Predestined Freewill?

Did God direct Jesus’ life, as a puppet master manipulates a marionette from above by strings, or did Jesus choose to follow his father’s direction? If he chose to follow God, then he could have chosen not to be the messiah, but this seems unlikely due to the circumstances of his birth. What do you think?

Be Saved

Salvation is not just about saving yourself from hell when you die; it’s also about being saved from yourself while you’re still alive.

Justification

Within the course of my daily affairs, I quite often witness, and that is to say that is all I see, the phenomenon of justification. There is a theological form of justification, which Noah Webster so eloquently defines in his 1828 dictionary, “remission of sin and absolution from guilt and punishment; or an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous, on account of the atonement of Christ.” Our beautiful goal, but not the justification I am witness to. What I speak of is man pardoning himself for his own self-centered behavior.

Trust me; I am not here to condemn but to share. We are creatures that rely on our five senses and our wits to navigate, negotiate and translate the events of our lives. We learn from experience, but each experience is skewed by our emotional perception, and our hurts don’t heal very fast. Without relying on God and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, we are doomed to a mundane life full of self doubt and often chaotic thoughts. This in turn manifests our cardinal behavior. The world appears to rotate around us and as long as we keep our ears and eyes closed, it will forever remain that way. Should anyone question our reasoning or actions we can robotically render a justification. We see ourselves as victims or “in control”, or a little of both. It’s nonetheless uncommon for our conscience to boil up from inside and cause us to justify our behavior by venting to a friend; a ritual so common that we don’t even realize that we’re doing it let alone know that we probably shouldn’t.

There is no good or righteous justification for our self-centered behavior. It is not endearing us to our loved ones, friends and especially God. Instead, look outside of yourself through the eyes of love. Live your life devoted to loving all and fill your heart and mind with compassion instead of self. First Peter, chapter three tells us so profoundly and beautifully in verses eight through twelve:
“ 8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”

Let’s try to heed the still quiet voice within us, the Holy Spirit, and be loving and compassionate and leave justification to God.

God speed!

Old Story, New Lesson, Just Ask

I was listening to Bill Winston preach a sermon on the Kingdom of God, which is very good, and he read the story of the young man who had asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life (Matt. 19:16-22). Jesus answers him stating that if he wants eternal life, keep the commandments. The young man said that he had, to which Jesus responded, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.”

To understand how this story relates to each of us individually, this was Jesus’ command to the young man, which was initiated from the young man asking Jesus a specific question. Jesus’ response was suited to the young man as it related to his life and his circumstances; he may very well have a different response to you.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

And again in Luke 11:9-10 “9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

So ask. Ask Jesus what he would have you do. He is waiting for you.

God speed!

Grace

Grace: a theological state defining the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. I have to say that many times throughout my life I have experienced grace, and in recent weeks I cannot tell you the number of times I have noticed it. I would say that I have noticed it because I’ve been looking for it. As Jesus says, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8)

My days have been hectic and full of turmoil, surrounding me both in the people in my life and the thoughts within my mind. However, I know that because I am seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and doing what it takes to feel the love of God, that the end result will be success. No matter how crazy, or busy, or complicated things seem, I know I will come out on top when the dust settles. I know this because I can feel God’s grace and all I have to do is keep seeking that first. That’s how it works. It works that way for me; it works that way for you.

I recently had someone says to me that I have God’s favor. I don’t take that statement lightly. I ask for it, I look for it, and I choose to live my life in a manner that keeps me in God’s favor. I like to think that I am accomplishing living in a state of grace by graceful living, meaning elegance and beauty of form, manner, motion, and action. I live a glorified life and I invite you to join me for everything is sweeter when shared.

God speed!

A Withered Branch

I have been wrestling with too many things lately. The back and forth issues of living in this natural world by spiritual means can be a daunting lifestyle to uphold. Thankfully and friend of mine came to the rescue; my friend sent me a line of scripture from John 15, 19:

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

That explains a lot, which I will not go into now, but in looking up the verse I read the most beautiful words. They touched my heart and I would like to share them with you—my friend.

John 15

The Vine and the Branches

1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

God speed!

