We can change our minds a thousand times, but real faith never changes, because real faith is simply love. When we can say we are in love with God, it is because God is in love with us. To be in love with God is to make a commitment to God. It's not just a relationship; it's more than that. It's a marriage. A union with God is a promise. It's a promise to never turn away, to never surrender, not in sickness, poverty, or in the deepest suffering -- and God promises to always be there.
And just like a marriage, a union with God has little to do with rituals, baptisms, or similar. Before announcing it to the world, it must be decided upon within the heart. It must be tested with time and hardship. It must be strong to withstand all worldly forces. Our love of God must be set deep in the foundations of our very person. To uproot God from the heart would be to destroy us from the inside out. That is a marriage.
Sometimes I wonder who I would be without God.... I don't have an answer. I have many hobbies, things I like, people I love... but what would really define me? I don't know. I guess it's because my faith gives my life purpose, order, wonder... without these things, I simply wouldn't be myself. I would be a cold stranger. Maybe I would even be dead by now.
I am very happy with who God is creating me to be, even if it means that I will never know my parents as an adult. I'm happy that I found my faith young. I feel that God is making my life a wonderful gift, and the short years I've lived are already irreplaceable. There is a lot to wonder at. The number of revelations we experience has little to do with the events in our lives, and a lot to do with how closely we walk with God. When we commune with God every day, there is a revelation every day. I am in constant dialogue with God, and God has a way of speaking back.
Open communication, constant companionship, mutual respect... yes, this is the true marriage of my heart, and nobody needs to know but God.
Isaiah 54 - Jesus is my husband and my redeemer!
ReplyDeletePraise Him that He loves us deeply and intimately, and that He is not distant!
Praise Him that He Loves, that He is Love, and He teaches us how to really Love.
Thankyou for sharing with me (and the world)
I hope that you continue to grow deeper in Love with Jesus.
I hope also that oneday you will find yourself in a Loving church family.
I have come to realise, that I must be in fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and join together with them in corporate worship and study of His Word.
Outside of the church, the world can slowly deplete our strength and faith and hope... and God has said that we are not to forsake the fellowshiping with other believers, just as we are not to cut ourselves off from the world, as we are to be in the world, but not of the world.
argh,... sorry for my little "sermon"
Hope you have a great week,
Blessings young sister in Christ!
:O)
Hi Kaz!
ReplyDeleteYes, PLEASE pray for me to find a good church! I am so lonely and I know God doesn't mean for it to be this way.... But it is very hard for me to feel comfortable in Church (and around people in general, I suppose.) At the churches I have been to, I always expect a greater amount of spiritual love than what I find... but that's just because I haven't been to the right church yet. Los Angeles is a very shallow place, and I've never been fond of "cliques."
So yes, please pray for me! I know I need to find a good community of like-minded believers... maybe it's time to start looking again. :)
"For every one of you his paramount duty is to choose for himself that on which no other may infringe and none usurp from him. Such a thing—and to this the Almighty is My witness—is the love of God, could ye but perceive it.
ReplyDeleteBuild ye for yourselves such houses as the rain and floods can never destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of this life. This is the instruction of Him Whom the world hath wronged and forsaken."
"They that valiantly labour in quest of God’s will, when once they have renounced all else but Him, will be so attached and wedded to that City that a moment’s separation from it would to them be unthinkable."
"By Thy might, O my God! My soul is wedded to none beside Thee, and my heart seeketh none except Thine own Self."
"O MY God! There is no one but Thee to allay the anguish of my soul, and Thou art my highest aspiration, O my God. My heart is wedded to none save Thee and such as Thou dost love. I solemnly declare that my life and death are both for Thee."
Very good post.
ReplyDeleteI went to church faithfully for five years. In 1991, the Lord led me out of the church and I am very grateful. I have had more fellowship after I left the church. Once in a great while I will visit a church in my hitchhiking travels.
There are good churches out there. But obedience to the Lord is greater than making a sacrifice of going to a dead church on Sunday. "Obedience is better than sacrifice."
Obeying The Word (the Lord Jesus Christ) is much more important than the Scriptures (or figuring out the Scriptures in your head, which is Bible Verse Idolatry).
I love reading the Bible, but we need to be submited to the Lord so that the Holy Ghost can engraft the Scriptures into our Spirit--and this is where we bear much fruit for the Kingdom.
@Billy
ReplyDeleteBeautiful words! Good to know I have a torch to carry (or, considering Christ, Buddha, and all of their countless followers... many torches? Maybe I should upgrade to a bigger car.) I only write of what I know of God. It's a pleasure to see that so many voices have spoken before mine. Let's me know that I'm not insane.
@Tim
Your posts always explain Christianity in a way that I can connect with. I don't doubt that Christ sent you my way. When I finally decided to get baptized, it was because the Church I went to had an Easter service (my first time being to Church, really) and they talked about "seeing Christ in a new way." They said that too often we see Christ as a gentle lamb and healer, when really he was a warrior. This struck a chord with me, as my faith is the faith of a lion, not a lamb. I am a survivor... and so was Christ.
Since then I've returned to a solitary faith... but it's because God is teaching me, and I think God needs me as I am now. There are seasons for everything. Perhaps one day I will find a church that I can join comfortably... or who knows, perhaps one day I will start one. :)
Some of our greatest tests are our fellow believers. The only real difference in people is that we are all at different stages of growth. No one is perfect except our Father in Heaven. If we go into a community expecting everyone to be perfect we will be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteI read a quote at a meeting of believers not to long ago. Someone there said it was beautiful, but how could we live up to such high standards of self-sacrificing love. Yet, the rest of the evening I looked around at my fellow believers and they were exemplifying what I had just read: encouraging each other, making each other happy, speaking of the love of God and His mercy. Everyone was joyous. They had gone outside of themselves and lived the Word.
Someone asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Why were the saints called saints?” He replied: “Because they were cheerful when it was difficult to be cheerful, patient when it was difficult to be patient, and because they pushed on when they wanted to stand still, and they kept silent when they wanted to talk, and were agreeable when they wanted to be disagreeable. That was all. It was quite simple and always will be.”