De Profundis…..


King David

From the depths of despair, O LORD,
I call for your help.
Hear my cry, O Lord.
Pay attention to my prayer.

LORD, if you kept a record of our sins,
who, O Lord, could ever survive?
But you offer forgiveness,
that we might learn to fear you.

I am counting on the LORD;
yes, I am counting on him.
I have put my hope in his word.
I long for the Lord
more than sentries long for the dawn,
yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

O Israel, hope in the LORD;
for with the LORD there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.
He himself will redeem Israel
from every kind of sin.

How often have you cried out to God in the misery of your circumstances. How often have you sought an answer to the problems you have faced, the fears that you could not face?

The authorship of this Psalm is anonymous, but it echoes a cry like many that King David wrote.

David, the warrior King, beloved of all Israel, cried out to God more often than he rejoiced. In moments of fear, failure, guilt, frustration, loneliness, he cried out to God. Almost every emotion you and I have experienced in our lives, David experienced.

‘De Profundis…” out of the depths of our pain we cry, because our eyes are seeing ourselves only and do not have the time and perception to understand why we have found ourselves in our predicament.

Although God in His compassion, laments with us, His reason differs from ours. We lament because of ourselves, our emotion; God, because, we lack understanding that He longs for us to have.

The psalmist points to the problem – sin. (sin is probably the most misunderstood word in the bible) The state of ‘sin’ is no more than being apart from God – doing our own thing, to use a contemporary expression.

RedemptionThe intense hope of the Psalmist is seeing the dawn of redemption, the dawn of the Son of Man, God incarnate – Jesus.

The Psalmist’s hope was reserved for another dawn; the dawn reserved for you and me. A hope free from all the cares and anxieties of this life.

Out of the depths of this dawn is the greatest treasure of all.

All rights reserved sirpeterjamesdotcom©2019-05-20

If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
button).

 

 

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De Profundis…..


King David

From the depths of despair, O LORD,
I call for your help.
Hear my cry, O Lord.
Pay attention to my prayer.

LORD, if you kept a record of our sins,
who, O Lord, could ever survive?
But you offer forgiveness,
that we might learn to fear you.

I am counting on the LORD;
yes, I am counting on him.
I have put my hope in his word.
I long for the Lord
more than sentries long for the dawn,
yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

O Israel, hope in the LORD;
for with the LORD there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.
He himself will redeem Israel
from every kind of sin.

How often have you cried out to God in the misery of your circumstances. How often have you sought an answer to the problems you have faced, the fears that you could not face?

The authorship of this Psalm is anonymous, but it echoes a cry like many that King David wrote.

David, the warrior King, beloved of all Israel, cried out to God more often than he rejoiced. In moments of fear, failure, guilt, frustration, loneliness, he cried out to God. Almost every emotion you and I have experienced in our lives, David experienced.

‘De Profundis…” out of the depths of our pain we cry, because our eyes are seeing ourselves only and do not have the time and perception to understand why we have found ourselves in our predicament.

Although God in His compassion, laments with us, His reason differs from ours. We lament because of ourselves, our emotion; God, because, we lack understanding that He longs for us to have.

The psalmist points to the problem – sin. (sin is probably the most misunderstood word in the bible) The state of ‘sin’ is no more than being apart from God – doing our own thing, to use a contemporary expression.

RedemptionThe intense hope of the Psalmist is seeing the dawn of redemption, the dawn of the Son of Man, God incarnate – Jesus.

The Psalmist’s hope was reserved for another dawn; the dawn reserved for you and me. A hope free from all the cares and anxieties of this life.

Out of the depths of this dawn is the greatest treasure of all.

All rights reserved sirpeterjamesdotcom©2019-05-20

If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
button).

 

 

God is a Timeless Tale


“What is the purpose of my life on this earth?” – People have asked this question,more than any other in the history of humankind

Belief in God is that purpose and God is a timeless tale.

Belief in God?

Who is God and why do I need to know who God is?

Good questions – always deserving of an honest and unbiased answer. These are questions that would invite, maybe, thousands of different answers.

Why not start here: God, to you, is whom you personally perceive God to be, surely?

You could make a definitive statement, say, like some do, “God is the creator (and resulting ruler) of the universe and this statement would be supported by what is written in the Bible.

Then again, what is the Bible and how can it claim authority to make the above statement?

What is the ‘Bible”?

