Grapevine Ministries
Messages from the bible to uplift and encourage those that need a word from the Lord, to strengthen their faith. Ps Phillip Barker is an itinerant pastor in Perth, Western Australia.
Grapevine Ministries
Why You Can't Afford to Live Without God
We explore the fundamental question many Christians face from others: "Why do I need God?" This introspective journey examines how our three-part being (spirit, soul, and body) naturally seeks connection with something greater.
• Every religious faith acknowledges a higher power, though they differ in their understanding of it
• Jeremiah 29:13 promises "you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"
• Life's hardest moments - terminal illness, death, and grief - reveal our need for something beyond ourselves
• Within every heart exists a "God-shaped vacuum" that only the divine can fill
• The resurrection of Jesus changes everything about how we understand existence and destiny
• Faith isn't just a crutch but adds a third dimension to all aspects of life
• We must consider whether we can afford to live without God if there truly is life after death
• Our existence has purpose beyond random chance
If you're seeking a relationship with God, contact your local church, speak with a Christian friend, or message us for guidance toward salvation.
Good morning, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world - Welcome to Grapevine Ministries.
Here we are back again, and I'm asking that age-old question and a lot of people don't actually realise this is that from time to time, if you're in ministry or even just a Christian going around doing what you normally do, somebody is going to ask you why do they need God? And so I'm going to try and answer that today. This is a series that I'm going to go through which is all about why do we need God in our life, and it's rather interesting. I've been having this discussion with one of my taxi drivers, and one of my taxi drivers is from India, right, and he's got his Aussie name that he uses, so, but for all certain purposes, it may be good not to have names, okay, so I'll just go through what I'm talking about. I've actually asked him this question.
Speaker 1:Now, he's a sheik, right, different to a Muslim, but more along the lines of more like probably Hindu, okay, or Buddhism, right, but either or but. He believes that there is a God, right, but either or but. He believes that there is a God, right, and the God that he's talking about is in relation to his ministry, but he knows that there is a greater power up there. Now, I've said this many times through other messages, and that that you have to remember that we are a three-part being. We are, you know, a spirit, soul and body. Now, our spirit, when you become born again, your spirit, connects to the spirit of God, which is the Holy Spirit. And we know that God is a three-part being. He is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So they are all one, but they're separate identities and they have separate roles. So this is where a lot of people have issues. How can you be three in one? You know, and I used to go around and people used to say that, and you see someone talking to themselves on the platform and they say, oh, what's going on? And I said I'm just talking to me myself. And I Now, how would I know that there's three entities, even in relation to me? But that's another story. But the point I'm trying to make here is that we all need something in our life that is from a greater power, because we have a spirit inside of us that wants to connect to everything. The one common denominator throughout all religious faiths is that there is always a higher power. How they relate and what they call it are entirely different, but they need to be connected to something. It is like it's in us, and it needs to be contained Now.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah 29.13 says this you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Now we also know what Jeremiah 29 and 11 is okay, and so I know the plans that I have for you, the plans to prosper. You have you in good health, you know. But if you read through Jeremiah 29, 10 to 14, and we look at that from a totally different aspect, so I should have gone there before, but I didn't. So bear with me, I'll just quickly look it up.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah, jeremiah is down here. That's it 29, and we'll start from verse 10. Alright, now I'm going to ring this in the New King James and then I'm going to read it in the Amplified alright, so it says this, for thus says the Lord after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word towards you and cause you to return to this place, for I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, though, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you and you will seek me and find me when you search for me in all your heart. Now, that's the New King James Version, okay, but if we look at the New Living Translation, for instance, okay, and we go there, this is what the Lord says. You will be in Babylon for 70 years we're talking about the captivity in Babylon, right, but then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised and I will bring you home again. So, bringing you back to Israel, right, for I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land. Right Now, that is a promise made by God to the Jewish nation, to his chosen people, and this is what we've got to look at.
Speaker 1:God is telling you that you're going to need him, you're going to want him in your life. But how many times have you heard people say I don't need God, I can handle things myself? Really, if you look at the scriptures, you will see it is very clear that you do need God in your life. I often say give me a moment to think before I respond, to think before I respond. Though I'll never actually say it, it's often what I wanted to respond to. And the other thing is that it is a question you'll always get asked. It does not matter if you are in the fivefold or not.
