Contracts with God ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

We bargain all the time.  We make agreements and either keep them or we do not.  We use phrases like “I should not have promised that” to excuse our failure to follow through on our word. 

When God makes a promise we can count on it.  We are supposed to be able to count on each other as well.  There is a thing that happens when we do what is right no matter how we feel.  I know people who have promised their lives to God for his service and have walked away from him.  

He does not react like we do.  He is not speedy in his response.  He is patient with us.  He still makes it clear that when we make a promise to him it is foolish not to keep it.  Hidden in this commitment to the Father is an opportunity.

When we contract to follow Christ there is an opportunity to have all other things fall into that one commitment.  It is like this:

• I put my life in the hands of the Father by following his Son
• He then allows everything else that passes into my life to exist
• I can count on his promise that no matter what it is he has a plan for me

 I close Dear Reader with this.  When I find it painful or hard to keep my commitments or others do not keep theirs I have a final contract with the Father to sustain me.

“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.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Promises Made – Dan Fogelberg

Promises made, Promises broken

Measures of our demise

Secrets of souls that, rarely get spoken

Pleasure's a thin disguise.

Dozens of ways, Dozens of reasons

Shielding our hearts from pain

Riddles of romance that distance may yet explain.

Certain of nothing, so fearful of love

Nobody seems to show you enough

Over and over the scenes are replayed

And once again those promises made.

Feeling forsaken, broken in two

How did this ever happen to you?

Taken for granted, bruised, and betrayed

Lonely survivors; these promises made.

Dozens of ways, Dozens of reasons

Shielding our hearts from pain

Riddles of romance that distance may yet explain.

Certain of nothing, so fearful of love

Nobody seems to show you enough

Over and over the scenes are replayed

And once again those promises made.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contracts with God ~ He Will

Greetings Dear Reader,

We have another aspect of one way contracts to consider.  The Father makes promises to us that are unconditional.  He vows to do things that are for our good.  He cannot lie and will do all that he says.

Here are just a few things that the Father contracts to do for us:

• He will always love us no matter what we do
• All things will be returned to good
• Once he forgives us he will forget our sin
• He will be just and destroy evil
• There will be a better world
• He will remain constant
• He has plans for us that are good

I do not think we do enough cement that the Father has so much good in store for in our thinking.  We get too immersed in the problems of life to see the promises of God for what they are.  They require faith and hope but those area things he offers us as well.

I need to keep looking at what God is planning.   My limited view is still enough to keep me journeying no matter how hard things seem right now.  We talk about how nothing worth having is easy.  I must apply that to following in faith.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contracts with God ~ IF THEN part 2

Greetings Dear Reader,

We make bargains all the time that are two way bargains.  Even our marriage vows sound one way but are two way.  We way for better or worse but often mean unless you make it worse.  We say for richer or poorer but mean that you better not make us poorer.

God makes IF THEN bargains with us and always keeps his THEN.  He never changes.  He never fails to live up to his commitments.  There are very clear statements that we can count on if we choose to count on them.

Here are just a few:

• IF you do good in secret THEN God will reward you openly
• IF you believe THEN you will receive what you ask for in prayer
• IF you love each other THEN all men will know you are my disciples
• IF you are in Christ THEN you are a new creation
• IF you give THEN it will be given to you full measure, pressed down and overflowing

The point is that God makes these contracts with us because he loves us.  We can follow in faith and have good things.  The greatest IF THEN though is that it we must have faith.  IF we have faith THEN we have the ability to access all of the other things.  It is the foundation of the contract.  It is the center of what the Father wishes. 

I must not do this for the results but rather must do so out of love for the Father.  I must follow in faith not seeking a “prize” but for better or worse must love without measure and count on God to do the same.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contracts with God ~ IF THEN Part 1

Greetings Dear Reader,

When I first learned to program in BASIC back when I used to do so on my TRS80, I was overly fond of the IF THEN statement.  The TRS80 was my first computer.  It had, read this carefully, 16K of RAM and two floppy drives.  It even came with a cassette player so that I could load programs that would not fit on a floppy disk.

A friend and I decided that we wanted to improve a game we both enjoyed.  We discovered that modifying some of the IF THEN statements and enhancing the contained values made the game more challenging.  We also could nest the statements to create multiple outcomes.

For those who do not understand this it is simple.  The statement is a logical contract.  It says IF condition A is true THEN do B.  It can also have a default outcome.  This is IF condition A is true THEN B, ELSE C.  If player has the GOLDEN KEY, open the SECRET DOOR, else RELEASE the fire trap.  

So many linear games depend on this to move the player through the game.  We also apply this logic to much of our lives.  We enter many conditional social contracts where we agree to do something if someone else does as well.  In crisis we create IF THEN contracts with God.

It usually goes like this: “God IF you do A then I will do B”.  My friend Tony once told me that he had been telling God that if he got a date with a certain girl that he would never speed again.  He got the date and a speeding ticket whilst on the date. 

The problem is that IF went enter into a contract with God he THEN expects us to live up to it.  He requires us to pay what we promised.  Solomon clearly points out, “When you make a promise to God, don't be slow to keep it because God doesn't like fools. Keep your promise.”

We may forget the IF THEN Promise as soon as we are out of the crisis.  The problem is that God does not.  I do not want to be in that position.  I must honor my contracts with God.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contracts with God ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

In the movie For Love of the Game the protagonist Billy Chapel is in pain late in the game.  He prays, “God, I always said I would never bother you about baseball, Lord knows you have bigger things to worry about. But if you could make this pain in my shoulder stop for ten minutes, I would really appreciate it.”

The device of having someone who does not pray offer up a “I don’t pray” prayer in the moment of crisis works well for storytelling.  I am also sure there are sincere prayers offered in moments of desperation.  It is the bargains in between the fictitious and sincere that captures my mind today. 

I talk to God all the time.  When I am alone I talk out loud.  My thought on this is that I would talk to him if he were physically present in a form that I could see.  I also figure that the more time I spend talking to him now the less shocking the transition will be when we meet face to face.  Spoiler alert:  I honestly thing that there is no way to be prepared for this.

I am trying to approach a very serious thing lightly.  You see, God makes contracts with us.  Some are two-way and some are one-way.  Both are very important.  Some are specific and some are general.  Some are meant for every human and some are meant for those who choose to follow the Son.

I am pondering through these this week to remind me of part of the road map home.   I need to remember that it is not all about the lateral communication but rather that there are important contracts in place.  These binding agreements are there to help me see the journey through with a little pain as possible.  Walk with me Dear Reader.  Perhaps you will see something I have missed.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)