This is by far the greatest miracle that I have ever seen accomplished in this world and in my life. I know that Jesus raised the dead, and walked on water, and healed blind people, etc. etc., .... and even in my own life I have seen people healed on the spot, and seen God come through for people, myself included. And I've read the Bible, and know all about how He parted the Red Sea, and made Manna fall from heaven, and turned water into wine, etc., etc., etc.. But I have seen a miracle greater than them all. A miracle of such beauty and wonder that all the others pale in comparison with it.
I have seen my heart come to believe that God loves me.
Believe it, or not.
Yes folks, it has taken nigh on twenty years of constant hammering on the door of my heart on God's part, but it has happened. I am convinced that God really truly loves me. And, as if that weren't enough, I have also come to believe that He loves everybody else as well. And if you had seen inside of my heart twenty years ago, you would know why these two accomplishments are such astonishing miracles. And if you could also see the struggle, the astonishingly difficult struggle that we (me and Him) have had to go through over the past twenty years to get here, then you would be even more astonished at the fact that this has taken place.
This may sound trite, or insignificant, or even silly to some, but it's not. To change a human heart, knowing now what I know about them, is by far a greater work than healing the lame or opening the eyes of the blind, or parting the sea. To me, who has to live with me, and who knows what it has taken to get here, it truly is, without sarcasm or exaggeration, the greatest miracle I have ever seen happen. And I mean it.
Thank you, and good night!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Easy vs. Hard
I would like to compare and contrast two things and show how easy it is for us as human beings to do the one and how difficult it is for us as human beings to do the other.
It is extremely easy for us to receive fear, anger, abuse, hurt, judgment, shame, guilt, insults, etc., and it is very easy for us to respond to these things. Why? Because that is what we are used to, so we know how to do it without even thinking about it. That is what we have received in life, and so we know how to respond to those things. We are very adept at these "skills".
When it becomes difficult for us as human beings, is when someone tries to love us. When people or God, try to love us, we don't know how to respond, and we don't know how to receive it. This is a skill that we are not very adept at.
How do I know this is true? Because I have seen it in my own life. I have noticed that it is soooooo easy for me to respond to fearful input and to go with it. Whenever anybody puts fear on me, or guilt, or shame, or pressure, it is the most natural thing in the world for me to accept it. It is very easy, and I am natural at it. It is very very easy for me to receive fear, believe fear, and act out of that fear. It is because that is what I have learned in this world.So it is what I am good at. What I am not good at is receiving love. Because almost every time God loves me, (which is all He can do), I watch myself get nervous, anxious, and not know how to respond. I literally get insecure and start wondering what to do, and usually try to respond in some way that I think I am supposed to. In other words, I do not know how to be loved.
The point is, this world doesn't operate on love, so it doesn't know how to love, or be loved. People learn what happens to them. People learn what happens to them over and over and over and over again. And in this world, people learn pride, fear, anger, guilt, shame, pain, abuse, manipulation, irresponsibility, etc, etc, etc. So people know how to receive and live all of that stuff. Because that is what has happened to them over and over and over again. So because love is so foreign to us, we don't know how to receive it. (Not to mention give it!)
The most important skill in life is knowing how to receive love. It is the most crucial skill necessary to being a human being, and it is the one thing that we seem to be the worst at.
There is a book out there called "The Velveteen Rabbit". This is one of the greatest books in the world, because it teaches this principle. And it is right!
It is extremely easy for us to receive fear, anger, abuse, hurt, judgment, shame, guilt, insults, etc., and it is very easy for us to respond to these things. Why? Because that is what we are used to, so we know how to do it without even thinking about it. That is what we have received in life, and so we know how to respond to those things. We are very adept at these "skills".
When it becomes difficult for us as human beings, is when someone tries to love us. When people or God, try to love us, we don't know how to respond, and we don't know how to receive it. This is a skill that we are not very adept at.