Bible believers will profess that what we see in the bound books of today, bearing the title ‘The Bible’ and consisting of sixty six (or if you are a Roman Catholic, Seventy two) books bound into one, and that these are the breathed word of God, and therefore give authority to this statement of who God is.

To add to this statement, there is another claim that the Bible makes:  “God is one God”, meaning that there is no other God but Him. (His gender is also confirmed in the Bible).

Such statements are the basis of Bible believing theology of Christians.

Is Christianity the only true religion?

This theology invites the question, “What about all the many other religions, outside of Bible believers, many which are much older than modern Christianity, in our world today”?

Is the God of the Christians the only God and all other religions are false?

The quick answer to this is: NO religion holds the keys to God’s Kingdom, here on earth or in the eternal realm, save God Himself.

These are very important questions to all of us fellow travellers, in the world today. They are questions that deserve honest factual answers.

Let us not be deluded, the answerers to these questions have been responsible for more wars, deaths and crusading campaigns than any other activity on the surface of the earth. This means, that there is no painless solution to answering these questions.

Let us return to the earlier statement, “God, to you, is whom you personally perceive God to be, surely”?

This discussion begun with two questions:

Who is God?

Why do I need to know who God is?

  1. Who is God?
  2. Why do I need to know who God is?

For the moment let the statement, “God is to you whom you personally perceive God to be.” be acceptable and let us move on to the second question.

Why do I need to know who God is?

To answer this question, let us deal with a few facts to begin with:

  1. We ALL have a limited lifespan on this earth. Dependent on where you live on this planet, that could range from 50 years to 80 years on average.
  2. When this lifespan ends, we die and our bodies will decompose or burned to ash, dependent on our choice of burial procedure.
  3. However, there is no scientific evidence that our souls and spirits, which during our lifetime were composite with our bodies, will face the same fate.

What happens to me after I die?

With the above indisputable facts in mind, we should, at the very least, give consideration to the question – “So, what happens after I die”?

If your answer is, “When I die that’s the end and there is nothing more”. Then it does lessen the importance of the questions, whom God is and why you need to know God.

However, If you respond, “I honestly don’t know and would be interested to find out”.

If you see no future after the death of your body, then surely you would have no need of God, whomever He might be.

Then let’s take a look at the resulting option for you in this case.

If you see no future after death of your body, then you surely would have no

The Soul consists of our intellect, emotion and will. The spirit is like an internet connection to the ethereal world

need of God, whoever God might be. So, you can just jump off the religions roundabout and relax.

If on the other hand, you believe, or even vaguely suspect, that your soul and spirit will live beyond the grave, you have a few other options.

In order for all of us being ‘on the same page’, let me give you my definition of soul and spirit.

The human soul is that part of us that consists of intellect, emotion and will.

The human spirit is a communication channel to and from the ethereal world.

Now, don’t get too fazed if you do not agree with this definition, just accept that it is a fairly good basis to continue with for now.

If you are happy then; that the soul and spirit continue into another phase of existence, you will logically decide that the next existence must have a structure of sorts.

Again, logic would suggest that if there is a structure, there will also be a management system for that structure.

What type of structure and what type of management system is ahead of you is not relevant for now. What is of greater importance is; how will you fit into this structure and management system?

If my Soul and spirit do not die with my body – what happens to them?

Like all structures and their management systems there may be rules and regulations. Possibly not the kind of rules and regulations that we are accustomed to, like, “do and do not” but more of the order of, “if you do so and so, the result will be….or if you do not do so and so the result will be….” Much like, if you forget to put fuel in your car’s petrol tank, your engine stops running; in other words, cause and effect type rules.

To recap then; if you believe or only think, that your soul and spirit live on after the body dies and that they will move into a different existence, the question arises; where can you find immigration requirements to move into this new existence? Your best choice here, if possible, is to talk to someone of authority in the immigration department.

Now this is where the matter of God enters your space.

By the way, Instead of using the name God, we could use, president, department head, CEO, whatever we like really, as long as we get the right information regarding our immigration requirements, to enter the new existence. By the way, I refer to God as ‘Him’, but it could just as easily be ‘Her’, whatever you choose. The reality is that; God is asexual, because of being Spirit and not human.

Assuming that you have decided that there is the possibility of life for the soul and spirit after bodily death, the possibility that your soul and spirit will pass into a new way of life which will be different from life here on earth. Assuming there will be a need for you to conform to the requirements needed to enter the new existence and live this new life; then you will have to take a hard look at all the various religions in the world and choose one which will offer you the immigration requirements you need.