A Lesson in Love

How do I love? In Mark 12, 28:34, Jesus gives us the answer in a commandment to live by:

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
32 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Wow, how exciting to be that close to the kingdom of God! And if we live this way, by this command, we will be in the kingdom! But the unfortunate choice not to ask specifically how this is done plagues us still today. This is witnessed in the mean, self-indulgent society that we live in ruled by spiteful governments, high divorce rates, an increase of folks taking anti-depressants, children raised in day care, divisive sects of Christianity, etc. So what do I do to remedy this and live by love? Here are the steps:
1. Get the idea of love in my mind.
2. Tell my heart to be open to give and receive love. This will connect my heart and mind.
3. Act on the feeling of love traveling between my heart and mind.

It is not enough to think loving thoughts. It is not enough to feel love. It takes both coupled with action to live as God desires us to do. Here are some examples: I love to hear your voice so I take the time to listen to you. I love how your skin feels so I touch you. I love the way you look so I spend time with you. I love to make you feel good so I learn about the things you like and make them manifest in your life. I love to help you so I remain attentive to your needs and am always at the ready to assist you. And so on; you can see how busy we should be every day living by love. This doesn’t leave much time for us to worry and fret.

It’s important to get a healthy idea of what love is before we practice it so do your homework. Read books, talk to experts, read the bible, and pray. Love may take sacrifice, but it should never be painful; on the contrary, it should bring only joy.

God speed!

Man the Reformer

Ralph Waldo Emerson gave a lecture on January 25, 1841, before the Mechanics Apprentices’ Library Association in Boston. In offering his thoughts on general relations of man the reformer he presented the following quote which, this statement alone, adequately maps the destination of my life:

“Let it be granted that our life, as we lead it, is common and mean; that some of those offices and functions for which we were mainly created are grown so rare in society that the memory of them is only kept alive in old books and in dim traditions; that prophets and poets, that beautiful and perfect men we are not now, no, nor have even seen such; that some sources of human instruction are almost unnamed and unknown among us; that the community in which we live will hardly bear to be told that every man should be open to ecstasy or a divine illumination, and his daily walk elevated by intercourse with the spiritual world. Grant all this, as we must, yet I suppose none of my auditors will deny that we ought to seek to establish ourselves in such disciplines and courses as will deserve that guidance and clearer communication with the spiritual nature. And further, I will not dissemble my hope that each person whom I address has felt his own call to cast aside all evil customs, timidities, and limitations, and to be in his place a free and helpful man, a reformer, a benefactor, not content to slip along through the world like a footman or a spy, escaping by his nimbleness and apologies as many knocks as he can, but a brave and upright man, who must find or cut a straight road to everything excellent in the earth, and not only go honorably himself, but make it easier for all who follow him to go in honor and with benefit.”

My inspiration is to conduct myself with Mr. Emerson’s brand of commitment to cause and eloquence.

God speed!

Inspiration

It has been a while since I’ve written here because I have been in a spiritual dry spell. It happens to us all; we get caught up in the hectic distractions of our everyday world and quickly lose sight of our dreams, our commitments, our pleasures, our God. Lately, I had been moping around, plodding through life; knowing that I was off track yet unable to right myself. Thankfully with God’s grace and the whisper of the Holy Spirit I eventually got back to the system of my life that works best for me—living one day at a time, concerning myself with staying in God’s good graces.

A major thing I realized is that I had not been living an inspired life. You see, in our society we think that we are searching for that instant gratification. However, I’ve recently come to realize that gratification is only a by product of an inspired life. So in chasing gratification, we are chasing a nebulous ghost. But when we become inspired to life with purpose we find ourselves gratified, and satisfied with daily life.

I encourage you to find your personal inspiration and live your life on purpose.

God speed!

More Common Sense

In the previous post I wrote about common sense; where do you think this common sense comes from? Is it an energy that is floating around in the universe that we can draw from when needed? Or is it something in our brain the computes logical information? I’d love to know your opinion.

God speed!

Common Sense

We all have common sense. If we didn’t have any we wouldn’t be alive for very long; we wouldn’t have survived the monkey bars on the playground. Some of us appear to have an abundance, maybe enough for two people, and some of us appear to have very little but looking at the definition of these two words, it might shed some light on each of our circumstances.

Common: “Belonging equally to or shared equally by two or more; joint: common interests. Of or relating to the community as a whole; public (American Heritage Dictionary).”

Sense: “Natural understanding or intelligence, especially in practical matters (American Heritage Dictionary).”

