1279996 6722118450 570467846 Minutes With Messiah: Innie or Outie
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Innie Or Outie

by Tim O'Hearn

You are standing next to a door. It is locked. On the other side is God. There are two choices. Some people would say we should open the door and let God in. The other choice is to open the door and go out. Actually, there is a third choice. That is to let God open the door and you go in. You see, it is all a matter of point of view. We often consider ourselves to be "in" and God "out," but God sees himself as the "in crowd" and we are on the outside.

How do we know which is right? Several years ago I was in Australia. One of my sailor buddies complained about them driving on the wrong side of the road. One of the locals asked how we knew that we drove on the right side and they on the wrong. My immediate reply was that we invented the car, we have the right to say which side is right or wrong. It is the same with God. He came first. Man was with him at the beginning. But when man chose to leave, obviously he went out. Therefore God is in.

Besides, God has already told us that if we are not in with him, we are outside without him. "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt 25:30) With God is joy and peace; outside is weeping. Outside is away from God.

What difference does it make? Either way, we need to get back into a proper relationship with God. What does it matter whether we let God into our hearts or God lets us into his? It makes all the difference in, and out of, the world.

One of the problems of the ancient world is that people tried to fit God into their mold. They wanted God to be like them, rather than the other way around. To them, the gods looked like men, or animals, or other natural phenomena. More importantly, the gods acted like men or animals. Many of us were raised on a cleaned up version of the Greek and Roman myths. We weren't told about Zeus turning into a swan or a bull and fathering a child to a woman. We may have been told about the gods acting like us in other ways. The gods were often just men on a grander scale. Man tried to bring God into this existence.

On the other hand, Paul told those people that our God was different. We don't make Him fit our mold; He created us to fit his.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being. (Acts 17:24-28)

Man and God stand on opposite sides of a door. He wants us to come in out of the dark. Don't insist that He come out to you; go in to Him. He will welcome you home.

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