God's love and blessing to you all. Julie and I had a wonderful time with some of our dear friends tonight. I always cherish our times together because I can share my heart and soul and my brothers and sisters. They listen with open and nonjudgmental hearts and then share what God has put on their hearts as food to feed my soul. It reinforces to me how wonderful it is to have dear friends.
My mother told me that if I could count my true friends on one hand in my lifetime I would be lucky. Mothers are so loving and wise. My time with my friends tonight and that wisdom from Mom sparked me to share with you tonight.
If you have read all or any of my other writings then you know how dear my walk is with Jesus. Christ is my best friend, as well as my Savior. I have shared this before but I will say it again, He wants to be your best friend too. I state this again because I believe too many of you get religion and a relationship with Jesus confused.
Now I personally have no problem with religion as the structure for relationship with God. We need good, solid, loving people to help guide us. It is good for us to have a congregating place where we can, as a family, sing praise to God our father. I know I love having a place of peace and refuge where I can escape and fall to my knees and cry to God.
While these are all wonderful, they are not the solid foundation on which my faith is anchored. You see my rock and faith are with Jesus Christ. I state this because as I said there is a difference and I see too many people that have issues with " the Church" or religion. Once you open the door to a relationship with Jesus you may look at some of your perceptions in a different light.
I would like to put aside a discussion about the church for now because with all the good that has been done in it, unfortunately selfish people have misused their power in the name of God and the church and the debate would be much too lengthy. I feel empathy for any and all that have been wronged and hope that the words God puts on my heart may help you.
I speak of a relationship with Jesus because that is what I read of in the New Testament. Love and friendship is what Christ preaches all through His ministry. My dear friend Matt shared something tonight that I had never pondered in one of my favorite scripture verses. In 1st Corinthians13 it says, " 1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love , I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Please read the rest for yourself for it is beautiful for its message and poetry.
Now what Matt shared is to insert the name of God every time it says love. Please stop now and read the previous paragraph and say God instead of love. It really doesn't matter because the two are interchangeable. It was so amazing to me because that chapter is so very special to me and yet I had not before seen that connection. I wont speak for others but I as a passionate Christian have too often somewhat separated the two. I know that God loves but Matt reminded me that God is love. That is why He sent His Son to die for us and to be the sacrifice for our sins.
When Christ was sacrificed there was a large earthquake that shook all of Jerusalem. When this happened the curtain in the temple was torn, from top to bottom. This curtain separated the Holy of Holy's where the Spirit of God dwelt in the temple from the rest of the temple. Before this only the consecrated priest could enter. With Christ sacrifice God tore the curtain so that there would no longer be any separation from He and His people that He loved so dearly.
If you have had a bad taste of religion I pray for you to find Jesus and get to know Him. Read His words of love and acceptance and you will know that He desires all the lost sheep to come to Him. I go to an evangelical church but if people ask I just tell them I believe in Jesus Christ. I hope and pray that as your walk with Christ deepens He will set your feet at a place of worship. Most churches are good loving places filled with people like us all, just trying to find their way and helping others as they go.
I pray my words have been worthy for you to read and helpful. A dear, dear friend of mine once shared this with me, No God No Peace No Love: Know God Know Peace Know Love. He is no longer with us but his love and words stay in my heart. I pray they will find a way into yours. Yours in Christ
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
KISS keep it simple sinner
Good morning everyone, at least it's morning for me. I love the way God pokes me when He wants to remind me of how simple following Him is. I should run in here and put the thoughts down right when He gives them to me; but I am the world's best procrastinator.
I have been struggling with whether I am serving God to the best of my ability? I am not righteous by any means but I do consider myself devout in my desire to serve God and share the love of Christ. This got me to thinking of something I shared in my book that I considered extremely important to new believers. We must regularly return to the foundation of God's love and keep it simple, as the title infers. If you are wondering,you can trust that I put myself in that title first.
In Matthew 22:34-40 in response to the Pharisee Jesus states," ' Love the Lord your God 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."
I hope and pray this becomes the base and cornerstone of your walk with Jesus. I have always felt that if I can fully grasp the basis of something I can better expand my understanding of the more complicated aspects. Knowing and learning of God's love for us is not complicated but it is at times, at least for me, a bit hard to wrap my head around. This passage brings me back to where Christ found me.
When I first came to Christ He enveloped me in knowing that I must love myself as He loved me. As I have stated before this is not a selfish love, but an accepting love of my imperfect humanity. One of my biggest issues before, and at times still is, my lack of self-esteem. In one way or another I too often feel I have not lived up to the worlds or my expectations. I don't know why I was not ingrained with self-confidence but I share it because I believe there are many, many people out there that are doing their best to fake it as I did.
I ask you to wrap your head around this scripture and see the simplicity, and wisdom of it. I have heard many people speak of how hard it is to follow all of God's rules. I can somewhat see their point if you try to do everything at once. I am ADD and one of my issues is trying to grasp multiple information. It all jumps in my head like spaghetti and I go nuts trying to put it in the proper order. In Matthew God makes it simple, love Me first, and love yourself like I love you and then you can love others properly.
I could go on and on, and some may think I have, but just think of how simple it is to follow the other commandments if we first commit ourselves to these. So if you are searching out this God thing or have accepted Jesus and feel as if you are falling short; please focus on this verse. Christ walk on this earth was mostly about making it easier for people to know the love God had for them. I have felt unloved and I just want you to know how much Christ loves you. Yours in Christ Mike
I have been struggling with whether I am serving God to the best of my ability? I am not righteous by any means but I do consider myself devout in my desire to serve God and share the love of Christ. This got me to thinking of something I shared in my book that I considered extremely important to new believers. We must regularly return to the foundation of God's love and keep it simple, as the title infers. If you are wondering,you can trust that I put myself in that title first.
In Matthew 22:34-40 in response to the Pharisee Jesus states," ' Love the Lord your God 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."
I hope and pray this becomes the base and cornerstone of your walk with Jesus. I have always felt that if I can fully grasp the basis of something I can better expand my understanding of the more complicated aspects. Knowing and learning of God's love for us is not complicated but it is at times, at least for me, a bit hard to wrap my head around. This passage brings me back to where Christ found me.
When I first came to Christ He enveloped me in knowing that I must love myself as He loved me. As I have stated before this is not a selfish love, but an accepting love of my imperfect humanity. One of my biggest issues before, and at times still is, my lack of self-esteem. In one way or another I too often feel I have not lived up to the worlds or my expectations. I don't know why I was not ingrained with self-confidence but I share it because I believe there are many, many people out there that are doing their best to fake it as I did.
I ask you to wrap your head around this scripture and see the simplicity, and wisdom of it. I have heard many people speak of how hard it is to follow all of God's rules. I can somewhat see their point if you try to do everything at once. I am ADD and one of my issues is trying to grasp multiple information. It all jumps in my head like spaghetti and I go nuts trying to put it in the proper order. In Matthew God makes it simple, love Me first, and love yourself like I love you and then you can love others properly.
I could go on and on, and some may think I have, but just think of how simple it is to follow the other commandments if we first commit ourselves to these. So if you are searching out this God thing or have accepted Jesus and feel as if you are falling short; please focus on this verse. Christ walk on this earth was mostly about making it easier for people to know the love God had for them. I have felt unloved and I just want you to know how much Christ loves you. Yours in Christ Mike
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