Speaker 1:As a Christian, as a believing Christian, there will come a time when somebody is going to ask you why do I need God in my life? And the thing is, it is so, so rare a specimen that you should be subject by study by the scientists of the day and certainly the theologians, who need to know how someone can be secure, so confident of themselves or herself, to an absolute knowing that they need God. They need to know what makes you different to all the others, and this is why the churches are full worldwide and people are praying constantly to the Almighty, constantly to the Almighty. I'd be particularly interested in knowing where and how you find strength when the doctor says I have to tell you we've done everything that we can medically and you know how to pray. That is what you might be doing and that's all you need. I'd like to know who people turn to when they have laid their body of their mate in a cold ground and they've heard someone in tone say dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
Speaker 1:How do you handle difficulties in life? How do you handle these things, especially those things which strike closest to your heart at home? Now, I'll give you a classic example, right? I'll give you a classic example, right? My brother-in-law now he is super fit has worked all his life. Straight out of school, went and got his particular job and he worked that until he retired. And then one day he goes to the doctor and the doctor says, hey, I'm sorry to inform you, but this is what you actually have. And he mentions the type of cancer where it is the fact that it can't be operated on and you've got six to nine months, got six to nine months. What do you do in those circumstances? Who do you go to? Are you going to be like Job and go to his friends and so-called friends and say, hey, this is the situation I'm in. How can I handle this? What should I do now? And the thing is, to be quite honest, I personally have not experienced that, but I have been told that. You know, I'll never walk again and I've got this condition and I've got it for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1:If I didn't have God in my life, I can tell you right now, without a shadow of doubt, both me and Maria would probably be six foot under, because we need his strength when we are weak. We need someone to go to, so we can actually go to the throne room of grace and we stand before the Father and we say, hey, this is what's happening to me. See, it says cast all your cares on of the Lord, lean not on your own understanding, but everything in prayer and supplication, make your requests known to him. See, the person who boasts that he or she has no need for God is one who maybe has studied it and they've looked at it. And because that person has a need so much different from someone with an undiagnosed cancer which is neither acknowledged or confronted, you who feel that way have a blind spot in your thinking.
Speaker 1:The issue is not really whether you can get through life without God. The issue is not really whether you can get through life without God Many people do do that but how much richer and fuller is your life Could it actually be if you had God in your life? The fact is that you were made by God and for God. Within every heart is a God-shaped vacuum. Look the person Rina Pascal said this, he described it this way which can only be fueled by an almighty. Long ago, augustine acknowledged that he needed to say Thou hast made us for thyself, o God, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee. See, it is the God connection which gives meaning and purpose to our otherwise often irrational existence. It is the certainty that there is an almighty who is not disinterested in what happens to his children which allows us to face the disasters of life and to stand before an open grave with a certainty that, dust to dust and ashes to ashes, what was not spoken over your soul? And this is why you'll find a lot of people and anybody out there, why you'll find a lot of people and anybody out there. I can guarantee that you've at least gone to one relative's funeral at some time in your life and hopefully you are old enough to hear the pastor that was actually doing the service has asked you a question about your own immortality.
Speaker 1:But belief in God is not a crutch which gets you by in tough times like death and dying. It involves a relationship with God which adds a third dimension to all of our life, to our marriage, to the existence, to how you treat others, reflecting a value system that holds life itself, and it is sacred right. The thing is that people will sometimes look at you and say how are you different to other people? And sometimes you may not even know how to acknowledge that yourself. But it is because of your Christian beliefs and your standing in the community, walking and talking as a Christian and I'm not talking about being a Bible basher. Every second word that comes out of your mouth is the dust, saith the Lord, or whatever. No, it's like a faithful dog, is a wonderful companion who may show affection and warmth, but an animal with no knowledge of God, it can't express that comfort. The one who can hold you and say well, be together for eternity, all right.
Speaker 1:Here is the bottom line. We have no idea of God if there is no life after death, no heaven, no hell, but if one has come back from the other side and there is no question that he or she has been there, then suddenly everything changes. If the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a fraud, if no one had ever glimpsed the other side, as he or she lay dying, then perhaps, friends, it's okay to live without God. But if God exists on the other side, you can't afford to live without him by your side. Just think about it for a while. On which side of your confidence is he? Now I'll tell you a little joke, right, and then I'll summarise this. Okay, so just bear with me for a little bit. I'm not very good at jokes, but I'll try this one for a change bit. I'm not very good at jokes, but I'll try this one for a change.
Speaker 1:There was this man and his wife. They were going on holidays and the wife insisted that her mum come with her because she was frail, she was a bit old and she wanted her mother there. And so the husband reluctantly agreed because he wanted to go on the holiday and have a good time. And they were going to Europe and they went to Israel to look at the homeland of their heritage, because they were Jewish. Right Now, whilst they were there, the mother-in-law dies, she passes away. And because they're in a foreign country, so they get there.