How do I know this is true? Because I have seen it in my own life. I have noticed that it is soooooo easy for me to respond to fearful input and to go with it. Whenever anybody puts fear on me, or guilt, or shame, or pressure, it is the most natural thing in the world for me to accept it. It is very easy, and I am natural at it. It is very very easy for me to receive fear, believe fear, and act out of that fear. It is because that is what I have learned in this world.So it is what I am good at. What I am not good at is receiving love. Because almost every time God loves me, (which is all He can do), I watch myself get nervous, anxious, and not know how to respond. I literally get insecure and start wondering what to do, and usually try to respond in some way that I think I am supposed to. In other words, I do not know how to be loved.
The point is, this world doesn't operate on love, so it doesn't know how to love, or be loved. People learn what happens to them. People learn what happens to them over and over and over and over again. And in this world, people learn pride, fear, anger, guilt, shame, pain, abuse, manipulation, irresponsibility, etc, etc, etc. So people know how to receive and live all of that stuff. Because that is what has happened to them over and over and over again. So because love is so foreign to us, we don't know how to receive it. (Not to mention give it!)
The most important skill in life is knowing how to receive love. It is the most crucial skill necessary to being a human being, and it is the one thing that we seem to be the worst at.
There is a book out there called "The Velveteen Rabbit". This is one of the greatest books in the world, because it teaches this principle. And it is right!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
The Belief of Lies
Ok wow. I think that the belief of lies is the single most destructive tool used by the enemy against humanity. I believe that a very large portion of the problems in the world, in every level of human relationships, is caused by the belief of lies about the other guy.
If you believe something about someone else, something bad, then that will cause you to look at them in a judgmental way. This will right away separate you from them. Then you will lose the ability to trust them in any way. This will further separate you from them. Then, if not seen and let go of, the lie(s) you have believed about them might make you not like them. Then it may cause you to not love them (treat them correctly). Which then does damage to them. So now they are hurt. And, because of your separation from them, you are missing out on the point of life, which is love, and knowing people. So you are suffering, even if you feel good in your judgment and consequential actions against them. In the big picture, you are suffering lack.
I believe this happens in every level of human relationships. From big to small. In between husband and wife, parents and children, friends, neighbors, coworkers, sections of town, political groups, clubs, races, cultures, religions, nations... we are believing lies about each other and therefore are living in separation from people. And this causes division, strife, hatred, disunity, separation, killing, etc.
This is why God has to tell us to love each other. Because if we didn't know that we were supposed to love each other, we might never do it! Fortunately, with that command in mind, we can at least begin to do the opposite; try to treat each other good.
If you believe something about someone else, something bad, then that will cause you to look at them in a judgmental way. This will right away separate you from them. Then you will lose the ability to trust them in any way. This will further separate you from them. Then, if not seen and let go of, the lie(s) you have believed about them might make you not like them. Then it may cause you to not love them (treat them correctly). Which then does damage to them. So now they are hurt. And, because of your separation from them, you are missing out on the point of life, which is love, and knowing people. So you are suffering, even if you feel good in your judgment and consequential actions against them. In the big picture, you are suffering lack.
I believe this happens in every level of human relationships. From big to small. In between husband and wife, parents and children, friends, neighbors, coworkers, sections of town, political groups, clubs, races, cultures, religions, nations... we are believing lies about each other and therefore are living in separation from people. And this causes division, strife, hatred, disunity, separation, killing, etc.
This is why God has to tell us to love each other. Because if we didn't know that we were supposed to love each other, we might never do it! Fortunately, with that command in mind, we can at least begin to do the opposite; try to treat each other good.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Broken Record
I'm going to say it again simply because it needs to be said. The absolute most important thing that people need is to be loved. Human beings need love more than anything else. We need to be loved. I know I say it a lot, but every day I become more and more convinced of it. Human beings need to be loved. It's what we need more than anything else. It just is.
