Life is a Mirror

By J. A. Evans-Andrew

Life is a mirror, if you do good, then people will do good to you, but if you do bad, people will hate and even stay away from you. This is the first lesson I received when I was little. But this principle does not apply to God.

 

God is good. All who believe will certainly say so, even though sometimes we become inconsistent because of the problems and conditions we are facing. Sometimes we even blame God for our limitations and incompetence. At such times we will forget all the goodness of God that is actually real in our lives. We assume that if God is good then that means our life should be one hundred per cent without problems. That shouldn't be the case though.

 

But no matter how much we leave and blaspheme God, God is still good because God is Gracious and God is Merciful. God helps us solve problems and guides us to rise from Failure and eliminate Fear in human life and guide humans to rise up and make peace with the past to look to the future. No matter who we are and whoever we are, God shows Unconditional Love and always calls us to rely on Him in Faith, Love and Hope so that in the end we can Love Each Other.

 

This book is not meant to teach because the knowledge in this book is too shallow, but this book invites us to be aware of God's presence and work in the small things of our lives. We will discuss here how God's character is, how we answer his call and how to bring God into our problems whether it's a matter of making love, bullying, growing up and recognizing who we are and rising from failure. We will also discuss how to accept the past, look to the future and prepare for eternal life with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. A. Evans-Andrew
• Release date: Nov 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201880781

Book preview

Life is a Mirror

Knowing the Majesty of God Through 25 Daily Events

Preface

Life is a mirror, if you do good to others, people will be kind to you, and if you do bad to others, people will hate and stay away from you. I remember this teaching from my father, which was given to me when I was a child, and I still hold on to it well. This principle is also what inspires me to find out why I should do good and people have been good to me, all my life. Turns out God is here. God works and touches every reality of my life, even in small things I can feel the greatness of God.

I want to share that experience in this book, but the scratches in this book are not meant to teach anyone, because the knowledge in this book will feel very superficial, but will only serve as a reminder, how we are introduced to the majesty of God who is truly present. in every event of human life.

To my beloved wife Tasha and my children Xen, Evan and Mikha To my mother and my father

Chapter 1

God Almighty

If I ask the question, Why do you believe in God? What kind of answer will you give?

Every day I set an example and teach my children to pray, close their eyes, open the scriptures and randomly point to a verse in the Bible. I take it as God's suggestion to me today. This morning, I got this advice, Joshua 21:45 "Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. "

This is interesting because this is one of the very reasons I believe in God.

God can do anything - except fail, and I'm sure many of my friends agree with this statement. Moreover, God never disobeys. All of God's promises are always kept, to anyone. If there are friends here who feel that God has not fulfilled it, it is only a matter of time and our readiness to accept God's helping hand. That is, have we surrendered completely to God and let God take over our lives, and guide our lives?

God is called Almighty, one of his powers is to know what happened in the past, in the present, and in the future.

Matthew 6:8 "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

When faced with a problem we are often stuck focusing on the problem and how the problem is solved. Instead of problems taking us away from God, they should bring us closer to God. Sometimes it is difficult for us to understand that God is able to do everything, for example, when we pray and ask God, we expect God to hear our prayers and answer our requests according to our wishes. We want things to go according to our plan and happen according to our will. But God's work is sometimes beyond human comprehension, and many of us sometimes feel, if our desires have not been answered by God we feel hopeless and disappointed.

When God lets us face problems, then God also has a solution.

Genesis 22:7-8 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, Father?"

Yes, my son? Abraham replied. The fire and wood are here, Isaac said, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together."

We only need to rely on God, trust, and surrender to God, so it is not uncommon for solutions in miraculous ways to occur. The story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice Isaac and then God replacing him with a lamb as a burnt offering is the best example given to us. (Genesis 22:1-13)

God has prepared a miracle as a solution to our problems. We just need to be patient and pray with confidence while waiting for it to have happened. If the answer we are waiting for does not come soon, let's reflect on ourselves, whether we really have given up instead of focusing on the problem. When Jesus walked on the water, Peter failed to follow him because at that time Peter was more focused on the wind so that it scared him and lowered his sense of surrender to the will of Jesus.

Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me!"

Or have we not fully surrendered to God by asking God for help according to our personal agenda and plan, not God's plan?

If we really feel that we have not completely surrendered to God, it is better for us to learn to be more open and know God's miracles through His words in the holy book. One form of good self-disclosure and allowing God's work to work in our lives is to fully believe in God's miracles and majesty. The Lord Jesus once rebuked one of his disciples, Thomas, for believing more in worldly things.

John 20:29 "Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. "

Getting closer to God through prayer is also a way of opening up and letting God's miracles work in our lives. Prayer is fellowship with God. By praying we give space and space freely to meet God and instill total trust in God, boldly calling on Him. When there is a problem, we should pray more often, because through prayer we get strength and calm to find a way out.

Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. "

Do you still remember the story about Job? Job was a virtuous man, who faced various problems that continued to plague him. Job did not lose his confidence, but through the troubles he faced, he fellowshipped closer to God through his prayers and contrition, and God answered Job's pleas in His own way and time that no human could understand. From the story of Job we see that:

•God always has a way out of all problems, and God will also give us the ability to overcome everything in our lives

•God is a just God, there is no cheating in God

•The suffering of a Christian is within the limits and control of God so that neither person nor any power can touch the believer without God's permission.

A reflection :

How Job solves problems is different with you. If you're in trouble, what's the first thing you'll do? Who will you rely on?

Chapter 2

God is Gracious

One of the characteristics of God is Gracious. Translating the Indonesian philosophy, in Indonesian, this word is called Maharahim. Maha is all. The word

Rahim refers to the female organs, especially of a mother. From the womb, a unidirectional love relationship will begin, because, through the womb, a mother protects, nourishes, warms,, keeps, and unconditionally accepts the fertilized egg until it is ready to be born. A mother does this not because her child does good, but it is a natural and inevitable impulse.

By approving the gracious nature of God, we acknowledge that there is more to love than motherly love which belongs only to God. In the book of Isaiah, there is a comparison between the love of God to man and the love of a mother to her child.

Isiah 49:15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! "

In the Old Testament, from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, we see how God always shows His benevolence to sinners. Through dialogue with Abraham, God's benevolence is shown by means of His willingness to negotiate, so that

God's previous plan to destroy sinners turned into love and mercy with unconditional forgiveness for sinners. In the New Testament, Jesus always described that God is a kind and forgiving Father. This is also revealed in the Lord's Prayer which was taught by Jesus himself, "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespass against us."

Following the story of His life and preaching, Jesus always described the joy of repentance. In Luke 15, there is joy, feasting, banquets, music, and dancing as expressions of joy when a shepherd