Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in
vain.
This means we should be authentic. We should be
ourselves, realizing that we are creatures, created by
God. We should not presume to be God or play God.
Job 2:10 "'We accept good things from God: and
should we not accept evil?' Through all this, Job
said nothing sinful."
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 "Although if I should wish to
boast, but about myself I will not boast, I would not
be foolish, for I would be telling the truth. But I
refrain, so that no one may think more of me than what
he sees in me or hears from me because of the
abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might
not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given
to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from
being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about
this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, 'My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect
in weakness.' I will rather boast most gladly of my
weakenesses, in order that the power of Christ may
dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with
weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and
constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am
weak, then I am strong."
Luke 18:10-14 "Two people went up to the temple area
to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax
collector. The Pharisee took up his position and
spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that
I am not like the rest of humanity - greedy,
dishonest, adulterous - or even like this tax
collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on
my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at
a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to
me a sinner.' I tell you, the latter went home
justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles
himself will be exalted."
Prayer: "Lord, help us not to blame you when things
seem to go wrong, but to trust you and to take
responsibility for our actions. Amen"
Summary:
Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) is angry with God. He
is a local news reporter in Buffalo, NY. He lives
with his girlfriend, Grace (Jennifer Aniston) and his
dog.
Bruce gets no respect in any aspect of his life.
He gets all the "unimportant" news stories. He is so
busy feeling sorry for himself that he is unable to
see Grace's desire to get married. He is jealous of
his rival reporter who winds up getting the anchor
position that Bruce wanted so badly. Bruce messes up
a story about Niagara Falls on purpose and winds up
getting fired. Most of Bruce's problems are because
he feels so sorry for himself.
At this point Bruce curses his life and curses
God. Bruce is at his all-time low. At this point,
his pager goes off. Bruce calls the number and a man
invites him for a job interview. The caller knows
everything about Bruce because it is God (Morgan
Freeman). When they finally meet, God gives Bruce his
own powers for a week to see if Bruce can do a better
job at being God. However, Bruce is not allowed to
tell anyone that he is now "God," and he cannot
interfere with anyone's free will. God stresses that
because of free will, he cannot force anyone to love
him.
At first, Bruce uses his powers like magic. Then
he starts to hear people praying. After several days
of this, God visits Bruce and asks him what he has
done to help people. Bruce has really just used his
powers to help himself. He used the powers to get the
anchor job. Bruce seems to be getting all that he
wants, when Grace leaves him. Bruce cannot make her
love him. Bruce is truly devastated now, and finally
turns his life over to God. At this point, Bruce gets
hit by a truck and thinks he has died. Bruce has a
long conversation with God, and Bruce wakes up in the
hospital. Grace is there with him.
Bruce goes back to his life, happily accepting
the good and bad of his life, and leaving the job of
being God to God.
Focus: Bruce Nolan complains about how God treats
him. Only by God's intervention does he learn to be
enduring like Job, humble like Paul, and acknowledge
the truth about himself like the tax collector in
Jesus' parable.
