Life Is Short; Too Short

Life is short. I say this all the time to keep myself motivated in an attempt to live in the moment. But like anything, I try to keep it as a mantra and stay focused only to realize days later that it has never once crossed my mind. It is usually realized in passing when talking to someone about some event in their life.

So I have been listening to some teaching by Kenneth Copeland and he was covering the topic of God’s grace. I got digging into the Word and reading passages such as Ephesians 2:7-10 (KJV) that states, 

“7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

I, in my heart of hearts believe this to be true, for as sure as my heart beats I know that I love people with grace. I do not have a level of grace to compare with God, but I do have people in my life that I love no matter what; and they don’t have to do a single thing to earn it. No matter what they do that I may disagree with, I always forgive and give them a free pass and love them whole heartedly anyway, every time. There is nothing they could do that love does not overcome.

As silly as this may sound to some; consider a person that loves their pet. Short of looking cute in one’s perception, that animal can do nothing to perpetuate the feelings a human has towards it. An animal does not go looking for a particular person that they like or find attractive and then try to impress that person so as to initiate a loving relationship. They do not instinctually pursue human relationships and yet once claimed by a person, that pet is wholly loved. That’s grace.

As brother Copeland said, there is nothing a person can do to earn God’s grace. We would all fall short. We would only get a skinny portion of what is abounding toward us. This doesn’t give a us a free pass to be rotten or lazy by any means, for God has a system that we must abide by to enable us to be our best. But thank God that when we are weak, when we fall down and get off the tracks, God’s grace is there to catch us, to forgive us, to dust us off and get us back on track.

I apologize for being so long winded, but I’d like to bring you back to my mantra of “life is short”. I realize that this is a worldly idea since our souls are eternal, but personally, I need to find useful tools or mechanisms that help me cope in the world. With that said, I was watching a movie yesterday with my wife and one of the characters said, “Life is too short.” Gong! Like a bellwether my head started ringing and it occurred to me that once I discovered God’s grace many years ago, that life became too short. It is if you want to do good things for others! We are only here for a short time and there is so much to do; so many people to love, so many lessons to learn, so many lessons to teach, so much to share. My life is so wonderful since living in God’s grace. I am blessed and all I want to do is share it. Won’t you join me?

God speed!

3 Truths

I couldn’t sleep last night so I got out of bed and started reading about philosophers and such. In particular, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Putnam, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr, Henry David Thoreau, and James Russell Lowell, etc. Some of them had participated in a group called the Transcendental Club in Cambridge, Mass. back in the 1830s and 40s. They were apparently the driving force behind transcendentalism at that time that turned into a coherent movement. The group published frequently in their journal The Dial, along with other venues. 

So it got me to reading about transcendentalism. Among transcendentalists' core beliefs is an ideal spiritual state that 'transcends' the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual's intuition rather than through the doctrines of established religions. This contrasts the idea of immanence, derived from the Latin in manere - "to remain within" - that refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence, which hold that some divine being or essence manifests in and through all aspects of the material world. As you know, major faiths commonly devote significant philosophical efforts to explaining the relationship between immanence and transcendence by casting immanence as a characteristic of a transcendent God.

Well, I could go on and on but I need to stay on track with my wee-hours-of-the-morn education. So I then discovered that the Transcendent Club were heavily influenced by the philosophical writings of German Philosopher Immanuel Kant. (Trust me, this is leading to something.) Among other things, Kant believed he was creating a compromise between the empiricists and the rationalists. The empiricists believed that knowledge is acquired through experience alone, but the rationalists maintained that such knowledge is open to Cartesian doubt (or Methodic doubt) and that reason alone provides us with knowledge.