Speaker 1:And the morticians get there and say, look, you've got two choices here. You can send your mother-in-law all the way back to America, all right, but that's going to cost you like $25,000. That's going to cost you like $25,000. If you bury her here, right, it's no big deal and it's only a cost of $500. So what do you want to do? And so the wife is standing there looking at her husband and the husband goes we will pay the $25,000, send her back home, and that'll be the best thing for us. And so his wife was very, very happy with that. But then she had to ask he goes just out of curiosity. I know you don't like my mother, but why are you going to pay $25,000 for her to be sent home to get buried over there? And he goes. Well, he said, based on what I know about the Bible, no-transcript died. He was crucified. Three days later he rose from the dead. I can't take that chance of happening again, so I want my mother-in-law sent back home. That's supposed to be funny, you know he didn't want his mother-in-law coming back to life.
Speaker 1:But the point that I'm making here is like, sometimes we don't know what the future holds for us. Right, is there a heaven and is there hell? Well, I know the answer to that. But the point is, do you know the answer to that? The thing is throughout history, everybody knows that Jesus was the greatest prophet to ever walk the face of the earth. Right, and he did miracles, signs and wonders for the three and a half years of his ministry. And then he was crucified for the three and a half years of his ministry. And then he was crucified and on the third day rose and now is sitting at the right hand of the Father.
Speaker 1:Everybody agrees that Jesus lived, he existed, he's even in the Quran, and so is Mary, right, but the one thing that they cannot get over a lot of the time is is the resurrection. That is the stumbling block for a lot of people. But what I want to say to you today is can you take that chance? Because take that chance? Because, putting it plainly, there are only two places you can go heaven or hell. There's no way stations, there's no in-betweens, there's nothing like any of the movies you see where you can actually get there and say, hey, the thing is that I'm looking back at this and I'm thinking to myself what can I do? You know? Why is it? Do we need God?
Speaker 1:People believe in God for a variety of reasons. Often they're seeking meaning, purpose and guidance in their life, as well as a source of comfort and hope during difficult times. Many find solace in the belief that God is a loving and powerful presence offering forgiveness, mercy and protection, and, additionally to that, some believe that God is the creator of the universe and the source of our existence, giving meaning to life that might otherwise seem random or without purpose. So the main question is here why do you think that you came into existence? We know how you came into existence. You know a man and a woman come together, you know, hopefully in matrimony, okay, and a seed is planted in the woman and you are born nine months later. But why? Why are you existing? Why are you here? What is the purpose behind you? There has to be a purpose behind you and there has to be something that is in you that needs to be connected to something else.
Speaker 1:So the main question really should be can you really take that chance and not have God as part of your life, because it says in the Word that he will never leave you nor forsake you. And it also says in John 3, 16,. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so whoever believeth in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Death is not the end. Death is the beginning.
Speaker 1:And if you go through the Bible doesn't matter whether Old Testament or New Testament it clearly defines that there is a purpose for our existence and we need to know what that is. Is it because we need hope and comfort? Is it because we need guidance and wisdom? Is it because we need forgiveness and mercy? Or perhaps it's love and friendship? Or perhaps it's love and friendship. It could also be for just, purely and simply for protection.
Speaker 1:Some believe God provides protection from harm, both physical and spiritual, offering a sense of safety and security. But the main thing, it's all about salvation. Many religions, god is seen as the ultimate saviour, offering a path to eternal life and to a relationship with a divine being. And if that's not enough, what about the pure and simple fact that creation and existence? Okay. God is seen as the creator of the universe and the source of our existence, giving meaning to our life and making us aware of our existence, giving meaning to our life and making us aware of our potential, because we all have potential.
Speaker 1:And so, if you're listening to this and you believe that you need God in your life, go to your local church or see a friend that you know that is a Christian, or send me a message and I will send you a prayer that can lead you to salvation, and then you can get the relationship with God that I've got. And I'm telling you from past experience and I was an atheist when I met my wife If I did not have God in my life now, I could honestly say there is no way that I would be doing this or being able to be capable of doing this. So please listen to this as many times as you like, and you can send me a message, make comments, but by all means, let me know if God is in your life and whether you need him in your life, and I am happy to help you in doing that. So until next time, when perhaps we will speak about something in relation to you, know God's protection for you. All right, god bless for now and talk to you soon. Bye.