So we could say that there is this universal understanding that belongs to all of us. This understanding gives us the practical discernment to determine a result before it happens. Well, we all want a good result. We don’t want an event to cause us harm; we don’t want to be hurt so we use our common sense, which gives us good judgment so we can get good results.

Common sense tells us things like; you don’t buy more than you can pay for. You don’t eat more calories in a day than you can burn off.

Our common sense should be used for the common good. We can share our common sense with others to prevent others from harm. Our good judgment can be applied, with kindness, when those around us are having trouble sensing their common sense.

I find it interesting that people that struggle with believing in God, or Godliness, have no trouble believing that they have common sense. Jesus said “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” That’s the Gospel or The Good News!

God speed!



common. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved June 08, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/common

sense. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Retrieved June 08, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sense

Love God

I had recently heard a speaker on the radio preach about the story of the prodigal son. He pointed out that the first thing the prodigal son did after receiving his inheritance was to move out of his fathers house. Isn’t that a great analogy of what we do? We ask God for an abundance of blessings and pray for His favor. We live blessed lives, by the grace of God, and yet spend the majority of our time outside of the Kingdom of God. We take what He gives us and then we move out of his house until we’re in trouble and then we come crawling back praying and begging for His help. I wonder how many people that say they love God actually do? Do you love God just for who He is? Do you ever pray just to be in His presence? Not for what he has done for you and what he might do for you in the future? Do you ever pray without asking for something? If you haven’t thought about it, maybe it’s time.

I had also recently had a discussion with a friend about whether or not God wants us to live abundantly or meekly. I believe we are to live abundantly as kings and my friend believes we are to live in a lesser, modest manner. We both agreed that we are to be humble and giving, the difference lies in our personal lives and finances. To spare all of the details, we both quoted scripture to support our views. One in particular that he began with was the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19:16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18 "Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,
19 honor your father and mother, and 'love your neighbor as yourself."
20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

I’ve often heard this story told for the premise of stating that we are to live almost as peasants to appease Jesus, but I say for the sake of that argument we don’t know the end of the story. This young man was offered treasures in Heaven! Isn’t this worth more than anything on earth? Didn’t God create everything on earth? Then I contend that He will manifest any treasures in heaven here on earth; we are the ones that don’t make it a reality by limiting our thoughts. I believe that is what Jesus was trying to convey when he went on to say:
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

At some point we need to let our faith take over. The Gospel is literally Good News! Love God, trust God, have faith in God. In the end I pared our discussion down to it’s finest point to search in your heart; if you admit that God loves you, do you think he wants you to have the best, or just barely enough to get by?

God speed!

The Ten Commend-ments:

This is to commend all of us who live by the word of God.

1. Thank you for doing our duty to God, as our creator, to worship Him.

2. Thank you for following our moral obligation to our fellow human beings, because God created all men "in His own image." If men are created in God's image, they also must be respected and loved.

3. Thank you for praising and respecting, and honoring the name of the LORD your God.

4. Thank you for remembering the Sabbath day, and keeping it holy.

5. Thank you for honoring your father and your mother.

6. Thank you for honoring every life.

7. Thank you for the faithfulness and fidelity to your spouse.

8. Thank you for being honest and trustworthy.

9. Thank you for only speaking about the good qualities of your neighbor.

10. Thank you for loving your neighbor, honoring and being happy for him for all that is his.

You are to be commended because on your journey to improve the quality of your life you’ve realized that the Bible is a guide for better living. Thank you for helping me to become a better person because you have become a better person.

God speed!

My Own Lesson

I learned a valuable lesson recently; always operate out of love. Matthew 22:37 - 40 Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

If you think you know what love is, take the time to know for sure. If you’re unsure of what love is, take the time to learn. C. S. Lewis wrote a tremendous book on the subject called, “The Four Loves.” It is a thorough and thoughtful insight of the word love, which I recommend, but I can tell you that if you don’t want to put in the effort, there are alternatives. A place to start is if you love someone you wish them goodwill. If you don’t love someone, you still wish them good will. Of course you only get out of a relationship, what you put into it. We all might know what we should do, but without acting on it, nothing will ever change.

