Wednesday, July 28, 2010

# 300: Christianity: The Road To Divine Love

When God’s love is given to an individual, it is made up of spiritual matter, but when the party receives the love with the correct physical response that activates it, a physical love transaction will be initiated.

To be loved by Almighty God is the needed force that gives us the desire and ability to love others as they need/desire to be loved. When one is experiencing being loved by God and truly knows it, that person is one of the wealthiest—though not materially—people in the world.

Question: How do we know when we are experiencing God’s love? Answer: When He allows us to share in His holy life. Then we become one with Him because of our love attachment. John 17:22 (Jesus speaking): “I have given them the glory that you have given me, that they may be one as we are one.” Like most human love affairs, we attempt to please each other in all we do. To put it another way, when we desire to live our lives in obedience to all that He (the Father and Jesus Christ) teaches in the New Testament (NT) with the correct motives, that is the main evidence that we are experiencing Almighty God’s love.

Another piece of evidence is that God’s love is impartial; He does not love me any more than the next person. If and when I can love in the same way, I will treat the next person the same way as I would like to be treated. Philippians 2-5. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

Once we know with certainty that we are experiencing the love God/Christ has for us, then it is our solemn duty to display our love for Him. And this is how we do it: John 14:23. “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.’” There are a total of five verses in chapters 14 and15 in the book of John that associate love for Christ/God and obedience. It could not be stressed any more as to its importance. And yet, love for God is downplayed to the point of using only words and songs of love alone to substantiate love for God by mainstream Christianity.

Therefore, when we start to experience the love God has for us, we will be completely satisfied without desiring any of the physical comforts, relationships and perks that this evil world offers. A people living in God’s superhuman love will be completely content even if sentenced to solitary confinement in a pagan country for the rest of their lives just for being Christians.

This Divine love is, in a way, the same love that abounds in heaven. When people are indwelled with God’s agape love, that love makes us superhuman, in that our human desires are no longer in control of how we live. Let me put it this way: A person cannot be living in God’s love and not know it; in fact, no one can be doing the work of Christ without this miraculous love.

There are a few verses in the NT that are extremely contrary and unnatural to the desires of our sinful human nature; they are those that command us to love those who are our enemies. There are several verses that command that principle; I will give only four: Matthew 5:44. “But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” This verse implies that God has love for all His enemies, but His love for unbelievers is the type in that He DESIRES all of them to be saved. 1st Timothy 2:4. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” Luke 6:35. “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.” Romans 12:20. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink . . .”

What will God accomplish when we obey these verses that command us to love our enemies? The potential is great, and if we were to continue to actively love our enemies, they might be amazed and curious to know what type of force is behind our supernatural (divine) love for our enemies. That means that love for our enemies is one of God’s recruiting tools to entice His ungodly enemies into His kingdom.

God’s love for the world as it is manifested through our lives is the most important ingredient in the Christian religion, and it could be the most neglected component in mainstream Christianity. This seems to say, “America’s (our) religion has the smell of death.”

The reason being loved by God and loving others is so important is because, believe it or not, love is the most potent medicine in existence. Those who are enjoying God’s love will/are experiencing almost all kinds of healings: spiritual, emotional, physical, mental (stressed lifestyles) and any and all other types of corrections our frail bodies may need. There is a saying that “Laughter is the best medicine.” That may be partially true, but continually experiencing God’s love is a much more effective and lasting medicine.

Repeating: God loves all people, even His evil enemies (anyone who doesn’t live according to His teaching in the NT), but His love for those who are obedient to all His commands generates the miracle part of Christianity: eternal life.

There are only two classes of people in the world: those who obey the teachings in the New Testament—displayed by the way they live—and those who don’t. Those who don’t will be rejected because of their lack of love, faith and obedience. This is the absolute truth even if religious people don’t want to hear it!

The main, if not the only, way we can display our love for God is our loyalty in obeying His teachings and commands which are in the New Testament.

It is worth repeating what is said in the first paragraph: Love always starts out as spiritual matter, and when it is followed by a corresponding action, it becomes of physical value.

If and when someone has something that is priceless that could help everyone in the world, could/would she/he keep it to him/herself? I am referring to people who are silent about their religion, concerning the great love that God has for humanity (His plan of Salvation). Example: When someone says they love God but produces no corresponding action, that love from/for God is worthless to self and God.

The miracle about Divine love is that it does not concern how self will make out when propagating Godly love, but our concern is only the spiritual or physical benefits to the potential recipient/s.

There are two forms of love in the world: The biggest portion of humanity are the have-nots—those who are not aware of others’ need for love, and their own need for love, physical or spiritual; and the haves: those who wholeheartedly desire to share their Divine love with others; again, either physical or spiritual. Where do we stand?

God is love; therefore, He created us in His image. The greatest gift other than eternal life that He gave us is the ability to love. This tells me that He desires us to love with the same type of love that He has.

All genuine Christians are in the “haves” group. Therefore we have no excuse not to love where and when it is needed. Remember, love—mostly Divine love—is the most important and valuable ingredient in the universe, and not wealth, fame, power or security.

Another great thing about experiencing God’s love is that it will always put our human love in its proper place.

The best thing about being loved is that it makes us feel important, needed and valuable. The lack of genuine love most certainly is the reason there is so much hatred and trouble in the world. We all want to be loved, but most don’t really care to love others because it may be expensive and time-consuming to love as is dictated in the NT.

