God Is Not The Enemy
While it is true that many people around the world display a true animosity towards God, and have made themselves enemies of God, God is not the enemy.
Everyone who loves this world more than God becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4 tells us that friendship with the world makes us an enemy of God.
Most people understand the enemy to be those who want to cause you harm. Many people have developed the idea that God is just waiting to zap them for their disobedience. That is certainly not true. God has a desire for all people, and that desire is for the good of all. Throughout the Bible we can read that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God is actually sorrowful when people suffer because of the problems they bring upon themselves. In fact, God has given us all the tools we need to help us be blessed and successful.
While God is for us and willing to be a defender and protector for the righteous, there will still be those who reject Him. Sadly, there is nothing that can be done for those people.
When people reject God and become rebellious towards Him, God withholds the blessings that have been promised to all. The reason He withholds blessings is so that the people through their suffering will come to learn they need to have a dependence upon God. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 explain that God will offer blessings to those who obey Him and honor Him. In the same chapters, God warns what will happen if people turn away from serving Him. All of the sufferings and problems are allowed in hopes that people will turn from their sinful ways to serve God.
All mankind has a shared enemy. It is not death, as that is a fate that none will miss. It would be assumed that the enemy of mankind is some sort of evil in the form of a radical religious group, some plague, an asteroid striking the earth. No, that will not be the common enemy of mankind. The common enemy is that which removes us from the Love of God. God has already declared that He wants to bless His creatures, and especially man who was made in His image.
The common enemy which has become a problem for most of humanity is selfishness. People become so selfish that they forget about others and learn to content themselves with ignoring other people's sufferings. Selfishness manifests itself in several forms. Greed has caused hardship upon billions. Pride has been a problem from the beginning. Fulfilling the lust of the flesh and the eyes has caused so many to depart from God.
Few seem to realize that serving God produces the best blessings imaginable. God is not our enemy, He is our friend. He cares for mankind. He loves mankind so much that He gave His only begotten Son for all mankind to have the opportunity to be saved. God provides us (mankind) everything we need concerning our lives and our immortality in the pages of His Holy Bible. The sad thing is that few choose to learn what is in the Bible. A sadder thing is the fact that many know what is in the Bible, yet choose to ignore it.
God is not the enemy, but is treated as such. Many people despise God because God expects us to live righteous lives. Many people do not want to live righteous lives. They act as if God is punishing them by not allowing them to have their fun. In like fashion, the wicked of the earth have chosen to treat everything associated with God as an enemy. Even in our culture, there is a deep seated animosity towards God, Christ, Christians, and churches. It might help them feel better to treat such things with hatred, but in the end, they will stand before God and be judged by the things written in the books of God.
God is not the enemy. He has done everything He can to prove His love and care for each and every human being alive. Do not turn your back on Him, but open your heart to hear and learn what you must do in order to receive this salvation He offers. This you must do by your own free will. Nobody can do it for you. Your duty to God is to worship Him, honor Him, obey Him, glorify Him, and finally share His love with others.
By Carey Scott

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