There is guidance and
misguidance. The guided are those who love. The misguided are those who hate.
The God I have come to know, is not on the
side of those who terrorize and murder people for being different from them. He
is not an advocate of lawlessness and bloody violence. He is a lover, who is
waiting to save everyone, who will come to him, of his or her own accord. But
if people want to turn away from God, and follow their human stirrings, they
are likely to submit to the hatred that is rife, where divine love and
tolerance are absent. Such hatred is from the devil, for he who spurns God is a
person who is more like the devil, than he or she may realize.
A common temptation
might afflict this world. But, not everyone is similarly tempted. The greatest
temptations come to the ones who are most driven to God. Every human teacher
knows that the hardest questions are for those who exceed others in understanding,
and more suitable for greater challenges. In short, not all tests are similar
in severity. And the way of escape is not similarly accessible to all the
tempted. Some tests are so terrible that they produce a gut-wrenching cry of
desperation from the cross. There appears to be no hope of any way out.
"We all need
help". Let this not be our excuse for not helping others. We need help,
but we should help others in greater need.
There is a world of
difference between doing something and trying to do something. We should try
first in order to do later.
Humility is an
endearing quality. Be humble particularly with those who have less than you.
For us to be
harmonious, we need not only to tolerate difference, but also to appreciate it.
For all of us to be
harmonious, we need not only to tolerate difference, but also appreciate it.
God is going to bless
you soon. He is already blessing you. Soon you will know how much he cares for
you. Just believe.
Enjoy the good in your
life. Don't be troubled by the bad. Give it to God, and ask him to help you
overcome it.
Care for animals. Feed
a stray animal. Take care of plants. Do whatever you can for the creations of
God.
Believe that God is
working for you. Believe that God is going to answer your prayer soon.
Try to care for
another person, as you would care for yourself. Try to love another human
being, as you love yourself.
Speak well to those
who have been impolite to you. Show them by example how to use words
constructively.
Do good to please
others. Don't do good to please yourself. But above all, do good to please God.
Do good every day. But
don't overdo it. Enjoy the good that you do, and look forward to it.
Don't worry about what
you cannot change. Give it to God, and ask God to do what only he can do.
I will pray for you.
Be of good cheer. Your God will not fail you. Believe that. Say that.
Don't forget to help
the needy. Also remember God's workers and help those who work for God.
There is always hope
where God is present. God knows your need. Believe that he will grant your
request at the right time.
If you are in need,
pray for others who are in need. If you are troubled, pray for those who are in
trouble.
If people are rude to
you, be polite with them in return. If people insult you, praise them in
return. Only do this sincerely.
Try to do good to
those who have been unkind to you. Try to bless them, and pray for them.
Believe that you can do this.
Even if people have
not been good to you, try to think well of them. Think about forgiving them.
Try to pray for them.
Learn to think of
others. Try to wish them well. Help them if you can. Pray for their welfare.
2000 years have added
considerably to human knowledge and understanding. To ignore this increased
wisdom, and indiscriminately prefer biblical knowledge to contemporary
knowledge, would be a great folly.
God as a lover on one
side and a hater on the other side, may be alluring to some terrorized and
terrorizing creatures in the world, but the truth is that God is, above all.
love, and that he did not send his Son to condemn the world. The Bible that
some modern day Pharisees are married to, does mention these things plainly But
along with these things, there is a great list of warnings, that drives the
neo-Pharisees to a self-righteous frenzy. What a man chooses to focus on is his
business. I choose to see the good. I choose to accept love, and tell others
about it. Some lap up love and fury together, and try to sell it to the world
as pure love. Only tormented, terrorized and insane people may accept it as
such.
Biblical slavery
begins with an attitude that says that the Bible writers knew God better than
we do today. It ensures, in many cases, a lifetime of craven servitude to the
Bible, which is a man-made anthology of so-called Spirit-inspired writing.
There is much truth n the Bible, and there is much truth elsewhere as well.
When Jesus Christ was here, close-minded, God-distorters opposed his teaching.
Christ's teaching was quite revolutionary, and he transformed the image of a
vengeful, vindictive, exclusive, local God into a forgiving, global, inclusive
God. What bible-centric, fear-mongers are doing today is not very different
from what the Pharisees did with Jesus.
It is my prayerful
hope that those who worship God in fear, will one day worship him without fear.
No one, who has had a loving parent, can conceive of being terrified of that
parent. And God is greater than the greatest human parent. His love is a
beautiful thing. Many of us have such a distorted image of God's love, that we
can never rest easy, after we are told that God loves us unconditionally. We
see him as a lover, who is constantly monitoring our behaviour, like a cruel
headmaster, and will not hesitate to punish us, if we disobey him. And since we
cannot obey him in human strength, we despair that we will never live up to his
expectation of us. This terrible fear will kill any regard or love we might
have for God. And what we end up showing to him is a false affection born of
fear, and bred in terror. Such a sham can never please God. Still, God loves
all of us, even the cowardly ones, who cower under him.