OK, this is where my reading ended due to dreary eyes, BUT, I then clearly realized that my experiences gave me a thought provoking insight into how I learn. Not only that, but how the culture of the area where I live directly effects my learning methodology, most particularly in the things unseen--the spirit life.  I had a recent laugh with my sister about her response to coming to visit me in Florida being a quick “no”. She said, “I can’t help it, I’m a Northerner.” We laughed, but TO ME, there is suddenly so much truth to that. I have lived in the North and the South. I have experienced to different points of view from two different cultures and I can now clearly see the once invisible path that directly leads one’s beliefs. 

I have always said that I came to my Christianity through trying to prove that the christian ways, and the bible just couldn’t be true. To me, they seemed to pollyanna-ish. So I learned about other religions and considered their beliefs and methods; this also includes such things as paganism and worldly self reliance. I tired this and that and as I went on my journey to gain spiritual insight, all roads kept leading to Christianity. Let me clarify, not the Christian religion per se, but Christianity in the teaching of Jesus. So I am  (or at least I used to be) a doubter and use methodic doubt to prove to myself what my truth is! When I hear something new I immediately say, “Oh no, I’m not so sure about that.” Then I have to consider it, mull, analyze and re-mull, and weigh all of the circumstances and “what ifs” and try on all shoes before I’m ready to accept it as being true. 

In turn, I have also been a witness to the Southern culture, which interestingly enough tends to take things literally and at face value. We’ve all heard of southern hospitality for example, where one is welcomed to share in all they have and accepted for who one says they are. I believe that this willingness to accept things at face value comes from the rural, bible belt mentality for what is faith but accepting what we cannot see. So my point is that a faith based culture tends to be more willing to accept a man’s word and turn a deal on a handshake. Of course the contradictory cultural philosophies are well documented throughout the course of American history, so I digress. 

Luckily for me, the journey I am on is a spiritual one and I have taken it to improve the quality of my life. I’ve made the choice to find a means to be happier, healthier, and have less cares and no worries. To me, it is a matter of simplicity. So how much more work is it to be a doubting Thomas? Too much I say. As a remedy, I have trained myself to be discerning to the Spirit and trust God for as we know, the balance of things lies in the middle of the path. And remember our friend Immanuel Kant? How he worked to dwell between the empiricists and the rationalists because he was wise enough to know that there is truth in both sides. The spirit doesn’t lie so I can trust it. In following it I cannot be taken or misled. In following it I can expedite reaching the destination of my journey for how many times I rejected a spiritual teaching out of habit only to years later find myself believing it because of experience and reasoning.  But to me, that was valuable time wasted. As a matter of simplicity, I would be crazy to reinvent the wheel every time I want to drive my car, yet I am so willing to disregard the lessons others have shared for the sake of my own intellect. So in the end, the journey that we each take, be it a famous philosopher and religious leader, or you and me; the destination has always been the same. Our intellect may lead us to believe that our reasoning and experience hold all the answers, yet the answers have always been provided from the beginning of time. We can see an example in the lesson of the fig tree in Matthew 21:20-22 (King James Version)

 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

God speed!

Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.

I have been thinking about this passage. I intend to mediate on it until it gets down into my heart. I’ll be honest, I struggle with it because I don’t fully understand it; maybe because I am thinking too much. The curious item is the word “through.” How do I do things through Christ?

I know I have invited the Holy Spirit to live inside of me. I know that many preachers will pontificate that we should get God’s word deep down inside us so that His thoughts become our thoughts. I agree with that. But that to me is Christ working through me, not me working through HIm.

So I have envisioned myself stepping into Jesus’ body, wearing Him as a suit of spiritual armor. In my vision, His body completely surrounds me, fitting like a glove and the golden light of God’s love and power surround us both. This golden light radiates out to touch all the I come near to, good or bad. It protects me from evil and empowers me to do good. It is now my intention to hold this vision in my mind until His body becomes my body. The way I see it, it’s not enough to have the Holy Spirit inside of me; we should have Christ surrounding us. This, I believe, is what it is like to live in the kingdom of God; doing all things through Christ who strengthens me.

God speed!

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!