I heard a good story today about a new preacher that came and gave a wonderful sermon and the congregation was so moved that electricity was in the air. They lined up after the service to welcome the new preacher and thank him for the wonderful sermon. He graciously thanked them and encouraged them to return. Word of the wonderful new preacher spread fast throughout the community and the following Sunday service was standing room only. The congregation was excitedly anticipating the sermon and the new preacher stood and delivered the exact same wonderful sermon as the week before. Some of the parishioners that had heard it before thought that he must have delivered it to assist the people that had missed it the week before. The following Sunday the church was packed again and again the new preacher delivered the same wonderful sermon. After the seventh Sunday of the same wonderful sermon a stern committee of older women approached the new preacher and stated that though they loved the wonderful sermon, did he have any others he could deliver?
“Of course,” the preacher happily stated, “I have many that are just as wonderful.”
“Then when can we report to the people who sent us, that you might begin delivering them.”
The new preacher smiled and responded, “As soon as I see you doing something about this one I’m delivering now.”

God speed!

The Law

God first created the universe and perpetually, the laws of the universe. These are the laws of energy, matter, space, and time and the interaction among them. There are laws of magnetism, gravity, cause and effect, nature—the change of seasons, life and death; all of these types of laws that create and hold our universe together and allow its perpetual growth. I do not understand it all, but I thank God for it.

God’s law is also a body of principles and precepts held to express His divine will. This law was dispensed over time, given to us throughout the creation of the bible. Mosaic Law, beginning with the Ten Commandments was given by God, through Moses, to the Israelites. These include many rules of religious observance given in the first five books of the Old Testament. One of the first laws can be seen in Genesis as God tells humanity the purpose of their lives.

Genesis 1:27-28
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Well, we all know that that didn’t work out so well. However Jesus came and returned our ability to live under the authority of this law. With the birth of Jesus and thus Christianity, we became saved and redeemed. Jesus gave his life to absolve our sins and therefore changed much of the spiritual patterns of the Old Testament, yet in Matthew 5:17-18 Jesus says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

We can see that Jesus knew the law and abided by it, as we should. And what did God mandate to us? Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Remember when asked by the Pharisee’s which Old Testament commandment was the greatest Jesus recited Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This, Jesus said, was the first and greatest commandment. The lawyer only asked about the greatest, or first, commandment; but Jesus volunteered the second, which emanated from the first. He again quoted Scripture, going to Leviticus 19:18 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Obviously we cannot each have dominion over the earth if we don’t first live in love, peacefully live together, and take care of one another.

The law of love, the greatest law of all, is a simple law: when we love someone, we do whatever it takes to support them with peace and joy. We love our spouse and act on that by giving them positive support and encouraging them to find joy. We love our children and act on that by giving them positive support and encouraging them to find joy. We love our friends and act on that by giving them positive support and encouraging them to find joy. We love strangers and act on that by giving them positive support and encouraging them to find joy. We love our enemies and act on that by giving them positive support and encouraging them to find joy.

When we love Jesus it is easy to act on because he tells us exactly what gives him joy; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

When we love God it is easy to act on because he tells us exactly what gives him joy; “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” He gave us life on earth because he loves us so to return that love we are to take care of the earth and all who live on it. Simple!

God speed!

Oh, The Humanity

Our humanity puts blinders on us to the life that God has given us. From the dawn of time our free will has led us away from God through distractions and thinking that we know all the answers. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a prescribed way of categorizing this manner of thinking.
As we can see from the diagram, the first two levels of Physiological and Safety are basically what we need to survive. The third level of Love could be included in our basics needs, which I would say separates us from animals so I would include it as a basic need. Since the time of Adam and Eve, mankind has applied their own intellect to achieve these levels of need and as a human conglomerate, we can point back to the fact that, though it hasn’t been easy, we have survived and in our survival we have collectively made our lives transcend survival to levels of luxury. Aren’t we an incredible species?

When the blinders come off, we can see that God created the universe for us. He created the raw materials and resources and he gave us our intellect and physical abilities to use these resources to survive and better our living conditions. I don’t doubt that in reading this that there isn’t a little voice telling you that this is true, and yet we’d rather not listen to it because that might open doors that we’d rather not. If we did, we’d have to change the paradigm by which we live our daily lives. And after all, we’re happy with the way things are, aren’t we? Sure we live by extravagance, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride because in our intellectual free will we perceive that this is what is necessary to retain the higher levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy. This is the way the world operates; however to achieve spiritual transcendence, which would begin at the tip of Maslow’s triangle, we need to reconnect to God on a personal level through the assistance and guidance of the Holy Spirit. God is everywhere, in everything whether we want to see Him or not. I urge you not to set your sights too low and settle for what the world has to offer. Make the joyous choice to build a relationship with God and open the flood gates to the energy of the universe—it was created for you.

