Tag: Jesus

Reflections 5: The Only True Choice Given by God

As I reflect upon my life as a parent, a believer, a teacher, and husband, now ex, I have come to understand one thing which I must admit brought tears to my face when it struck me. The realization that our God is so perfect, he hears us so clearly, that he affects every single person, on every continent, of every race on this planet. Most profoundly God has given all of us one true choice. Every choice we have ever made in our entire life boils down to this one truth, to this one choice. We as one people under the sovereignty God are commanded to make this one choice, to live our lives by this one choice. Our lives here on earth are not ones which we are to be filled up with things, possessions, and carnal desires. But rather a spiritual one, based on morality, kindness, tolerance, forgiveness, and love. We are to fill our lives full of the bounty which only comes from one source, we are made to accept it from that one source, that being God.  So in the light of these truths, our one simple choice becomes completely obvious, as plain as the nose on your face.

Each one of these strong statements will either make us ask more questions, to open doors we would have left closed, or we will ignore them out of ignorance and fear. Each of these statements is hard to completely understand, the simplicity of it, his eternal wisdom so absolute, so magnificent we shutter in his presence. The simple truth of God can be found within every word ever written that he has ever uttered in our entire history. Every story ever told shouts his one truth. His everlasting love is intertwined with in it.

The first two choices we are given, which if you are to live within God’s eternal joy and happiness, and see this as the only choice then your life will be blessed, filled with understanding and wisdom that only comes from a belief in God. This choice exemplifies Jesus who said, “Even if your faith is no bigger than a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘MOVE!’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Q78, Lost Gospel, p.113) This belief comes from the knowledge and understanding that there is nothing God cannot deliver. In simple English this is called absolute faith. When you demonstrate a heart filled with the fullness and trust in God, utilizing the most powerful ability he gave to us, that being absolute faith then your anxiety disappears, your worries dissipate as God works miracles within your life. This requires the ability to hear God, to listen faithfully, to accept what he says even when it seems humanly impossible, to simply envision his words spoken to you as his will, and absolute truth and to thank him for it when the glimpse of the future he has promised is revealed.

The second choice leads to a deeper darker path, one filled with sin, and the tolerance of sin within our own lives. We begin to teach that religion is not so important and we start to argue amongst ourselves, ignoring the bigger picture, ignoring the world filled with so much need which surrounds us. In a nut shell we become greedy, selfish, self serving, manipulative, and deceitful, willful, and practice the art of lying. This exemplifies a life unfulfilled, lonely, unhappy, and in pain. We create our own hell as we sink further and further within this quagmire of a life lead without faith, without purpose. This life ignores what Jesus said, “Don’t be blinded by the pursuit of food, clothing and possessions. Stop worrying about these things. Only those who lack spirit and soul pursue them. You have a Father who knows what you need. Set your heart on God and these other things will be given to you.” (Q53, Lost Gospel, p.87) Ironically somehow that message is lost on them. It falls off them as water from a ducks feathers. They quack about things in their life which have gone terribly wrong, ignoring the tug of God, who is like a good shepherd calling their name from within the darkness of the night.  They hear him, but fail to listen faithfully to him, showing their lack of faith that God can fix their problems because they are worthy of his love. The great lie of their life is that they feel that they are not worthy, they convince themselves they are beyond his forgiveness, mercy and love.

This line between these two existences is extremely thin, so much so it is impossible to walk its entire distance. For Jesus said, “Anyone who is not with me is against me. Whoever does not help me gather scatter.”(Q38, Lost Gospel, p.72)

The test or choice is ours to make because of free will. In truth there is only one choice, one path, one God. The line in the sand is absolute, Gods will is absolute. To choose faith is akin to choosing freedom, to pick faith in yourself absent of God is akin to choosing imprisonment.

“When Jesus was alone with his disciples, he turned to them and said, ‘Fortunate are the eyes that see what you are seeing. Many prophets and kings wished to see what you now see and never saw it, longed to hear what you now hear and never heard it.” (Q33, Lost Gospel, p.67)

Amen

If you have been moved by this blog, I humbly invite you to leave a comment, and may all your days be filled with peace, love, and God’s eternal joy.