I too quaked in fear
once. I too feared God's judgement. It certainly seemed more convincing than his
love. But we are told unequivocally in the Bible that God is love, and that he
forgives a multitude of sins. We are also told that he sent us his Son, Jesus
Christ, to save us from our sins. He laid down his life for us to wash all our
sins away. He did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world. Jesus
Christ told an unforgettable story of a lost son, who returned to his father,
after a terribly sinful life, and is accepted without the slightest reproof. Is
this the image of God that we should cherish in our hearts, or should we still
quake in fear at the thought of weeping and gnashing of teeth? John the apostle
of Jesus Christ, who leaned against his Lord in a tenderly intimate manner,
states that there is no fear in love, and that those who fear are not perfected
in love, for they still live in fear of judgement. Many believers in this world
fall under this category. Fear is their great motivation to worship. Such
people struggle to love God, and are constantly in fear of displeasing him. They
say that he is a great loving Father, but are terrified of his judgement. No
one who sees them will believe that God is love. Such people do more damage to
God than unbelievers.
God is not an evil
sadist, who continually displays an image of fiery hell, or an emotional
blackmailer, who perpetually flashes an image of the crucified Jesus Christ to
intimidate us into submission to him. The love of God compels in other ways.
And when we are drawn into his love, we don't feel used or manipulated. When we
begin to know God, we fear him and his judgement. We are terrified of him, when
we read the numerous warnings in the Bible. But this is the truth. God's great
anger at human sin is now a thing of the past. Jesus Christ satisfied the
demands of that great wrath on a cross in Calvary, thousands of years ago.
There is no more sacrifice required by God, beyond the death of his own beloved
Son. The blood of Christ washed every human sin that was ever committed. There
is nothing more any God-believing human can do to make his salvation secure or
insecure. And those who believe in God's work through Christ, are born of God,
and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who gently renews their human minds to conform
to the divine mind of Christ. When people resist and turn away, the Spirit
disciplines them and brings them back into his fold. He does not fail, for God
is not incompetent. Those he holds in his grasp cannot be wrested away from
him. When believers accept these truths, they will pass from fear to
fearlessness, and their love will be perfected. However, those who believe that
the people of God can fall away and be lost again, have no idea of God's
mastery over his own people. They are still quaking in fear, for divine
judgement overwhelms divine love in their unperfected hearts and minds.
The notion of a
bible-centric, fear-ridden human stopping me is ridiculous. I have seen my
share of bible-thumpers, and beam-bearing, mote locators, and I have absolutely
no regard for them. I will continue to speak of a scandalously loving and
gracious God, for that is the only one I know.
A fear-ridden faith is
a despicable thing. And those who advocate it are pitiable. I hope they see
that there is no terror in love. And God is not a terrorising tyrant anymore.
That portrait has been done to death. There is no currency for that among the
perfected.
Spirituality without
common sense can be madness. That kind of madness may appeal to some people
sometimes. It even appeals to me at times. But we cannot abandon common sense
forever. If we were to do everything that the Bible tells us to do, we would be
unfit to live in modern society, Even that may be acceptable to spiritual
lunatics in this world, But I would like to strike a balance between spiritual
lunacy and spiritual common sense. That might dilute the Christ message in some
fanatical eyes. But, it is a risk that I am willing to take.
Don't be determined to
succeed. But be determined to enjoy what you are able to do.
What if you've failed
often? Start enjoying your failures. You might even become an expert in
failure.
Life could be very
difficult and terribly unfair. But it will still be a gift that cannot be
kicked away.
I care not for the
offence. But sometimes I kick the offender out.
We want to help. But
the best we can do sometimes is to shut up, and let people live their lives.
If you care about what
people say, you will often be hurt.
When the same thing
appeals again and again, you have become addicted to it.
Someone asked me,
"How do you write like this?" My answer was, "I was allowed to
make many mistakes in my life."
It is sad when things
don't happen as you wish. But you should learn to be happy about even this.
You may harm people by
not letting them make mistakes. They may never discover who they are, if you
stand in the way.
This is what God has
done. He has given me a life that I never wanted to live, and showed me how to
live it with grace.
I never wanted to live
this life. But I now willingly live it. I never wanted to speak this message.
But I now freely speak it.
It's good to be neat, but
we are often slovenly. Not everything will be as we wish . We should accept the
lack of control.
Don't guard people too
much. Let them wander and get lost. Let them fall and know the pain. Pain will
teach them what you cannot.
Let others make their
mistakes. Let them fall, and let them learn how not to fall again.
Take it easy. Let
others live their lives.
There are some who
have impaired relationships in the process of giving constructive advice.
