over the course of our lives there are many universes where we make other choices. The Creator of all things also made multiple universes and knows every choice we will make and yet we are free to choose those things or actions we wish to choose.

Some times my mind gets to thinking that because He knows all, that there are no choices for me to make.  Yes I struggle with that at times, but I always come back to the realization that God didn't create just this one universe, but many.  It's because of free will that He made all the universes.  If we make a decision in this universe, perhaps our doppelganger in another universe makes a different decision.  I'm comfortable enough in my beliefs that we have free will and we can make whatever decisions we want and God knows them and the path we tread when we make the choice.  He does not hinder us, he simply sets the path in front of us.

I'm not a super spiritual or religious person, but sometimes I think God speaks to me and gives me insight to share.  I hope that what I wrote here and in other postings, in some way inspires you.

Love you all in God.

So, here we go...

Resuming my thoughts on money...

The problem with money is that we all need it to survive.  When a person has a little bit of money, it's not unusual for them to want more. This is especially true for those who quite literally don't have enough to live on or barely enough to keep their heads above water.  They have a tendency to need and want more, rationalizing that they need it to meet all their bills.  They begin to pray for money to get things straightened out.  They ask for specific amounts praying that if He gives them that money, the first 10% off the top goes to charities that do the Lord's work and the rest to getting some bills paid off. The problem then becomes a selfish request.  Even though you are doing what the Word says "if you ask anything in my name, believing, it shall be done" (I think that's paraphrased a bit). Then you start giving thanks for everything hoping that God will reward you with more so you can get your bills taken care of.  And when you see somebody in need and you have a couple bucks in your pocket, you give it to the needy person, in the back of your mind you're doing it for your own self absorbed reasons. That becomes a hard habit to break.  You know that you have to genuinely care for the person you're giving money to and not think of what it will do for you.

These things I know first hand.  I felt it, I know the thinking because I'm trying to break that chain in my life. I keep thinking that if I'm good enough, God will give me what I've been asking for. Jesus said something to the effect that you shouldn't worry about what you're going to eat. Look at the sparrows or what you should wear, look at the lilys of the field. I have to remind myself that the good samaritan did what he did not for what he can get out of it, but because it was the right thing to do. I've got to get past the needs I feel and concentrate on the needs of others.  Even if it is only praying for them.

I am not sure how much I've said all this before, but I felt it needed to be said.  There are others out there who feel the way I do.  That have their minds in a rut like I do. Let's get out of this rut and do some good for our fellow man.