When playing poker, it's always best to maintain your opponents guessing until it is time to start your cards. Poker players often enjoy misdirecting the opposite players regarding the strength of their hand with all the intent of manipulating their decisions. Poker is such a well known game because no person really knows who props up best cards before very end when everyone's hand is revealed. When you are looking for betting about how better to please God and ourselves, life's choices can feel very much like playing poker.
Traditional Christians are betting that believing in Jesus as their Lord and Savior is a lot like holding the best wild card that trumps each of the others. For Muslims, believing within the five pillars of Islam could be analogous to holding 5 best cards inside the deck. The Hindus' belief in reincarnation might be seen as using an unlimited amount of poker hands and funds to try out until we succeed. Buddhists might begin to see the highest goal as every player at the table holding cards that end up with a balanced draw for everyone.
It is not hard to find out in utilizing this poker analogy that doesn't most people are playing by the same rules and may also believe anyone not following their rules isn't having fun with a full deck. But then this good question arises, 'Are we playing poker and competing with the other person or, shall we be playing poker with/against God'? That may seem like an odd and also inappropriate question however the answer is worth exploring.
Most religions agree that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Playing poker with God clearly removes any bluffing strategies. Realizing God can stack those times in almost any order He likes it doesn't matter how the cards are shuffled and cut means the result is already assured could the sport begins. It really all comes down to might know about believe God's goal was in creating us inside first place.
Many Christians feel God's fascination with us is conditional and our salvation is only achieved by picking out the winning wildcard (salvation through Jesus) a moment before we die. Others still believe we earn our salvation through our choices and deeds done on God's behalf. The Bible informs us that God is unwilling for any repentant soul to perish, so a spot their faith in God's desire to stack those times of life in our favor to ensure that all His kids are eventually saved despite having provided us with free will. So, just like with poker, there are tons of bets shared of life but no-one knows the answer until each of the cards are revealed so we cash in your chips. But think on this'
If God truly is love, is all-knowing and all-powerful, and it is the most wonderful parent we will ever imagine, will we really think you'll find any cards He is holding that He won't tell us? Do we presume He would create even one soul that will not eventually be saved at the time of these choosing rather than irreversibly condemned? Do we feel God can't or unwilling in order to save all His children nevertheless deciding we should have free will? If so, only then do we are coming up with a false God inside our own less-than-perfect image website instead of doing all we are able to to measure and 'Be ye therefore perfect' as Jesus taught and showed us.
The only sure bet we've got in everyday life is always that God has stacked occasions in our favor. We usually stay losers provided you want, for you have free will, but our separation from Him isn't will in our loving Father. The strategy to actually win is to experience by His rules of unconditional love following Golden Rule and also the perfect role model shown to us over the life of Jesus. Once we do, then our life is not really a game of ups-and-downs, but rather an endless example of love and joy in God's abundant universe.
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