for serious consideration and feedback:
you want to do business but people start asking you for money- government, middlemen, a tom dick or harry who promises that grease cash will expedite your plans.
question:
do you give in to the extortion or do you take a higher road?
deeper question: if the government is duty-bound to serve you but does not, except to the few who pay them undeserved money- who is wrong- the one who pays? the government? or both?
will a businessman succeed if he never pays off government, customs, and other local/national government entities that come in his way and extort cash from him?
do you think God would move on behalf of a person who wants to live without compromise?
would you be willing to do the right thing even if it meant you could be ruined-from a business standpoint- for life?
with or without a promise of blessing, would you still do what God commands just because it is the right thing to do?
would I still live for God just because He is God? or do I need an incentive like wealth or comfort?
if i am to be crushed, laughed at, trampled by the street-smart because my ideals are "too biblical"- shall I complain to God or hold to on to His principles no matter what?
What shall we do with this verse from Christ:
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me" (matthew 5:11)
what shall we do with this other verse from the bible?
"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.."
2 timothy 3:12
?
do those verses worry you or comfort you?
are we afraid that life will be hard if we follow God, or are we joyfully committed to Him, because following God means living for Christ is always worth the sacrifice, no matter how hard and narrow the road He leads us on may be?
i pray that if you are the kind of person who would render God your love and obedience simply because He is worthy of it, with no fine print or caveats or thoughts of what you get in return- if you are the kind of person who understands that human 'righteousness' is nothing in God's eyes- if you know what it means to hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God- i pray He would supernaturally regenerate your heart and give you the spirit to endure. I pray He would sustain you no matter what comes your way- and I believe He will - because yours is the best, most difficult life to live- the genuine life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
from psalm 37
