The Hard Part

I saw a church sign the other day. Not that uncommon around here except that once in a while what they say catches my attention. Usually in a thoughtful way and I think that is good.

This particular sign said: Jesus is God.

The odd thing that struck me immediately was of all things – the Ten Commandments. In particular the one that says you shall have no other god before me.

The hard part for me is that this makes sense. As a sworn member of God’s Church it is difficult to put someone else in God’s place. Be it Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha or whom ever is the prophet of choice. It seems unlikely that God would want them elevated to the position of God.

God simply and always will be – God.

We humans lose sight of that on occasion. Part of our nature is that we like being told what to do. It matters not if it is a person, a book, a religion or what. In this case with Jesus as god we have elevated a teacher. A messiah, prophet, and guide who through example, sermon, and parables worked to show us God. By elevating them to god status they take the place of defining God.

Humans tend to listen to anyone or anything that professes to be of God. We just fail to distinguish when God is in fact telling us directly what it is we are supposed to do. In the end it is the preacher who from the pulpit defines us. Having faith in our own faith is hard. When you show your faith to others you always risk having the finger pointed at you. Judged as wrong. But if you stick to the rules, follow the leader then that does not happen.

Why you ask? For me the answer is simple. Yet it is the hard part. We like having someone or something to blame. To point to as a source. No one questions the prophet but if I say that God told me not to be hateful – well they look at you like you are nuts.

Who are you to think that God would talk to you. For me it is simple. God talks to me all the time. Tells me what is right and wrong. What is hurtful and what is not. That God is the judge of man and not me. Sometimes he even tells me it is not my place to say who or what is good or evil.

There are many paths with God. Some of us need different things from both God and the world. God knows this and has set guides in each of those paths. Ultimately though God waits for us. Patiently for that time when we know both God and our own heart well enough to stand along side neither lead nor chained. But with the free will given to us from the very beginning.

How, why me, and the signs.

The reasons that God wants us to listen are not that complex. We get mixed up with those who tell us what we should think, preach what we should believe and push their own mandate. Not God’s. Sometimes they actually and really and wantonly LIE. It is far easier to blame someone or something else than it is for us to admit our own hate or other shortcomings.

Today though, I actually heard such a lie as it fell on my own ears. I know it is a lie because I know law and also when I heard it the small still voice inside me could not contain itself and laughed out loud. Saying quite literally - “Now there is a lie.”

A fellow – Gary Cass – looked right at the camera and told everyone that in Canada it is illegal to read the Bible. Come on. How can such a statement pass a reality check. I immediately quizzed some of my Canadian friends. Reports seem to indicate that such a law does not exist. Still many comments later after the post there was a surprising number of people seem to have bought it. Like there were armed men going to storm in and arrest anyone reading a Bible. Soon we will not be able to read a Bible in the USA. Yeah right.

God knows that for us to know all that we should and can will take time. Some of us are not ready to know everything right now. It is not so much how much we know and understand but how we handle the discovery and revelation. Not as simple as it sounds for if it were we would be doing it more and better.

What is the reflection of God that is seen by those around you. When you speak what part of God do people hear. Do you ramble off quotes, when asked do you say you read it or the preacher said or do you say that you know it is true.

A slippery slope. The abortion doctor murderer says God wants him to kill the doctor. One is wise to learn well what it is that God really says. Once learned the mystery is solved.

Some of the signs can be:

• Renewed faith. You feel close to God and you find that you want to know more and more.
• Less judging. God is the sole gatekeeper to heaven. That key his held by no man. No matter what list they read, no words they write nor sermon they preach will condemn any person or group to hell.
• More Love. Feeling loved and knowing love makes it easier to share the love also. For what God wants you to know is that your life is here to enjoy but also to learn how to love as God love’s you.
• Knowing that there is nothing in this world that God created that he does not like. The list of things made my man is endless. There is nothing man can know, learn, do or attain that God had not allowed for. The test is do we do it in a way that brings glory to God and ourselves or do we do it in a way means we should bow our heads in shame.

All this can and is done inside whatever religious frame work you chose to live and work in. Just beware that what label you give your self you wear. Good or bad. You will find that people judge you from that label rather than from deeds. On the outside the label: Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, agnostic, atheist can seem okay – until you meet the zealots who will form how your choice is perceived.

Perhaps that frame work is just to live within the framework that God intends. To learn the true relationship that God wants with us and go from there.

When asked: “What is Hell?” What do you answer. Mine later. More about categories too.