Once you have decided which route you will take; work at it with all you worth and be happy.

Never forget this important statement:

It is not a matter of which religion is wrong or which one is right – the important thing is; will it work for you? If it works for you – good. Do not fall into the most common religious trap of believing that your religion is the only true religion; rather respect all your fellow travellers on the road of life, even if you cannot accept their religious beliefs.

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ religion. There is only you and God.

Wallace Wattles, circa 1880-1914, said, “Nothing is right, nothing is wrong, nothing is good, nothing is bad. All is as it should be and all is well with the world.”

My definition of religion is: ‘the study about God, without God’. One does not need to know about God, one simply needs to know God.

Now, let us say that you do believe, or even suspect that the soul and spirit will live on after the body dies. Then, what I would like is for us to travel through the following chapters on a ‘What if…’ basis. In other words, be completely open minded on what you read.

If you don’t agree with what you read as you go along, bear with it and persevere, otherwise ‘shut’ the e-book and carry on as you are.

Should you find that you are happy with what you read, then, very definitely carry on, because, in the end you will either get your answer to the above questions or you will be, at the very least, one opinion wiser.

Should you find that you are having some difficulty with understanding what you are reading and need to ask a few questions, then jot your questions down on a piece of paper and continue reading. In all probability, you will find that your questions will be self-answering as you read along.

If this does not happen, by all means, return to the website that gave you this e-book and post your questions on the blog site.

All set? Let’s go to the first chapter…….

A Timeless Tale is a rerun series, by demand, and will appear each week from today.

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Picture Credit: Izaak Van Oosten – Garden of Eden – https://www.google.com/

A Timeless Tale is a twenty six-part series and is directed to souls who find the issue of religions, churches and denominations confusing. The series will run weekly from this point.

If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.
If you are spiritually inclined see my other site; http://www.adcrucemchristi.com
Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
button).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nursing Emotional Weaknesses


We are naturally self-centred and therefore it’s not easy for us to accept what other people say about us. We have a built in instinct to defend ourselves and criticise situations or others, if we do not approve.

Continue reading “Nursing Emotional Weaknesses”

The Business of God’s Love – Part Two


In Part One, we saw that God wants us to “Love your neighbour as yourself”. It is very difficult for us to obey this command if we try to love one another with human love. Part One showed us the difference between God’s love and Human love. We continue….

To care if others come to the Kingdom of God – This should be our total motivation for serving God. This is the greatest gift we can possibly give to another. How wonderful to be the vessel God uses to channel His gift of everlasting life to others. With this goal in mind, we will then willingly serve others.

As we fellowship with other believers our goal should remain the same – to care if our brethren come to a deeper knowledge of God. Criticizing and judging others destroys people and breaks down situations, which is not how God works. “Loving our neighbour” by laying down our selfish motives in order that those around us come to the Kingdom of God, is a far more encouraging way – and is God’s way.

Apostle Paul shows us how Gods love (not human love), works.

How kind and patient are we? Do we brag? (even slightly?). God’s love does not take into account a wrong suffered and bears all things (not just those that are convenient!). Are we able to endure all things?  It would be good for us to daily meditate on this scripture during a quiet time with the Lord.

Jesus shows us another way in which we love our neighbour. Sadly, today it is easier for us to gossip behind the backs of others rather than to confront the situation in an open way. In our emotional state we are afraid to approach others for fear of rejection or offending. We find ourselves witnessing the sin and talking to others about it (as harmless as it may seem).

If we really care whether that person comes to a deeper knowledge of God (love our neighbour), we will openly reprove them (in private at first) so that they may come closer to God through that admonishing word of encouragement. Remember: We judge the sin, NOT the person!

If we witness the sin in others and do nothing about it – is that really ‘loving our neighbour’ or caring whether they come to a deeper knowledge of God?

These two kinds of love are completely different. God’s love through us is based upon a laid down life, caring if others come to the Kingdom of God (at any cost to ourselves).

Human love is based on emotion. The two cannot mix and we need to seek the Lord daily to have His love flow through us.  This can only be done as we die to the self-centered nature and live a more spirit led life.