More than anything else in your life, you need to be loved. I'm just saying it like it is. I don't care if people don't believe me, or don't think I'm enough of an authority to listen to, or it doesn't jive with your theology or what you believe about life... you still need to be loved. I am absolutely convinced that every single person on the face of this planet needs to be loved, and they need it more than they know and they need it worse than they know.
We are like children in this world, and we need direction, encouragement, comfort, correction, etc. Without it we are like children trying to make their way through life without any help from their parents. Could you imagine your five year old trying to provide him/herself with a place to live, or food, or direction on where to go and what to do in their life? Can you imagine if they tried to do that on their own?? With no help from their mom or dad whatsoever?? This is what human beings are like trying t live in this world without direction from their Father. We have no idea, and the fact that so many are sure that they do, without Him, just makes it all the scarier!
I offer as evidence the world we live in. Need I say more? Trying to tell me that human beings don't need the love and guidance of their Creator and looking at the present state of the world is like watching a building that is being engulfed in flames and swearing up and down that there's no need for any water or firemen. It's just absolutely ludicrous. To me it's like deliberate ignorance. Besides being illogical.
You need to be loved. The world needs to be loved. I wish I could communicate this to everybody on the entire planet. You need it more than you need your religious beliefs. You need it more than you need anything else.
More than anything else in your life, you need to be loved. I'm just saying it like it is. I don't care if people don't believe me, or don't think I'm enough of an authority to listen to, or it doesn't jive with your theology or what you believe about life... you still need to be loved. I am absolutely convinced that every single person on the face of this planet needs to be loved, and they need it more than they know and they need it worse than they know.
We are like children in this world, and we need direction, encouragement, comfort, correction, etc. Without it we are like children trying to make their way through life without any help from their parents. Could you imagine your five year old trying to provide him/herself with a place to live, or food, or direction on where to go and what to do in their life? Can you imagine if they tried to do that on their own?? With no help from their mom or dad whatsoever?? This is what human beings are like trying t live in this world without direction from their Father. We have no idea, and the fact that so many are sure that they do, without Him, just makes it all the scarier!
I offer as evidence the world we live in. Need I say more? Trying to tell me that human beings don't need the love and guidance of their Creator and looking at the present state of the world is like watching a building that is being engulfed in flames and swearing up and down that there's no need for any water or firemen. It's just absolutely ludicrous. To me it's like deliberate ignorance. Besides being illogical.
You need to be loved. The world needs to be loved. I wish I could communicate this to everybody on the entire planet. You need it more than you need your religious beliefs. You need it more than you need anything else.
Love and Work
People, human beings, need love just as much as they need work (or any number of other good things). However, there seems to be an over-emphasis on the work part. Why is this? I think it is because we don't REALLY know who God is and what He's like. If we would really get to know him, we would see (and life itself speaks of this) that we need love, and we need work, and we need rest, and we need struggle, and we need a balance of many things.
Why there is so much emphasis placed on the work part is beyond me.
Why there is so much emphasis placed on the work part is beyond me.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Bridge of sighs?
Was thinking about why so many people have skewed views of God. And this post is going to deal directly with the name of my blog, giving God back his good name. I believe it is because of this.
People, human beings, have in them an innate sense of and desire for God. We come from him, so this only makes sense. So people look up, throughout their lives, to see Him, and to find Him. It is a natural thing for human beings to do. But this is where it starts to get messed up. There is, at the present time, a spiritual reality other than God's hanging around over and throughout our world. This is talked about all throughout the Bible, see Ephesians 6:12, Matthew 4:8-9, etc. This spiritual climate is 180 degrees the polar opposite of God's reality. So people, naturally longing for God, look up to find Him and see Him, and see this other reality, and therefore attribute it to Him.
This has the unfortunate effect of giving God a bad name. Because people think God is unforgiving, angry, harsh... all of the things that are the polar opposite of how He really is.