Reflections 4: The True Requirement of Discipleship

Time combined with age is an extremely powerful combination that will bring life lessons so endearing they become permanent fixtures within our hearts and minds for as long as we live. For some of us these life lessons are marred with pain and anguish, of a life lead absent of God. Some of us were blessed beyond all belief and lead lives filled with wealth in every area; leaving the illusion that nothing is out of their reach, oddly the one thing they need they never receive. Some life lessons leave us filled with mixed emotions that push false impressions of what is real. These people find a fault in their heart so deep that they begin to believe in the dangerous lie that they can never be healed, that their fault can never be filled completely. Some of us for the same reasons conduct our lives as if we know everything all the time. The fear of the unknown drives an insatiable hunger which is fueled by the feelings that they are in some way en-antiquate, which builds up their insecurities preventing them from ever really knowing the one person they should have befriended, Our Lord and Savior. Some life lessons fill us with Gods Holy Wisdom, allowing them to overlook the sins of others and instead of retreating, reach out their hands in forgiveness again and again. The difference within these people from all those mentioned before is simple, they understood and was willing to comply with the true requirement of discipleship.

“If you love your father and mother, or your son and daughter, more than me, you cannot follow me. Unless you take up your cross and let go of all you possess, you cannot follow me.”(The Lost Gospel Q, Q69, p. 104).

Harsh words, radical words from a man who everyone flocked to for various reasons, most had no real clue why they followed him other than he would do miracles, pre-haps to quench their own desire to see before they could believing. Nevertheless, Jesus put forth a stern requirement that divided the people, shocked many, and made each and every one of them wonder to what he was saying. This requirement transcended all of his previous messages on love and forgiveness. It took the faithful to a whole new level of believing while at the same time drove out those who were not serious, and was along for the ride. Within his words he was reminding them that everything has a cost, and the cost for following him was extremely high. It was not a cost which would make him monetarily wealthy, but rather make that person wealthier than Kings, spiritually fulfilled.

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 26-27).

Jesus wanted his disciples to fear not for their own lives because in doing this would create a roadblock to accomplishing Gods mission. Do not love anyone more than your God, is completely in line with the teachings of Moses, and the commandment set forth by God:

1 “And God spoke all the words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:1-6).

Within the words of God the father, now repeated in Jesus the son, the true cost of discipleship was given so as to allow the people to choose for themselves. So that we can estimate the cost. “Jesus did not want a blind, naive commitment that expected only blessings. As a builder estimates costs or a king evaluates military strength, so people must consider what Jesus expects of his followers before they commit their lives to him” (Notes: 14-28). His requirement was one of total surrender, just as God had told the Jews fleeing Egypt.

Total surrender is the hardest part of this requirement. It initials that you give everything up, all your possessions, worries, doubts, heartaches, preconceived notions, family, friends, and even your own worth of your own life. Jesus was telling us all these things belong to God anyway; we cannot take any of this to heaven when we die. The only thing which really matters is God. Living a life filled with God, a life which exemplifies God. A life where God comes first is a life which is filled with Gods divine love, and mercy. It is a life which is set upon a trek that is not defined by material wealth or possessions. It is a life built upon morality, wisdom, compassion, and love. Jesus was handing to the people, and still offers this to us today, the strength to do anything, work miracles in other people’s lives, to build up those in need, and to utilizes the most powerful tool ever created, that of faith.

A blind man cannot see, but walks across the street based upon faith he will make it to the other side. A child loves her parents, but must have faith all her needs will be met. Birds in the air forage each day, and it is on faith they find what they need. God takes care of the wild animals, so how much more will he love and take care of each one of us if he looks at us as the salt of the earth?

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out” (Luke, 14:34-35).

For the twelve disciples Jesus warned them that each one would suffer greatly in his name, Jesus forewarned that the true requirement is found within the belief that all things are possible even when they seem to be hopeless, even until death. We live our lives with God, then our lives have meaning, purpose, and our mission then lives far beyond our mortal existence. We follow Jesus faithfully, who leads us to God, we serve as disciples so that our impact is far more powerful and outreaching than what we can contemplate, affecting thousands of generations after we are gone. Within this single requirement, our singular purpose is ex-hauled before our Lord our God. We fulfill the very words of God that which was spoken centuries ago in the deserts of Mt. Sinai. Our God is a gracious God; our savior is a loving shepherd tenderly watching his flock. In reality Jesus was not asking of us or those people who heard him that day, to do anything which he first was not willing to do himself. His requirement is obedient sacrifice which is rewarded with loving grace.

