Religious duties are drudgery and have nothing to do with Jehovah God - Jesus - of the Holy Bible. Most certainly many in the name of God, claiming to represent Him, have laid down upon man many religious musts and don'ts, but let me be clear... we have only one thing to do:
TO EXPERIENCE a life of RELATIONSHIP and INTIMACY with GOD!
I say that as though it is a simple, common thing that can be done by any person... and it can. That in itself is the mystery of grace that is boundless and sufficient for all.
Yes, yes, that sounds like religiosity... the mystery of grace.... boundless and sufficient for all is about as simple for most to understand as how one is to practically and daily experience a LIFE of relationship and intimacy with God.
But that is precisely what I am saying can be done and must be done in order to be a Christian.
While discipline is important, religious duties are not in the least pleasing to God unless we are practicing steps of discipleship with a heart to know and love Him, with an inner heart cry for touching the hem of Christ's garment, hoping with your complete being to be engulfed in the presence of God's manifest spiritual awareness.
What must you do? What must I do? What are the requirements?
A longing after God! (oh, is that all! YES! but what and how?)
In our age of technology that burst out of the age of science and high intellectualism, people have lost their way in believing and experiencing the inward life. Sure we eat, and watch and go and do. We touch and smell and taste and see.... but feel with our spirit in our soul. How does one find that in a cadaver? Who has seen it under the microscope of real world facts?
But if even the greatest of skeptics were gut honest, he knows he feels and not only with his mind but with his soul. The heart skipping beat when one knows he is loved regardless of imperfections. The awe of seeing the wonders of nature and everything in creation.... a newborn baby emerging from the mother's womb, a sunset on the horizon of the ocean, a butterfly unfolding its wings for the first time, a hug that fills the deepest hole during the agony of loss... yes, if we have allowed ourselves to live life, we have felt and been touched by something unseen, intangible. The honest scientist knows there is more beyond what can be dissected or observed with instruments.
It takes no degree in theology or innumerable days spent in Bible study to reach out and know God. In time it will take diligent study to grow deeply, but never study that is detached from the spiritual yearning and delight in knowing God and being known by Him - the zenith of life itself. And yet, no matter how much we grow, we will always be young seeking the Lord in fresh experiences, never satisfied to live on a memory of a time we had once or twice in life.... "daily" is all that will do.
It takes courage to move beyond the physical to explore the inward life, to ask 'how to'.
You and I --ordinary human being--are able in Christ to be liberated from the physical bounds of body and mind -- to be quickened in spirit daily.
Superficiality find satisfaction in fulfillment of purpose and joy of living. BUT HOW?
By God, not by what we can muster through hard work and determination. I laugh, because the full work is already done by Jesus... God simply will complete it within us as we sit at His feet surrendered to His molding, obedient to His calling, vulnerable to His passion, yearning to please Him and walk abiding... Him in me and I alive to being in Him. Awareness comes through stillness and surrender. Listening for His voice and following Him where ever it might take you.
What must I do? I must be still and know that HE IS GOD. I must be quiet, I must listen, I must be ready to obey... it is not about anything you manufacture, but think of it more like allowing the Artist of life to paint through you onto the canvas of today. Stroke by stroke, moment by moment, color by color, shadow by shadow, shape by shape, brush by brush, wash by wash, technique by technique. A gigantic canvas being tooled through you by the One that is the object of all your desire.
That is a perfect picture of the union of God becoming real in a person's life. We simply must learn how to let, and then to be.
May you have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Lindy
TO EXPERIENCE a life of RELATIONSHIP and INTIMACY with GOD!
I say that as though it is a simple, common thing that can be done by any person... and it can. That in itself is the mystery of grace that is boundless and sufficient for all.
But that is precisely what I am saying can be done and must be done in order to be a Christian.
While discipline is important, religious duties are not in the least pleasing to God unless we are practicing steps of discipleship with a heart to know and love Him, with an inner heart cry for touching the hem of Christ's garment, hoping with your complete being to be engulfed in the presence of God's manifest spiritual awareness.
What must you do? What must I do? What are the requirements?
A longing after God! (oh, is that all! YES! but what and how?)
In our age of technology that burst out of the age of science and high intellectualism, people have lost their way in believing and experiencing the inward life. Sure we eat, and watch and go and do. We touch and smell and taste and see.... but feel with our spirit in our soul. How does one find that in a cadaver? Who has seen it under the microscope of real world facts?
But if even the greatest of skeptics were gut honest, he knows he feels and not only with his mind but with his soul. The heart skipping beat when one knows he is loved regardless of imperfections. The awe of seeing the wonders of nature and everything in creation.... a newborn baby emerging from the mother's womb, a sunset on the horizon of the ocean, a butterfly unfolding its wings for the first time, a hug that fills the deepest hole during the agony of loss... yes, if we have allowed ourselves to live life, we have felt and been touched by something unseen, intangible. The honest scientist knows there is more beyond what can be dissected or observed with instruments.
It takes no degree in theology or innumerable days spent in Bible study to reach out and know God. In time it will take diligent study to grow deeply, but never study that is detached from the spiritual yearning and delight in knowing God and being known by Him - the zenith of life itself. And yet, no matter how much we grow, we will always be young seeking the Lord in fresh experiences, never satisfied to live on a memory of a time we had once or twice in life.... "daily" is all that will do.
It takes courage to move beyond the physical to explore the inward life, to ask 'how to'.
You and I --ordinary human being--are able in Christ to be liberated from the physical bounds of body and mind -- to be quickened in spirit daily.
Superficiality find satisfaction in fulfillment of purpose and joy of living. BUT HOW?
By God, not by what we can muster through hard work and determination. I laugh, because the full work is already done by Jesus... God simply will complete it within us as we sit at His feet surrendered to His molding, obedient to His calling, vulnerable to His passion, yearning to please Him and walk abiding... Him in me and I alive to being in Him. Awareness comes through stillness and surrender. Listening for His voice and following Him where ever it might take you.
What must I do? I must be still and know that HE IS GOD. I must be quiet, I must listen, I must be ready to obey... it is not about anything you manufacture, but think of it more like allowing the Artist of life to paint through you onto the canvas of today. Stroke by stroke, moment by moment, color by color, shadow by shadow, shape by shape, brush by brush, wash by wash, technique by technique. A gigantic canvas being tooled through you by the One that is the object of all your desire.
That is a perfect picture of the union of God becoming real in a person's life. We simply must learn how to let, and then to be.
May you have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Lindy
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