So what if I do, what’s in it for me? Good news; for starters, peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

God speed!

The Power of God

Today I took a few moments to rest my mind. I went outside under the patchwork quilt sky of brilliant blue and random white and grey clouds. I kicked off my sandals, lay back in my chair, closed my eyes, and took a deep cleansing breath. The sun was behind a cloud and a constant breeze wafted across my skin, sometimes kicking up enough muster to flap the leg of my shorts. I lay there quietly. Suddenly the sun came out from behind the cloud and its intensity instantly cooked my skin. My eyelids glowed reddish orange as little specs floated in front of my eyes. My skin actually tingled from the glowing heat and I thought, if the energy of the sun is that intense, how intense is God in heaven who created the universe? It’s comforting to be a part of something so powerful.

God speed!

Suffering?

The idea of suffering is a relative subject. I propose that hardly a person who ever lived and considered the existence of God has wondered how suffering can exist if God is merciful and all knowing. I have considered this myself many times and will share my understanding of this worldly anomaly.

When observed from the point of view that our lives are not meant to be “all about us”, but to serve others, it is easier to see how God’s plan works. If one were to reason that all of the accomplishments of mankind were intended for the good of all mankind and not just a means to an end, then we may be able to recognize the concept that God has laid out for us. Do you suppose that all of the accumulation of knowledge that we gain over the course of a lifetime dies with us? Many people spend years learning at the university level, for what purpose? Do we not learn to improve our circumstances and thus benefit those of us that follow the same path? It’s no happenstance that the word university is derived from the Latin word ūniversitās meaning the whole. A whole universe of knowledge gathered together to advance the whole universe.

In spiritual terms, if we look at the greatest commandment as stated by Jesus, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40, we know that love of our neighbor is a priority. So our arrival here on earth is, by all means, for the benefit of others. The major portion of our disconcertion is our application of our own manmade logic to God’s system. We can wrestle in our minds to try and make these two agree but you will eventually reach the point at which you realize that it doesn’t work. Again, this is a part of faith—acceptance of things unknown. Remember Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Now if we apply these ideas to the subject of suffering, we can see that our perception of suffering can be witnessed as one’s service to humanity. Is it fair? Not to us in this world. Does it make us that may be more fortunate feel guilty? Absolutely; but know that guilt separates us from the Holy Spirit. Is it necessary? Yes, as a service to man and thus to God. Just as a soldier sacrifices his or her life for our protection and freedom, the unexplained suffering innocent human beings are our spiritual soldiers. We owe them gratitude.

This is not an easy concept, yet it is a crucial one. There is a passage in the bible in which Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:14 about the Holy Spirit that, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I encourage you to keep moving ahead in the kingdom of God with guidance from the Spirit and get past this to progress into spiritual enlightenment. If you let these difficult issues to stop your progress, at the very least you are doing a disservice to the suffering. Praise God for our blessings, serve Him with all of your heart and enjoy your life.

God speed!

A Successful Experiment

I heard someone say the other day that the universe mirrors, or reflects back on us, the energy that we send out to it. To out detriment, if we are attracting negativity such as negative people in our daily lives, we are probably behaving in a negative manner ourselves. This person went on to say that if we are always in the state of trying to get something then the universe says back to us, what can I get from you? This creates a cycle of searching without receiving and as the circle goes around it gets smaller and tighter until we are nothing more than self-centered individuals. However, if we send out the message of, “What can I give?” then the universe responds with giving back to us. This universal principle can be seen in Jesus’ message about the Holy Spirit in which he said, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” The Holy Spirit is only here to give to us.

So for the past week I have tried to be very cognitive of this and conduct myself so that I am positioned to be in the spirit of giving, which is not always an easy thing. I can tell you that in one week, I have noticed a tremendous difference in all areas of my life, and they are all for the better. Oddly enough, it has taken this reflection of the week to notice because I am busy giving of myself and everything is going well; in other words, I don’t want to waste my “giving” time thinking about things to complain about.

