Recently, I made some notes about God (as Father, Son, and Spirit). These thoughts did not originate in my brain--they came from Scripture, of course. The particular way these thoughts are worded are not mine either. These are deep, spiritual truths about God that have been gleaned from the whole story of Scripture. No simple proof text can be given to defend these, nor can any be given to disprove them. One must take into account the entire story of the Bible to see how these truths are in fact true. This is Part 6. Once all parts are posted over the next few days, I will give more details on the person and source who helped me pen these random thoughts. Feel free to comment.
Your friend on the journey,
Jason
As a Christian, the Spirit is always with you. Sometimes you don't know it. But for you to know it or not has nothing at all to do with whether He is actually there or not. He is always with you; sometimes He wants you to be aware in a special way--more intentional. You can always talk to Him and He will always be with you, whether you sense His presence or not.
Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions. The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly. But even then, you don't want to trust them more than Father.
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As a Christian, the Spirit is always with you. Sometimes you don't know it. But for you to know it or not has nothing at all to do with whether He is actually there or not. He is always with you; sometimes He wants you to be aware in a special way--more intentional. You can always talk to Him and He will always be with you, whether you sense His presence or not.
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Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions. The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly. But even then, you don't want to trust them more than Father.
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Do you believe the Bible is a rule-book that tells you what to do? You know: doing good things and avoiding evil, being kind to the poor, reading your Bible, praying, and going to church. Things like that. You might not have done these things very well. You have moments that aren't too bad, but there's always something you're struggling with, or feeling guilty about. You just figure you need to try harder, but you find it difficult to sustain motivation. The truth is that the Bible doesn't teach you to follow rules. It is a picture of Jesus. While words may tell you what God is like and even what He may want from you, you cannot do any of it on your own. Life and living is in him and in no other.
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Religion is about having the right answers, and some of their answers are right. But Father is about the process that takes you to the living answer and once you get to him, he will change you from the inside. There are a lot of smart people who are able to say a lot of right things from their brain because they have been told what the right answers are, but they don't know Father at all. So really, how can their answers be right even if they are right, if you understand my drift? So even though they might be right, they are still wrong. Don't look for rules and principles; look for relationship--a way of coming to be with God.
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What about the 10 Commandments? Why do you think God came up with them? You might think they are a set of rules that God expects humans to obey in order to live righteously in God's good graces. If that were true--which it is not--then how many do you think have lived righteously enough to enter God's good graces? Actually, only one succeeded--Jesus. He not only obeyed the letter of the law but fulfilled the spirit of it completely. But understand this, to do that he had to rest fully and dependently upon Father. So why did He give us the 10 Commandments? He wanted you to give up trying to be righteous on your own. It was a mirror to reveal juts how filthy your face gets when you live independently. If you live your life alone and independently, the promise is empty. Jesus laid the demand of the law to rest; it no longer ha any power to accuse or command. Jesus is both its promise and fulfillment.
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Does the fact that we're living in the New Covenant mean we don't have to follow the rules? Yes. In Jesus you are not under any law. All things are lawful. Those who are afraid of freedom are those who cannot trust God to live in them. Trying to keep the law is actually a declaration of independence, a way of keeping control.
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We like the Law so much because it grants us the power to judge others and feel superior to them.
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Responsibility and expectation are just another form of rules we are no longer under. That is why you won't find the word responsibility in the Scriptures.
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Religion must use law to empower itself and control the people who they need in order to survive. God gives us the ability to respond and our response is to be free to love and serve in every situation, and therefore each moment is different and unique and wonderful. Because the Spirit is our ability to respond, He has to be present in us. If He simply gave us a responsibility, He would not have to be with us at all. It would now be a task to perform, an obligation to be met, something to fail.
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Responsibilities and expectations are the basis of guilt and shame and judgment, and they provide the essential framework that promotes performance as the basis for identity and value.
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God does not want to be first among a list of values; He wants to be at the center of everything.
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