Thursday, December 23, 2010

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

I guess everything is in God's hands... but sometimes I get so impatient! I can't help it, I'm so enthusiastic about God's love, and I want to share it so badly... but I know I'm not ready yet, I don't know enough about religion to believably back up what I want to say. It's funny how God's truth happens in a second, while logical knowledge takes years of arduous study to build. It's very hard for me to study religion because I see so many things that are hurtful and needlessly misinterpreted... the attitudes in religion that move against God are like needles in my heart, they make me want to cry out, frustrated and helpless... and yet how, with so many beautiful religions to choose from, everyone is still so blind... and the people who aren't blind are busy saving orphans in Africa....

Also, there are many people saying what I want to say already... I think the only difference is they don't have God's words burning up their mouths (because if they did, why has no one claimed the title of messenger?)...

Christ knew He had a task for God, but He still had to be anointed by the Spirit in the River Jordan... how long did He have to be patient, with God's call burning up His heart?

Which brings me to a question -- what is the difference between a scholar spreading a message, or a servant of God spreading a message... even if the messages are the same? I think it is the same difference between one who hears a recording of Beethoven, and then one who sits in the middle of the orchestra. A recording is beautiful... but sitting in an orchestra will bring you to your knees. Truth must be brought alive by Spirit.... In the end, I don't think people listen to words... I think they listen to Spirit.

Doesn't matter how many times I update this blog, what people need is my presence so they can feel and see God work through my character. I tutor children for a living, ages 7-12, and I imagine that teaching faith will be much the same... you can't tutor a child over the internet, you have to engage them on their own level in a personal setting. Of all the things recorded of Christ, why did they not record his teaching? Why couldn't they describe how he sat with the ignorant and blind and turned their hearts?  That is what I am dying to know... Christ, how did you do it...

My father once said that if you can teach a child, you can teach anyone...

It feels so strange saying these things because there is no certainty that anything will come to pass... no certainty in myself, that is... yet I have great certainty in God, and this feeling hasn't passed in the 10 years that I've had it. It's been in me since before I even knew who Christ was... I can only trust and believe that God wouldn't plant a desire in my heart that He wouldn't fulfill....

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." - Mark 10:27

8 comments:

  1. I'm always interested in what you have to say. Usually I am quite clear about what you are saying, but I was wondering what you meant by this:

    "Also, there are many people saying what I want to say already... I think the only difference is they don't have God's words burning up their mouths (because if they did, why has no one claimed the title of messenger?)..."

    Billy

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  2. There's a lot of dialogue going on right now in modern spiritual movements that all religions are essentially the same, and that all people really worship "One God"...

    I was looking at the reviews for this book: http://www.amazon.com/God-Not-One-World-Differences/dp/006157127X God is not One by Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion....

    The following review is what interests me:

    "Prothero's main premise in "God is Not One" is to go up against what he calls "Godthink" -- the popular view that all religions are one. [He states in his book that God is NOT one, and that all religions are diverse cultural traditions....]

    "I completely disagree with the entire premise of the book, that "God is not one." In fact, the unity of Godhead is the one thing that all religions seem to share. The very definition of God itself presupposes an all-inclusiveness; if there is a God, God MUST be one.

    "To the mystics, which were not deeply addressed in the book, there is a shared experience of a common underlying Reality because they reach God through the spiritual realms, not through material dogma, ritual, and myth."


    It's as though the entire world is discussing the interconnection of religions and the "reality" of all religions being one... and yet, in order to unite the religions, there must be a prophet or messenger (or perhaps, a gathering of many diverse prophets and messengers) to declare it so... and not just to declare it, but to start a large enough and passionate enough movement that will force the various religious orders to reform....

    But who's going to be brave enough in this modern era to stand up amidst so much doubt and animosity and declare themselves a prophet? Nobody but that poor fool who really is driven by God to do it....

    And even then, their timing must be perfect. They must have God's authority. To move at the wrong time would be to ruin the message...

    And then I wonder, if everything is God, is there really such a thing as wrong timing...?

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  3. "To Israel He (Bahá'u'lláh) was neither more nor less than the incarnation of the “Everlasting Father,” the “Lord of Hosts” come down “with ten thousands of saints”; to Christendom Christ returned “in the glory of the Father,” to Shí’ah Islám the return of the Imám Ḥusayn; to Sunní Islám the descent of the “Spirit of God” (Jesus Christ); to the Zoroastrians the promised Sháh-Bahrám; to the Hindus the reincarnation of Krishna; to the Buddhists the fifth Buddha."

