SELFISH MOTIVES

[vivshaun]

HI & PRAISE THE LORD

THIS QUESTION'S IS NAGGGING ME THROUGOUT EVER SINCE I HAVE ATTENDED A RETREAT AT POTA.

WHAT I GATHERED THAT ALMOST 90% (I MIGHT B WRONG) OF THE PEOPLE AT THE RETREATS (INCLUDING MYSELF) JOINED THE RETREATS FOR A PHYSICAL HEALING. MOST OF THE BROTHERS & SISTERS I INTEREACTED WITH HAD SOME OR  THE OTHER PROBLEM AND HAD COME FOR A REAL PHYSICAL HEALING.

WOULD'NT THIS B LIKE A SELFISH MOTIVE ( I FELT LIKE THIS). THAT SINCE WE ARE PLAGUED WITH A PROBLEM AND TO GET RID OF THIS .. WE NOW TURN TO GOD........ KIND OF SELFISH ISN'T IT?  

HOW WOULD THE CHURCH VIEW THIS AND MOREOVER GOD??/

CAN SOMEBODY CLARIFY --- SEEEKERRRRR HELP HELP

GOD BLESS
VIVIAN MENEZES

[Melody]

Hi Vivian,

Got here before Seeker, so hope you don't me answering

What you say is probably true - that a majority of people do not turn to the Lord unless they have selfish motives (though I'm not sure abt the accuracy of your percentage!).

Human beings have weak natures and are prone to be selfish. This, trust me, is no surprise to the Lord. He probably - & this is my opinion - allows us to have areas to "need" Him, i.e. He allows us to get sick, fail in our finances, rock our marriages etc because He knows that we won't turn to Him unless we really are in need of help.

However once we have turned to Him, He also empowers us with the Holy Spirit's Power to become Selfless, like Jesus was. To become a servant. To seek God's will & the good of neighbour as of ourselves.

Let's face facts, without God, we will be selfish & a whole lot of other horrible things. If the retreats bring people to God & then win them over to Him, even at the point of forgetting one's selfish motives (see my examples following) then the original purpose of attending the retreat doesn't matter.

2 Examples:

(01) Deepa (name changed), a girl who did a retreat with me about 3 years ago, was a very beautiful and non Christian girl, who came to Tabor for the sole purpose of getting a job as a Flight Attendant in an international airline. Besides Tabor, she had also "tried her luck" with several other "gods" at other places.

When at the retreat, the priest got a specific word of knowledge about Deepa & called her on stage. He then told her (personall, off the mic) all what she had to do briefly: She had to stop praying to get a job & instead surrender her life to Jesus. Since she was staying my room, she shared all these things with me.

She told me she absolutely could not stop praying for this job, it was all she ever wanted to do since she was a young girl. I counselled her as best I could & offered prayers for her the rest of the retreat.

God managed the impossible – He completely managed to change her mind about the job & she was able to surrender her life to Jesus.

Deepa continued to call & talk to me for weeks after the retreat; she often found it difficult to live without the dream that she had cherished for so long, but she was trying. Eventually I stopped hearing from her.

I was happily surprised one day, when she came back to Tabor & shared how she had suddenly got a job in an international airline (exactly like she wanted) without even praying for it. Now she had Jesus and the job.

(02) My second example if of T. D. Joseph, posted at the website at:
http://www.glorify-god.com/testimonies/joseph.html

He was in great financial crisis when he came to the Lord (or rather when the Lord pulled him to Himself).

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Remember, coming to the Lord (whatever the motive may be) is a GOOD THING. Don't forget that there are many other roads people can and do unfortunately take when faced with problems. But on coming to the Lord, a person’s life can be completely changed. Or at the very least, a seed will be planted for the future.

If you feel 'nagged' by this, I suggest you pray that everyone who attends any retreats for any motive whatsoever, is touched by the Holy Spirit into developing a personal relationship with Jesus and thereby transformed day by day into His image..

Blessings,

Melody

[Melody]

I'd like to add another thing:

What's also important is how one behaves after receiving blessings (in terms of finance, physical healing or whatever) from the Lord.

Out of the 10 lepers only 1 came back to praise God. The Gerasene demoniac told far and wide of Jesus, the healer of life. T. D. Joseph (of example 2 above) along with hosts of other people who have received physical healings & other blessings, come to Tabor or Potta or write into the magazines to testify.

I suggest that you do your best to testify to what the Lord did in your life - inspite the selfish motives with which you started out - and you'll find that there's a blessing even in that (Rom 8:28).

Blessings,

Melody

[Satish]

Hi Vivian,

I also had the same doubts that you have.

Just to give you an analogy so as to answer your question,
"HOW WOULD THE CHURCH VIEW THIS AND MOREOVER GOD??/ "

Imagine, our child comes to us with a thorn in his/her leg. Wouldn't we just love to remove that thorn and thus remove that pain.

God bless.
Satish

[vivshaun]

Praise the Lord

Wow - thanks a lot melody and really appreciate your views ...  i really do not mind u anwering or any one else... the only point is that my doubts r clarified and we get a deeper understanding of the word... hope my promtings do help others too.  

seeker always gets 2 me first ... this time u beat him to it...

much obliged melody and thanks 2 satish too.............

god bless
vivian menezes  

[Seeker]

What awesome witness!  Thanks for sharing Melody and Satish.  

Vivian, you're questions always bring out the best in all of us  

I'm glad I was slower than Melody and Satish.  This way I heard some edifying testimony.