Here are some follow-on thoughts about what I wrote last night and from a conversation with a friend on Facebook:
What counts is that we allow the Holy Spirit --the Spirit of Truth sent to us by Jesus Himself -- to reveal Jesus to us. No one can tell another person that they will not come to know what is true and what is false. A person from a traditional background on another continent cannot say that the Lord is not working in that person's heart and culture. What counts is loving one another.
None of us has to be emptied first. God the Creator loves us and is always calling us to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not have to be perfect to receive Him. When we come to know God in Jesus Christ as revealed by the Holy Spirit to our Spirits, then we can ask for help in coming to know whether God truly exists and who Jesus is. God is Love, yes . . . and only God has the power to truly help us to receive Him. he does that by bringing people and circumstances into our lives. There are many reasons why people have trouble believing they are loved unconditionally. God makes NO condition.
God loves each one of us because we are HIS. After the Holy Spirit has revealed Jesus to us, we learn in our hearts who He is and when we are able to, we invite the Father and the Son into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. After that our lives are filled with chances to be drawn closer to god's heart.
The Holy Spirit continues to work in our hearts and it is work we do TOGETHER with God in relationship with our Abba/Daddy Father who has given us to His son the Savior of all humankind and Redeemer of Creation by which all that was made and continues to be made. To just scold people and say they need to repent is never ever what Jesus through His Holy Spirit did do or is doing or will do. He doesn't break the bruised reed and neither does he snuff out the smoldering wick. He is gentle and takes care of each one of us the way a shepherd tends his sheep. It is NOT about doctrine and theology alone.
Those kinds of intellectual understandings are ways of describing God's love and the work of the incarnation, Jesus' life and teachings, His suffering, His death on the Cross and His resurrection. It is only in coming to know the Lord in our hearts that our spirits can truly help our souls to make an eternal commitment to be in relationship with the Fullness of Love, Light, Mercy, Peace, Righteousness and Truth.
People have a difficult time coming to the Lord and sadly, it is often organized and institutionalized religion that turns them off. The Lord gave us free will to choose because unless love is given and received freely it isn't love.
What counts is that we allow the Holy Spirit --the Spirit of Truth sent to us by Jesus Himself -- to reveal Jesus to us. No one can tell another person that they will not come to know what is true and what is false. A person from a traditional background on another continent cannot say that the Lord is not working in that person's heart and culture. What counts is loving one another.
None of us has to be emptied first. God the Creator loves us and is always calling us to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not have to be perfect to receive Him. When we come to know God in Jesus Christ as revealed by the Holy Spirit to our Spirits, then we can ask for help in coming to know whether God truly exists and who Jesus is. God is Love, yes . . . and only God has the power to truly help us to receive Him. he does that by bringing people and circumstances into our lives. There are many reasons why people have trouble believing they are loved unconditionally. God makes NO condition.
God loves each one of us because we are HIS. After the Holy Spirit has revealed Jesus to us, we learn in our hearts who He is and when we are able to, we invite the Father and the Son into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. After that our lives are filled with chances to be drawn closer to god's heart.
The Holy Spirit continues to work in our hearts and it is work we do TOGETHER with God in relationship with our Abba/Daddy Father who has given us to His son the Savior of all humankind and Redeemer of Creation by which all that was made and continues to be made. To just scold people and say they need to repent is never ever what Jesus through His Holy Spirit did do or is doing or will do. He doesn't break the bruised reed and neither does he snuff out the smoldering wick. He is gentle and takes care of each one of us the way a shepherd tends his sheep. It is NOT about doctrine and theology alone.
Those kinds of intellectual understandings are ways of describing God's love and the work of the incarnation, Jesus' life and teachings, His suffering, His death on the Cross and His resurrection. It is only in coming to know the Lord in our hearts that our spirits can truly help our souls to make an eternal commitment to be in relationship with the Fullness of Love, Light, Mercy, Peace, Righteousness and Truth.
People have a difficult time coming to the Lord and sadly, it is often organized and institutionalized religion that turns them off. The Lord gave us free will to choose because unless love is given and received freely it isn't love.
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