God speed!

Open Mindedness

Opening your mind is an exercise that may prove to you that you don’t know as much as you once thought. No one knows enough to be a pessimist about anything. When any of us closes our mind or closes off what is possible for us or possible for humanity, closes off the Holy Spirit within us which is the connection to God. Having an open mind doesn’t necessarily mean that we find fault in all that we were taught by others, but rather opening your mind to the idea that anything and everything is possible. A mind that is open to everything but attached to nothing. This is contrary to a trait that is so prevalent in the contemporary world, which is the obsession of finding offense in all matters. Most people that I meet spend their lives looking for occasions to be offended. They are actually hoping to find ways to be offended. And there is no shortage of ways; from what someone says, to the clothes they wear, to what is on TV, and so on. But a mind that is open says, “I’m never offended by what is going on out there.” I think, that’s an interesting point of view.” “I’ve never considered that before.”

As Emerson said in 1842, in his essay The Transcendentalist, “The first thing we have to say respecting what are called new views here in New England, at the present time, is, that they are not new, but the very oldest of thoughts cast into the mould of these new times.” An open minded person sees an idea instead of an offense, which makes one an idealist. Emerson went on to say, “The idealist, in speaking of events, sees them as spirits. He does not deny the sensuous fact: by no means; but he will not see that alone.” So I would suggest that we redirect our energy that we dedicate to be offended to that of opening our minds.

The ultimate realization of all of this philosophy is that if you think you know the absolute answer, you may find that you actually know very little. The saving grace is that we have God and He is looking out for us. That’s faith—which is nothing without an open mind.

God speed!

Prayer

Prayer is perfected to openly unite one's self to God and remain in the kingdom’s mindset and open to the willingness to receive God’s will. Prayer should be practiced continually since it is the conduit connecting your mind, heart and soul to the Holy Spirit and thus opening the channel to the supply of God’s kingdom. It is not our place to plead to God for our desires or what we think He should do for us or someone we love, though we can ask for His mercy; but rather it is our responsibility to keep the line open to the Holy Spirit so that God can do great works in our lives. Prayers say to God, “I recognize you in me, in my life and I accept that you are my source and I am thankful for all of your provisions.”

I personally have this mantra (or versions of it) running on continual loop in my mind, which I consider the front side of prayer. It is the connecting interface to God’s kingdom, though lest we take care it becomes the primary focus of our prayers. Equally important is the back side of prayer which is silence. There needs to be a channel open, monitoring for God’s response. He will do this through the Holy Spirit. We can’t hear from the Spirit if we are always talking; it’s crucial to develop an ear for this conversation.

Finally, learning to pray throughout the day—when we really aren’t in distress or begging God to do something for us—takes practice. It’s much like learning to play a musical instrument, it may not be natural, but it is possible with a burning desire, time and practice. But just listen to the beautiful music that comes from those that do. I want to be like them, don’t you?

God speed!

Christian Limitations

Jesus says in John 10:9 "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

Somewhere along the line of modern Christianity, the door shut. Our Christian leaders shut it long ago and few have ventured to open it back up again—of course to Jesus it is always open and available to us. But in the Christian ministry Christ became the be-all, end-all of every sermon. These limitations are the dogma and religious doctrine that rob us of all that God offers. I’ve often felt that many have become so focused on Christ that they have forgotten that he was sent from God. It is God’s plan that Jesus and we are to carry out. To me, being a Christian means that I believe that Jesus is Christ, our savior; but there is so much more. It’s not really that we focus too much on Christ, we just don’t balance that focus evenly across the trinity—God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

In my opinion, Christ came to return to us what Adam had lost; the Holy Spirit in us. Adam had dominion over the entire world. That means he had what we would now call supernatural control of everything. (Supernatural meaning “outside or “above” the natural.) When Adam cut himself off from the kingdom, God had to remove him (and Eve) from the garden because they no longer had the nature to care for it. They had lost their essential force of life—God’s Spirit. I surmise that the entire first, or Old, Testament of the bible from the fall of Adam and Eve on is a record of God preparing us for the coming of the Christ and the return of God’s kingdom on earth.