God’s Love (1 Cor.13:4-8) Man’s Love (Gal.5:19-21)
Suffereth long and is kind Uncleanness, hatred
Envieth not, Vaunteth not Envyings, revellings
Not puffed up, seeketh not her own Disputes, dissensions, factions
Is not easily provoked, does not think evil Wroth, witchcraft, emulations (jealousy).
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, rejoiceth in the truth Impurity, evil desire, greed  (Col. 3:5)
Beareth all things, endureth all things Wroth of man worketh not the righteousness of God. (James 1:20)

From: “…time with the Master…”

If you feel this article has value, please send this link to others, Writings are meant for people, not for dormant files in our computers and very often when we share them, it results in positive changes in the lives of individuals and communities.

Please feel free to send in questions (see ‘Contact’) and comments (hit ‘Comments’
button).

A Timeless Tale – Chapter Twenty One


 

Living a Life in the Kingdom of God – Continued

In the previous chapter we discussed the three part make up of humanity, body, soul and spirit. (http://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-23.htm} We discussed the first part – the body, now we will look at the next part – the soul.

Continue reading “A Timeless Tale – Chapter Twenty One”

A Timeless Tale Chapter Fourteen


Chapter Fourteen: Living a Life in the Kingdom of God – Continued

“One thing I’ve learned about relationships is that I tend to become more like the people I spend the most time with”.

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn famously said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.

Considering the above statements by people who are generally promoting personal experience and scientific information, we need to accept that if we spend a lot of time with God, we will become like Him and be able to live a life of health, wealth, peace and power on this earth even as Jesus did.

I’m sure that your reaction to the above is: “Spending time with my fellow humans that I can see, touch and hear is straight forward, but what about God whom I can’t see, touch and hear”?

Good question.

Very fortunately, we cannot see, touch or mostly, hear God, because if we did, we would depart this life.

I say ‘mostly’ hear God, because as I mentioned in the previous chapter whilst we will, for the most part, not audibly hear God, He has ways of communicating with us that enable to ‘hear’ what He says.

We will be able to understand the signs that God shows us along the walk of His destiny for our lives as well as ‘hear’ what He tells us, providing we are accustomed to communicating with Him.

Those souls who are born deaf or blind go through training to be able communicate with others. The deaf train to read hand signs that others use in order to ‘say’ words to them. The blind are trained to feel letters in Braille so that they can communicate by touch.

So it is between God and us, we hear supernatural words and see supernatural signs, that only He can interpret to us.

As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the process of communicating with God, is very simple in principle. But at first sight to us, it is impossibly difficult.

Why is this?

Because we need to be trained in what we might refer to as ‘uncommon’ methods of communication, if we want to be able to, as Jesus said, do what The Father shows us and say what The Father says to us.

“God is a spirit and can only be worshiped in spirit and truth”.  If we exchange the word ‘worship’ with ‘communicated with’ we will now more easily begin to understand what is required of us.

My translation: ‘God is a spirit and therefore you can only communicate with Him through your spirit and this must be done in all straight forwardness and sincerity’.

In a previous chapter I explained that we humans are made up of body, soul and spirit. We all understand what body means. Soul is your intellect, emotion and will. Spirit is that part of your being that allows you to communicate with the spirit world, much like your service provider for internet connection.

In chapter Thirteen I gave you a seven point process to follow and one really can’t improve on that.

If you follow this process, in faith and consistency, you will slowly but surely begin to experience two-way communication with God.

Finally, remember the scripture I quoted to you previously:” Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”

We will continue in the next chapter.

I pray that you receive touchable spiritual upliftment from these words and the way of expressing your gratitude to God in return is to share them with others. You do so by simply mailing this link to them.

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A Timeless Tale – Chapter Eleven


Chapter Eleven: Living a Life in the Kingdom of God

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts will take you”.

James Allen –  1864-1912

It is a scientific fact that the management of your thoughts will result in the state of your being and this will be the biggest influencing factor in the direction and outcome of your life, both here on this earth and in eternal living.

Continue reading “A Timeless Tale – Chapter Eleven”

Out from the Heart.


 

By James Allen. (1864 – 1912)

I have chosen a topic for this week by famous British author and philosopher, James Allen. Allen was better known for his original work, “As a Man Thinketh”.

In the “The Heart and The Life” Allen discusses the issue of the ‘Heart’.

It is interesting that the word ‘Heart’ is used in the bible more than a thousand times. It is also interesting, that medical research scientists are today admitting to the fact that the heart is not just that wonderful organ, pumping eight litres of  life giving blood around our body, but also is a location for  hidden emotional, intellectual  and moral activity within us.

In other words, biblically speaking, we ‘think’ with our hearts.

The greatest commandment is found in Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verse 5:

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Continue reading “Out from the Heart.”