Posted on by sufficientgrace4u

Is AI the New Apple?

I am not talking about the computer brand apple, I am talking Garden of Eden apple.

One of God’s first instructions to man was:

“You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.”

Genesis 2:16-17

And yet we ate.

All it took was one serpent tempting us with the power to be like gods, to know all things.

From the very beginning we have been tempted with knowledge, and more than that, power. The ability to know all, to be all, to create all. To be like God.

God created us perfectly. We have an unbounded ability to think, to learn, to create, to build, to develop. And God gave us the ability to create more perfect beings. His very first instruction to us was:

“Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth.”

Genesis 1:28

But we freeze eggs until it is convenient, we destroy unwanted babies, and we build AI robots. I doubt this is the fertility and multiplication that God intended.

God created the earth, the sea and the sky, and it is incredible and intricate and GORGEOUS, particularly on a beautiful fall day. But we sit inside and look at computer screens and AI-generated images instead.

God created us with beautiful minds, intellect and creativity, and we created AI to think and create for us.

God recognized that it was not good for man to be alone and so he created woman. We were designed for community. We were designed to share God’s love with others. But we now design AI-bots to be our friends.

Have we gone too far? Are we being further tempted away from God’s plan? Will we destroy the actual intelligence that God gave us in favor of the man-made artificial intelligence? Will we destroy the actual beauty around us in favor of the artificial “beauty” created on a screen? Will we accept the serpent’s invite “to be like gods” and miss Jesus’ calling to follow Him?

Lord,

I love the world that you created! I am grateful for the actual intelligence you gave me, my individual creativity, and the people you place along my path. As the world continues to develop and create AI, help us to not lose sight of you, your will, and your plan. I want to develop the talents and gifts you gave me, and not get distracted by something that, by its very name, is artificial. I want to know the Truth. I want to follow the Way and the Truth that you have provided.

Posted on by sufficientgrace4u · 1 Comment

We Thirst (and no drug, or porn or AI will fill it)

The mental health of our country is terrible. Too many are turning to drugs (prescribed and unprescribed), food, porn or other addictions to try to feel better.  And it doesn’t look like we are doing anything to improve it.  Instead, AI is continuing to deplete our individual wisdom, our thought, and our human interaction.  Our devices take away our quiet and our ability to sit in silence, and think and, more importantly, listen.

We are all filled with an aching hole.  A hole that cannot be filled by anything in this world. No food, drug or sex will fill it. All of the things that the world markets to us on TV, on our devices, on the billboards, are useless, to what we truly ache for.

And the ache is not new to this world. Roughly 3,000 years ago, this Psalm was written:

As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, the living God.

Psalm 42:2-3

Even Jesus knew the ache, as He hung on the cross, 2000 years ago, among His final words, He said: “I thirst.” John 19:28

We are made by God, for God. He formed us in the womb.  The aching hole is our ache and longing for God. Our soul, our being, longs to connect to God, our Father, our Creator, the one who loves us, the one who loves you and me, individually and fully. The one who loves us so much that he sent His Son to die for us so that we might live — that we might believe — that we might turn to Him and fill our aching hole.

God is missing in our lives.  He is missing in our hearts.  He is missing in our thoughts.  Missing… and yet… He is right there.  Right beside us.  He is whispering to us, “I love you, I am here.  Turn to me.”  But sometimes (and maybe most of the time) we are too busy, too consumed by the media, devices and distractions of the day, to listen, to hear Him, to feel His presence.

Jesus told us: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.” John 7:37

We all thirst! Jesus also thirsts, He thirsts for us. He longs to share His love with us.

Stop what you are doing right now. Put down your phone. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes for just a moment and say: “God, I thirst for you. Jesus, I thirst for you.” Sit in His arms. And breathe Him in. Tell Him you long for His waters, His love, to wash over you, to clean you and to fill you.

O God, you are my God—it is you I seek! For you my body yearns; for you my soul thirsts, In a land parched, lifeless, and without water. I look to you in the sanctuary to see your power and glory. For your love is better than life; my lips shall ever praise you!

Psalm 63:1-4

Lord, open our ears and our hearts.  Help those who are desperately trying to find joy in drugs and porn and other vices or addiction to hear you, to turn to you.  Help me to turn to you.  To choose you over my devices.  To spend time in the quiet and listen for you. God, I thirst for you. Jesus, I thirst for you. I long for your waters, your love, to wash over me. To wipe me clean of the distractions and the evil around me, to fill my aching hole and my emptiness. Let me drink from your fountain of love, and I will be satisfied.