In the New Testament, Jesus arrives as predicted by the prophets and teaches us, through words and deeds, the way to behave in a Godly manner. But this is not the only reason he has come; He prepares the way for the Holy Spirit and his crucifixion and resurrection completes the lion’s share of his mission. He returns to sit at the right hand of the Father and then, because He absolves us of all of our sins, the Holy Spirit is able to return to reside in us.

Jesus teaches us this, for example in John 14:16–17: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Prior to that, the Holy Spirit could only arrive and cover people; now, through Jesus completing his mission the Holy Spirit can live in us connecting us directly to God. No Limits.

There is a wonderful book by Dr. Myles Munroe titled “The Most Important Person on Earth” that gives a superb illustration of how the entire kingdom of God operates. I suggest that if you’re interested in this concept that you take the time to read it; and if you take the chance to practice living in God’s kingdom you’re life will never be the same.

God speed!

Saved!

Awesome! I am really on track; I’ve got God and Jesus figured out and by accepting Jesus as my Savior I’m all done. I’m saved! I’m a bona fife Christian; from now on my life is going to be a breeze ‘cause I’m living in God’s favor. Well, that’s true as long as I keep moving forward through the door the Jesus has opened for me. It is up to me. Each of us can arrive at this place in our own way, but that doesn’t guarantee success in our lives. We still have free will to decide our own fate. Like any great thing, it takes effort. You have to want a better life and then take the action to achieve it.

As Jesus says in John 10:9 "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." Being saved is not the end-all of our Christian spirituality, it is the beginning.

God speed!

Jesus

I have to admit I had a problem with Jesus. As I said earlier, I had worked out that God exists and I believe in God’s ideology, and I really feel a connection to God. So why do I need Jesus? I could easily believe that he existed; he is considered a prophet and teacher in every major religion, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc, but is he really God personified? If I were to believe the Bible without question, I suppose I could be easily persuaded that he is God personified and all that is written about him is true. Unfortunately, that is not my nature. I am a natural skeptic. According to Dictionary.com, a skeptic is defined as, “a person who doubts the truth of a religion, esp. Christianity, or of important elements of it.” As much as I don’t like to admit that about myself, I have to say it’s true. So I have spent some considerable time wondering about the authenticity of the Bible and the stories of Jesus and I have to say that the more I tried to disprove these issues with logic and reason, the more I was inclined to believe that they are true. Not that I think I am smarter than all the millions of people and generations of great thinkers before me, but I had to know about it in my own understanding for my own piece of mind.

So after many years of passive resistance I had finally come to accept Jesus as the Lord. After all, it is easier to be a naysayer than to be a believer. But, I had resolved in my heart and mind that he was a real person and he is God personified. At a minimum he is a role model and teacher, and at the most, he is our Savior.

God speed

Worthiness

In following up on the monumental effort it takes to try and improve one’s life, you may say to yourself that trying to change is too difficult. Life is tough enough already, why make it harder? I’ve been there and understand that feeling, but I’ve made the effort to improve some areas of my life that have definitely made my life easier! I would offer a thought that one might ask ones’ self: is it or was it worth it? If we take the easy road or go against what our instincts are telling us, do we want to wind up with regrets? If we take the time to be introspective and consider the consequences of our actions, we should determine if it was all worth it. If it improves our life and we learn from it and become a better person because of it, then yes, it was worth it. Obviously the converse conclusion would be an indicator that it’s time to make some changes.

In my opinion, the best practice is to ask one’s self if it is worth it before taking an action or stance. This may eliminate heartaches and trouble ahead of time. Listen to your instincts, trust your gut and don’t be afraid to walk away; tomorrow something new will arise to take its place.

In the end, find your own personal motivation to improve your life and go for it! You're worth it!

God speed

The Monumental Energy of Life

I was considering the monumental amounts of energy it takes for a human being to exist, live, cope, and survive in a 24 hour day. For me personally, night time isn’t even all that restful because I am a crazy, overactive dreamer; I often wake up tired from running around all night in my dreams. We have families to take care of, relationships, perhaps a job and property to maintain, traffic and other daily affairs that make us interact with (often rude) strangers. We have meals to prepare and sometimes pets to care for; oh yeah, and all the emotional baggage we carry with us from our past. We are busy, distracted, and overextended. Maintaining a healthy and happy outlook in the face of all this is incredible; yet I believe that we has human beings have a longing to change. Though we may not admit it, we think that we aren’t doing things right and could do better. You are not alone. If you spend one ounce of your energy to move in that direction, in my opinion, you’re a rare person. It takes effort. And we must feel that it is worth it to attempt it. Never give up because you are not alone.