I was thinking about this this morning as I was singing that song by Robin Trower, Bridge of Sighs. In it he is looking up, feeling and experiencing the spiritual climate of unforgiveness, anger, and coldness, and asking why. The Gods look down in anger, etc. Robin Trower is doing just what I explained. Having an innate sense of God, and looking for Him, and seeing something cold, angry, and unforgiving... and putting the two together.
So why doesn't God do something about this? Well, he has, and is, but there is also this. Because God is so good, and kind, and loving and gentle, and respectful and courteous, he won't act in a lot of the ways that the other side will act. The enemy has no moral boundaries to stay inside of, and so, in the space created by God's respect for humankind's freedom and autononomy, a space created out of love and respect, the enemy moves in , and without any love, or respect, or courtesy, for anybody, dumps a bunch of crap into that space. In other words, the enemy takes full advantage of and exploits the goodness and kindness and respect and courtesy and gentlemanliness of God, and uses it to his advantage. All this has the unfortunate effect of causing humans, people to think that God is a jerk. Which he's not. He is actually the exact opposite.
Once I asked God if I could go to heaven. His answer was to give me a glimpse of it. I saw it, and the best way that I can describe it was this: pure unconditional love, that had absolutely nothing to do with what I have done, good or bad, and they wanted me there really badly. This is the exact opposite of "why so unforgiving, and why so cold?"
All this leads to me to this conclusion, which I have been becoming more and more convinced of the longer I live. Which is this: God really, really, really loves us. A whole lot. A really, really, really lot. And it's only this opressive matrix like spiritual climate that has been pushed onto the world by a lot of evil forces that is keeping us from knowing it.
People, human beings, have in them an innate sense of and desire for God. We come from him, so this only makes sense. So people look up, throughout their lives, to see Him, and to find Him. It is a natural thing for human beings to do. But this is where it starts to get messed up. There is, at the present time, a spiritual reality other than God's hanging around over and throughout our world. This is talked about all throughout the Bible, see Ephesians 6:12, Matthew 4:8-9, etc. This spiritual climate is 180 degrees the polar opposite of God's reality. So people, naturally longing for God, look up to find Him and see Him, and see this other reality, and therefore attribute it to Him.
This has the unfortunate effect of giving God a bad name. Because people think God is unforgiving, angry, harsh... all of the things that are the polar opposite of how He really is.
I was thinking about this this morning as I was singing that song by Robin Trower, Bridge of Sighs. In it he is looking up, feeling and experiencing the spiritual climate of unforgiveness, anger, and coldness, and asking why. The Gods look down in anger, etc. Robin Trower is doing just what I explained. Having an innate sense of God, and looking for Him, and seeing something cold, angry, and unforgiving... and putting the two together.
So why doesn't God do something about this? Well, he has, and is, but there is also this. Because God is so good, and kind, and loving and gentle, and respectful and courteous, he won't act in a lot of the ways that the other side will act. The enemy has no moral boundaries to stay inside of, and so, in the space created by God's respect for humankind's freedom and autononomy, a space created out of love and respect, the enemy moves in , and without any love, or respect, or courtesy, for anybody, dumps a bunch of crap into that space. In other words, the enemy takes full advantage of and exploits the goodness and kindness and respect and courtesy and gentlemanliness of God, and uses it to his advantage. All this has the unfortunate effect of causing humans, people to think that God is a jerk. Which he's not. He is actually the exact opposite.
Once I asked God if I could go to heaven. His answer was to give me a glimpse of it. I saw it, and the best way that I can describe it was this: pure unconditional love, that had absolutely nothing to do with what I have done, good or bad, and they wanted me there really badly. This is the exact opposite of "why so unforgiving, and why so cold?"
All this leads to me to this conclusion, which I have been becoming more and more convinced of the longer I live. Which is this: God really, really, really loves us. A whole lot. A really, really, really lot. And it's only this opressive matrix like spiritual climate that has been pushed onto the world by a lot of evil forces that is keeping us from knowing it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)