    "Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory."
    --Bahá'u'lláh

    "The time foreordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of His Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth in his heart that which hath been revealed in the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Meditate upon this, O ye beloved of God, and let your ears be attentive unto His Word, so that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the crystal waters of constancy, and become as steadfast and immovable as the mountain in His Cause."
    --Bahá'u'lláh

    "Shake off, O heedless ones, the slumber of negligence, that ye may behold the radiance which His glory hath spread through the world. How foolish are those who murmur against the premature birth of His light. O ye who are inly blind! Whether too soon or too late, the evidences of His effulgent glory are now actually manifest. It behoveth you to ascertain whether or not such a light hath appeared. It is neither within your power nor mine to set the time at which it should be made manifest. God’s inscrutable Wisdom hath fixed its hour beforehand. Be content, O people, with that which God hath desired for you and predestined unto you…. O my ill-wishers! The Day Star of eternal Guidance beareth me witness: Had it been in my power, I would have, under no circumstances, consented to distinguish myself amongst men, for the Name I bear utterly disdaineth to associate itself with this generation whose tongues are sullied and whose hearts are false. And whenever I chose to hold my peace and be still, lo, the voice of the Holy Ghost, standing on my right hand, aroused me, and the Supreme Spirit appeared before my face, and Gabriel overshadowed me, and the Spirit of Glory stirred within my bosom, bidding me arise and break my silence. If your hearing be purged and your ears be attentive, ye will assuredly perceive that every limb of my body, nay all the atoms of my being, proclaim and bear witness to this call: “God, besides Whom is none other God, and He, Whose beauty is now manifest, is the reflection of His glory unto all that are in heaven and on earth.”
    --Bahá'u'lláh

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  4. "O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus, the Spirit of God, put Me to death, for He hath once more, in My person, been made manifest unto you. Deal with Me as ye wish, for I have vowed to lay down My life in the path of God. I will fear no one, though the powers of earth and heaven be leagued against Me. Followers of the Gospel! If ye cherish the desire to slay Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, seize Me and put an end to My life, for I am He, and My Self is His Self. Do unto Me as ye like, for the deepest longing of Mine heart is to attain the presence of My Best-Beloved in His Kingdom of Glory. Such is the Divine decree, if ye know it. Followers of Muḥammad! If it be your wish to riddle with your shafts the breast of Him Who hath caused His Book the Bayán to be sent down unto you, lay hands on Me and persecute Me, for I am His Well-Beloved, the revelation of His own Self, though My name be not His name. I have come in the shadows of the clouds of glory, and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty. He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. I, verily, anticipate from you the treatment ye have accorded unto Him that came before Me. To this all things, verily, witness, if ye be of those who hearken. O people of the Bayán! If ye have resolved to shed the blood of Him Whose coming the Báb hath proclaimed, Whose advent Muḥammad hath prophesied, and Whose Revelation Jesus Christ Himself hath announced, behold Me standing, ready and defenseless, before you. Deal with Me after your own desires."
    --Bahá'u'lláh

    “O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity”.
    --Bahá'u'lláh

    “The incomparable Friend saith: The path to freedom hath been outstretched; hasten ye thereunto. The wellspring of wisdom is overflowing; quaff ye therefrom. Say: O well-beloved ones! The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.”
    --Bahá'u'lláh

    "The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves. That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated."
    --Bahá'u'lláh

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  6. Two sites with info:
    http://www.bahaullah.com
    http://www.bahaullah.org/

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  7. I find Baha'u'llah to be very accurate with his message and I know his revelation is a true one because I had the same....

    However, I do think there are other messengers to come... not because Baha'u'llah did not speak truth, but because he lived in a time period where his word could not reach as far as it could today. God is waiting for when the time is right... then He will send another, and another messenger...

    In the meantime, I am being called to research all faiths and religions, that I might understand them. I feel this clearly... and I am drawn to those of the longest and deepest traditions, that I might know the giants of faith's history.... I must know everything there is to know... or at least, as much as I can possibly gather. Thank God this is easily accessible in this information age....

    I will admit, I am very skeptical of all religions and belief systems... this is a great flaw of mine, yet in God, I know He will make good use of it....

    God bless you Billy! I didn't mean anything to contradict your religion (beliefs, tradition, practice, etc). We all find the Lamps we can follow... that is why there are so many of them.... :)

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  8. No offense taken. I only posted those quotes because you were wondering why there had been no messenger speaking of the things you believe in. Bahá'u'lláh claims to be the latest Manifestation of God, not the last, there will always be another, but they only come every 500 to 1500 years. As Buddha said, a Buddha is rare. Bahá'u'lláh claims to be the Fifth Buddha, Maitreya, also, the return of Christ in the Glory of the Father (in an Arabic Bible you would find the name Bahá'u'lláh every place it says, the Glory of God, which is its translation in English. In reality He is the return of every Manifestation of the past. He is the First and the Last. Jesus said He would come again in the Glory of the Father.
    Krishna said He returns a man moving among men. Now either Bahá'u'lláh is a liar, a madman, or He speaks the truth.

    Think of yourself living a hundred and sixty-four years after Jesus had appeared to the people. And then a follower came and told you of Him and His teachings, but that it was like now, many different religions in the world, much confusion, many interpretations by men that have led people astray. And then I tell you Christ has returned. He brought the message of unity, that the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens, that God is One, that there is only one race, the human race, that all religions come from the one source, that within His Revelation is God's plan for the unifying of all the people of the earth, the New Jerusalem, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

    "A new life is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause or perceived its motive."

    "If a man were to declare, 'There is a lamp in the next room which gives no light', one hearer might be satisfied with his report, but a wiser man goes into the room to judge for himself, and behold, when he finds the light shining brilliantly in the lamp, he knows the truth!"

    If you would like to gain knowledge of religions, I suggest you read this link, which reveals the most astounding truths, spiritual for the heart and with reason so the mind can understand it:

    http://bahaullah.com/bahaullah-writings-god-part1.html

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