The Game of Life

Ever play a game: A card game? a board game? a video game? a sports game?  a role play simulation?

There are usually specific rules for how to play. There is usually a goal or criteria for winning: Score the most points, Get rid of your cards, etc.  Often there are rewards for making good choices, and consequences for making bad ones. There is often a tension element:  A time clock, or competition for  limited resources.  Some games are just for entertainment, but others are educational… you walk away from the game smarter than when you started, having learned something through the experience.

Did you consider that you are playing a game right now?  A really big game.  A game with realy really big consequences. A game that will change you for eternity  You are playing the game of life. 

• The purpose of this “game” and this life on earth is for you to develop your eternal soul
  • Your conscious rational mind
  • The passions feep in your heart
  • Your volition, will or conscience.
• God has established a high stakes game of “Truth and Consequences” to facilitate our learning. 
• He places us in the middle of an epic battle between Good and Evil. 
• The game takes place on two planes
  • On a physical level, It looks to us like life on earth
    • Many challenges as you go through life
    • Many choices to make along the way
    • Good stuff happens, bad stuff happens
    • Sometimes you can connect the dots between a choice and a result; Sometimes you can’t
    • The physical world rewards you for gathering resources for yourself and your family (money, property, things)
  • On another level, It is a Spiritual battle for your eternal soul
    • It is the epic battle: Good vs Evil; God vs the Devil; Heaven vs Hell
    • The spiritual world rewards you for becoming self-less and your physical resources to others (time, money, things).
    • You must learn/be taught about the spiritual world.  It is hidden and not inherently obvious
    • You have free will to make decisions
    • The first key decision is to accept that there is a spiritual aspect to you, that there is a force bigger than yourself, and that you should invest some of your resources to learn about it (time, brain power, listening, discussion). 

• There are two arch rivals: God and Satan

  • The Devil does everything he can to defeat you
    • Tempt you and encourage poor choices, then condemns you when you make them.
    • Attacks you and those around you to make things hard for you.
    • Harm you mentally, emotional, and physically
    • Get you to doubt rxistance of God, or to blame him for bad things.
  • God offers every opportunity for you to succeed. 
    • He provided a rule book, but it takes some work to really understand it.  
    • He sent His son as a living example of how to follow the rules, fight the devil, and win.
    • He placed clues in you about where your best resources are (Talents and Passions).
    • He sent you a personal co-pilot/navigator; but you have to listen to Him
    • He continuously sets up opportunities for you; but you have to be open to them (People, Places, Situations, Decisions) 
  • Finding God in your mind and heart is the winning solution
    • He protects you from attacks if you follow his rules (Avoid bad desisions, Avoid adverse events you otherwise would be exposed to)
    • He helps you recover from an attack if you experience one if seek his help and follow His lead. (Positive artttude, See bigger picture / Long term game, See opportunities in front of you, Strength to overcome) 
    • He gives you authority over the enemy if you learn to use it (Quiet the adverse voices, Protection from bad things that otherwise would be affecting you, physical healing) 
    • He will help you see the plays unfolding if you ask Him, Listen for His input, and Follow Him.

• Life is easier when you understand the game and its rules

The Spiritual Game of Life – Helpful hints

• Good and Evil is very real

  •  Adam ate from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” – (Genesis 2:17)

• We have choices all day, every day, and they each have consequences 

  • You have a choice between Good and Evil, Blessings and Curses, Life and Death – Choose Life and follow God (Deuteronomy 30:19)

• You do not create all of your own consequences, some  come from sins of prior generations – you live in a fallen world

  • “…their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together” (Isaiah 65:7)

• The Devil, Satan, executes consequences of sin

  •  “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh” (1 Corinthians 5:5)
  • “…, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20)
  • All bad things come from the devil – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10)

• Evil is everywhere and it is very well organized

  • “…we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high place” (Ephesians 6:12)
  • There are many devils working against us – “we are legion” (Mark 5:9)
  • The devil actively schemes to defeat us: “For we are not unaware of his schemes.” 2 Corinthians 2:11

  • Who is the Devil / How does he work >>> Click here to learn more<<

• God wants you to learn that it is better to do things for others than to serve yourself. 

  • “…God is love” (1 John 4:7)
  • He put you here to be usefull to others
    • For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
  • When you love others and do things to serve them, you are flowing His love through you to them. His love is in you and protects you from attack
    • “…If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). 
  • When you love yourself more than others, you push Him away, and expose yourself to attack by the devil.

• The winning solution is to build an active personal relationship with the Living God, focus on manifesting His love through your daily life, and enjoy His blessings now and for eternity.  >> Click Here <<<