The concept is NOT new

First of all we have to understand that God is IT. The buck stops here sort of thing. There is no one above or below if you want to deal with God. That is where problems begin because established religion has its own things in place to help get the word out. To Christians it is Jesus, Muslims have Mohammed and the – well the list goes on and on. The first thing to understand is that there is nothing wrong with this. That is by design. Where the system falls apart is where we decide that “our” prophet/belief system is the only way. Therefore we strive to make sure the world conforms. In some cases we want it to conform or else. Be it jihad or crusades all have tried it and failed.

Later we will be talking about how God deals with us as individuals. Stages if you will – in our spiritual growth. That has nothing to do with who God is. Often we mistake God in those he chooses as emissary. We often mistake the prophet as the sole representation and mediator with God.

That practice is acceptable to God. Based upon on your ability to interact with God directly is how God will respond to you. That does not diminish the importance of understanding the prophets, the writings, the miracles and the messages God has left us. What does change is who takes responsibility for understanding. The relationship God wants is that YOU are the one taking responsibility.

It is a spiritual world where you know your relationship with God without anyone else outside you or God defining that it. There is no preacher to blame, no translation of the bible, no prophet who said. It is simply hearing and knowing the word of God in your own heart.

There are times when we are told or we believe things that when we really pray about them, we really listen to God – they just flat do not make sense. These things can be translations that seem to exclude some people, or seers who seem to say it is okay to kill the heathens. It is God who will impose some label that makes a group of people the enemy. Not worthy of the compassion, love, and consideration that we believe God both gives to us and preaches to us.

The real question is this: Why would God create anything on this earth that did not have a part in the design of things and thereby God’s blessing. Why would God make a person one color, one faith, one race, or to live in one geographical location and then label them as evil.

The truth is that God is one of inclusion not exclusion. God created the entire world not just one part of it. God made the human race every single branch of the tree is part of the grand design. There is not one human that is the child of God but all are.

What a person, who seeks a relationship with God, will discover in dialogue with God is that there is so much hate in the world. God is not the cause of nor is God part of it. The hate stems from the choices we the people make. Who we choose to put faith in, what written word we choose to follow, which prophet we think will get us closer to God.

The world God seeks for you is much different. You hear, see, speak, touch, feel and experience the world. Inside your heart is the truth and when it rings true you know. When God rules your heart, then hate is gone, labels are unimportant, there is love for all. Most of all the words you now hear are those that God speaks. Not the filtered words of the world.

The message here is that God wants us to know all things. The star student knows all the religions of the world. Their history and their purpose. The good pupil understands the message that each brings to the people who need it. The prize student knows that the major prophet of any religion is not the only one to listen to.

What is truth is what plays out in our own heart. When the chord of truth is struck we know that God has may ways of choosing to speak. Sometimes we only hear the prophet and that is okay. The day that marks our salvation. The one that God awaits is when we no longer have to be told what God has said, but know it.

How do we do this?

When you first see this blog, something in its title intrigued you. Some around you may try to convince you it was marketing, the colors, perhaps the title, or any number of things. I know there is only one reason you picked up this book and that is because you heard God say you should. You are intrigued that God would want to talk to you and want to know more.

The great mystery of religion is that God does want to talk to each and every person on this planet. In the past the things used are wide and diverse. One format that works is the old standby - the preacher (priest, shaman, Allah, Buddha, monk) who is a man ordained by God to speak. This works to a point but God and the individual have a mediator. Someone or something saying the words. The problem with conversations with God is that we frequently have filters that get in our way. We fail to recognize that human flaws are very common in most every method God uses to talk to us. That is why God wants to talk directly to you. No filters, no translations, no questioning the miracle - none of this.

To get any farther than this you have to be willing to embrace some changes in the way you think about God. Many have been raised to believe that God only talks to the anointed or through prophets and clergy. As of this moment you know better. Something outside yourself made you curious enough to look into this. What makes you continue this adventure over time is the more powerful force that you have opened yourself up to.

Next, you have to trust yourself. That includes giving yourself permission to listen to the voice inside your soul. Empowering yourself to understand what God writes in your heart and then the willingness to find the answer to those lessons is the path God wants you to follow. This means you will read, study, and listen more than you ever have. You will read, study, and listen to things you never considered important before. Who wrote translated or published what you read is no longer important.

As your relationship with God grows you will learn that prayer is always answered. If you believe it is not, then more likely the problem is that you were not listening. This happens because we fail to realize that what is important to God is not those things that seem important in this world. This revelation runs the gambit from politics, society, and even to religion itself. From personal experience I can tell you that I have been angry with God for refusing to answer my prayer only to learn it had been answered all along - just not the way I expected or wanted to be answered.

The job given to me in putting this blog together has not been to tell you what is right or wrong. What decisions you should make. Not even to tell you how to do it. My job is to sow the seed and show you the basic phases of a relationship with God. This will help you establish goals of where you want to be, recognize what level others around you are and know God deals with each man, woman, and child in a unique and personal way.