Therefore, when God through the NT commands us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, He is giving us a full-time job; nothing else is needed; love covers it all. And as repeated dozens of times, the only way to do that enormous job is to have an active desire to be obedient to all that is commanded in the NT. Nothing less will do. The tough part of this job of loving God and neighbor with our all is that it most often will go against the desires of our selfish human nature.

In conclusion, the God who created the world for a very specific purpose of spreading Himself (His love nature) throughout the universe is a God that is made up of only one ingredient: LOVE. When any religion displays that selfless Divine love, be it Christianity or any close facsimile, that love is what true religion is all about.

In Christianity, Jesus Christ displayed that love and made it possible for all genuine Christians to continue living and loving as He did as it is taught in the NT. That means any and all religions without that special enlightening/transforming love are anemic forms of religion.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

# 299: What is the Name of Your God

In Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, the definition of the word “god” is: 1) any of various beings conceived of as supernatural, immortal, and having special powers over the lives and affairs of people and the course of nature; deity, esp. a male deity; typically considered objects of worship; 2) an image that is worshiped; idol; 3) a person or thing deified or excessively honored or admired; 4) [G] in monotheistic religions, the creator and ruler of the universe, regarded as eternal, infinite, all-powerful, and all-knowing; Supreme Being; the Almighty.

Most people who consider themselves as Christians say the name of their God is # 4: creator, eternal, Almighty God, etc. Actually, the name of the God Christians supposedly worship is Jehovah.

Here is something that must be considered when a person claims to a Christian: In the true sense, a genuine Christian must adhere to what is taught/commanded in the New Testament (NT). If one doesn’t, his/her claim is invalid. They most likely, though unknowingly, worship different gods.

Another god that has an extremely large following always—or most often—operates incognito, as it were. He has billions of loyal adherents. His followers love him because through his deception, he attempts to gives them all that their hearts desire. In fact, he many times disguises himself as a beautiful, loving angel of light. What is so attractive about this god is that he doesn’t care how many other gods his followers have; he is not jealous. The name of this mighty, popular god is Satan the devil. 2nd Corinthians 4:4. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers . . .”

The biggest majority of the world’s gods are worshiped for the pleasures and joy they bring to billions of humans. The majority of these gods are inanimate; the list of how many there are is endless. Let me name just a few: accomplishments, possessions, expensive homes, flashy motor vehicles, monetary wealth, skill, esoteric knowledge, etc.

The majority of people who think of themselves as Christians unknowingly have many other gods they worship—even though they wouldn’t call it worship—above and beyond Jehovah and His Son Jesus Christ. That means their devotion to Almighty God is compromised. And this is where the trouble starts and for most never ends.

Here is the reason for the trouble: In the Old Testament, there are ten verses or more that clearly state that our Almighty God is a jealous God, especially of inanimate things that are idolized. Exodus 34:14. “Do not worship any other gods, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Most likely the reason God’s jealousy is not often taught in mainstream Christianity is because the word “jealousy” is mentioned only once in the New Testament: The apostle Paul mentioned it just once in 2nd Corinthians 11:2. “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.” He was reprimanding the church in Corinth.

Therefore, when Christians have things or people, even our family members, who we love and are proud of, or honor and admire, we in a real sense—though unknowingly—are making them our gods. And this is what angers Almighty God, because He demands that we love Him and Him alone with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t love our family members any less than we loved them before. But in comparison to our love for God, love for self and family comes second as to importance.

It could be that most of us may have things and/or people who we honor and admire in an excessive way, besides our Almighty God. The thing is, we don’t consider them as gods. But in reality what we are unknowingly doing is taking our devotion away from The Almighty. This concept will not go well with many in America, even though the NT explicitly commands we must love God with our all. There are three gospels that teach the same principle that God demands all our devotion. I will give just one: Luke 10:27. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind …” The key word in these verses is the word “all”.

In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel infuriated the Lord over and over again because they sacrificed to gods that could not speak or hear. And for their disloyalty, God severely punished the nation of Israel over and over again. At this time, He is withholding our punishment for the end of time. And the punishment will be eternal death.

I don’t believe this post will convince many to abandon their worldly gods, which most likely are intricate parts of their lives. That means people who believe they are Christians and are doing wrong according to Scripture, don’t fear the Almighty, are in big trouble. I realize that bad habits are difficult if not impossible to break, but no one said Christianity would be easy.

Did anyone ever hear a preacher say that it would be difficult to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? The word “disciple” means to be disciplined in the teachings of the one we claim to follow. No, it will not be an easy thing to be a genuine Christian. In contrast to that, the organized Christian religion per se, has become a continual free-for-all, or better yet “anything goes.” And nothing or no one is going to change it even though there are/will be a very few who will realize their lives of error and start to live as dictated by the New Testament.

This fraudulent type of religion got exacerbated by our modern times of wanting everything easy, comfortable and right now. And if things are not that way, they will be rejected by many because these rejects will silently say, “We want a religion that fits our lazy human nature,” even though most will deny that they are lazy. The word “lazy” is an extremely degrading word in our present-day culture. In fact, I don’t believe Christ-like Christianity was meant for our complex, modern life. Our modern, silent motto is “keeping up with the Joneses” and not with the teachings of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, yes, if anyone is absolutely serious about their connection to Jesus Christ, and does not/will not trust the comforting words of professional preachers, they will make certain that their only God is named Almighty Jehovah God.