Amen

If you have been moved by this blog, I humbly invite you to leave a comment, and may all your days be filled with peace, love, and God’s eternal joy.

Reflections 1: What is the Truth?

In a world that is filled with such deceit and lies it is hard to understand why we would every believe in God and the Bible in the first place.  From the first man who ever walked on planet earth to the millions who live today, Satan has been about proving God a liar,  a false God,  someone we should never trust.  Satan has unleashed such hatred in the world that which has kept mankind at war for thousands of years separating us from God without peace, all based upon faith, veiled by the term “Holy”.  Truth has become so maligned that we can not see the most basic things, such as:  “How can the killing and the shedding of blood be Holy?” or even:  “How is using the very words of God justified in the persecution of others, when his message is of peace, love, and forgiveness?”  But then again what is truth?

The word “truth” in the free online dictionary, (Dictionary.com) means the following; 1. Conformity to fact or actuality.2. A statement proven to be or accepted as true.3. Sincerity; integrity.4. Fidelity to an original or standard.

a. Reality; actuality.

b. often Truth That which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence.


In all these definitions truth is defined as our own perception.  What we see, feel, think, as a group as being excepted as real, is thus the truth.  It is our own reality of existences which defines truth.  So anyone then can make the argument if you believe it to be so, others believe it to be so, then it is within your perception of being the truth, whether or not it is, does not matter because it is an excepted reality by more than one individual.  With that logic we have based our laws, our judges have sent innocent people to death, and parents have lost their child only to have them become the ward of the state.  If a lawyer can argue his case the best, use the most trickery and slightest of tongue then he or she wins, be it right wrong or indifferent. This system does not care about what is the truth, but rather what fits with a logic which is based upon cold and Grey peaces’ of information which may or may not be based in truth.  This very thing is what makes any human system unjust.  The very fact we do not know truth, is the very thing which makes all of us susceptible to sin, and to Satan’s lies.  In fact Satan’s argument is so convincing he fooled one-third of all the angels to follow him, that would be equivalent to looking up into the night sky and then suddenly watching one-third of all the stars disappear.  Satan’s argument is so convincing that how do we really know that he, himself, is telling the truth.  If God is not telling the truth, and Satan is not telling the truth then how can we trust Jesus is telling the truth, or any of the prophets, and saints are telling use the truth?  By calling God  a liar, then we are bringing into question everything which is, which we think, feel, and believe to be true, is suddenly false, and we are doomed to fail without hope,  absent from God.  Under this logic anything a person does, says, or believes can be called into question, anyone can turn anyone else in be them family or neighbor, friend or foe.  Under this logic our faith is eroded and we become visual beings, believing only what is in front of us, and blind faith in God disappears as akin to a distant memory, or like the stars in heaven or the fallen angels turned into Satan’s demands.  But more than all of this is simply the quest for the truth strikes at our very core, our values, and our entire way of life, it is preprogrammed into every living being to recognize the truth when we see it.  Thus it is free will which allows us to ignore it or to accept it, in this we are driven to ask, “What is the Truth?”

The Bible defines truth as:  God our creator, his very word is the definition of truth.  God’s truth is shown in many ways but none so perfect as;

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17, p. 1664, NIV).


These words spoken by Jesus in the sanctification of his disciples, describes the very nature of God, and of himself. It closes the question forever to who is, and what is truth as being one in the same.  There is no greater testimony than that which is spoken by the mouth of God.  There is no truth more pure, and holy than the words uttered by the dieing Jesus on the cross. Truth therefore is God, and God is truth.

So based upon this logic, we can then begin to see the error in our human logic, our sin is revealed, and we become ashamed of our denial of the truth.  In the eyes of God we also are clearly guilty, and thus God had no other recourse than to sacrifice his only son in the forgiveness of man sins. In this act we see God’s truth, his wisdom, and his undying love.


“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3, p. 116, NIV).

God spoke his name to Moses from the burning bush when Moses asked him who shall he say sent him to free the slaves in Egypt, and God Answered,

“I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM’ has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14, p.92, NIV).

With this declaration God has drawn the line upon the idea of truth, and defined it as being himself.  There is no other truth than that of God himself.

Amen

If you have been moved by this blog, I humbly invite you to leave a comment, and may all your days be filled with peace, love, and God’s eternal joy.