By the way, I had a conversation with a friend the other day and this person was telling me how they feel inadequate and how they have to fight the feeling that they are not living up to the standards that others have imposed on them. Basically, this person had been brainwashed to behave in a manner that suited the person that at one time had authority over them; their own identity was lost. I shared with my friend, something that someone once shared with me. You are perfect just as you are. God made you the way you are for a reason, and God doesn’t make mistakes. Just because you do things differently from others doesn’t make you wrong, it makes you unique. I believe that we never really change the core of who we are; we only make alterations—slight adjustments, hopefully in a positive direction. Don’t waste your time trying to change who you are, learn to love a appreciate what makes you, you. Work on improving the weak areas of your life and being a positive role model for others.

God speed!

The Question of God

Do you believe in God? I suppose this may be the same question as does God exist? I have to admit that I have pessimistically questioned this at times in my life, but usually at times when it was easier or more convenient to do so. But the truth is that I guess I have always known in my heart that God exists, even if I didn’t know why. (This knowing is an important aspect of one’s spirituality and I will touch on it later.) So it wasn’t difficult for me to reason that God does exist; aside from the knowing, there are too many unexplained events and well documented miracles to attribute to anything else—there must be some universal energy that moves through and around us.

Just thinking out loud; how does our soul, or life force, or the stirring energy that generates our cells into creation function? Where does that energy that creates our personalities and emotions come from when before we are conceived, nothing exists? These types of questions are the types I’ve considered and in doing so proven to myself that there is a universal energy and we call that energy God.

So the thing about this thing called knowing; there are things that we are taught and then there are things that we just know. I recall hearing Dr. Wayne Dyer address it confirming that no one taught us, we didn’t see it anywhere; it is something that you just know. It’s like we’ve always known.

I have thought about my initial questions: “Do you believe in God?” and “Does God exist?” I can now see that there is a subtle difference in these questions. I know God exists, however do I believe in God? To do this would mean that I have faith in what God believes, what God stands for. This is a tall order and nearly impossible without faith and knowing to say the least. I choose to work at my faith and trust in my knowing. This is going to be a great journey.

God speed!

Faith Is The Answer

Faith is the answer. What is Faith but believing whole heartedly that something exists that we cannot see, hear, or touch. It is believing in ethereal ambiguity without second guessing, and without justification; just believing. It is that simple.

True faith believes in the whole thing even if one doesn’t understand all things. This is my everyday goal. I understand that we live in two territories simultaneously, the biggest and best is the Spiritual life, and the other is our temporary existence here in the world. This seems so hard for so many to grasp, but for example, we live in both America and our home state simultaneously.

Life in the world is a complex and complicated affair. It is unfair, petty, flawed and undependable, yet all the while beautiful and an abundant gift. Simplicity is predicated by one’s own judgments. If one removes one’s judgment, simplicity floats lightly towards the source. The source is the place we all yearn to return to. Faith is the answer. The answer to what? All those worries, the reason you’re angry, every unfair thing; every negative thing the world has to offer.

Jesus tells us in Mark 12:30 – 31, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” But how hard is this; to love the Lord means believing He exists. Without true faith we cannot completely connect to our source. This seems like a good place to start. Do you believe that God exists?

The Holy Spirit Ministry

This is a dialog that transcends religious affiliations to discover the desires of God’s heart.

I have felt compelled to write this blog to express my thoughts and ideas on spirituality. I was born into a Christian family and raised in Christian traditions. As it states in the welcome statement at the right, I consider myself a Christian because I believe that there is one God, Jesus is the son of God, and the Holy Spirit is present in us. I accept that my humanness makes me imperfect and this also interferes with my ability to connect to God through the Holy Spirit. However, it is my daily desire to do so and as I learn how to accomplish this, I will share it with you.

Working from the adage that the teacher makes the best student, I believe that this exercise will not only challenge me to put my beliefs in writing, but will also challenge you to be open to my ideas. I wholly invite you to express your opinions and challenge me to stretch my mind, and my beliefs.

I am excited about starting this journey and I look forward to your friendship. Let’s begin by unpacking the old baggage and leaving it empty to fill as we make our way to our destination.

God speed!