11 John 5:3b-"And His commandments are not burdensome." How about that? His burden is light, Jesus says. Yet somehow I shrink from complete obedience. Where did I get the idea that it will always be hard; always something I'd rather not do!? This whole chapter is wonderful and could be read over and over to get all there is in it.
11 John 5:16-"If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death." I'm not sure what the sin is that leads to death. And will God forgive another's sin if we ask Him? What a difference it would make if we talked to God about a brother's sin rather than to each other!
I have been wondering why the Lord didn't meet the needs of the Israelites until they began screaming and complaining. Is that the way to get our needs met? I didn't see how. Then I read this in Deutoronomy 8:3a-"And He humbled you and let you go hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know." The answer was in the asking, not the manner. It is humbling to realize we have no way of meeting our need. We need Him to do it and sometimes He lets us become desperate before we realize that fact. But complaining is never justified. God used some very severe measures to prove that fact.
More on the teaching that when we have no needs we can become proud:
Deut. 8:11-"Beware lest you forget the LORD your God"..v.12-"When you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and have lived in them.." ..v 14-"Then your heart becomes proud and you forget the LORD your God..v.16- "That He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end."
Our tendency, when all goes well and we have everything is v.17,18-"To say in your heart,'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. But you must remember the LORD Your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth."
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