BoldGrace

Kiara ask me to comment on the following verse. 

Heb 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

There is one thing that Marriage, Adulterers, & the sexually immoral all have in common and that is they are all circumstances that happen only in the physical realm here on earth.  I believe the writer of Hebrews is telling his readers that there are absolute consequences to the choices we make and to choose certain lifestyles will bring just as certain judgments.  Our creator has set in motion a journey here on earth that has judgments already built in.  An example of this is the law of gravity.  If I choose to jump off a cliff it is certain that I will fall to the ground and whether I believe in this law or not will not change the outcome. 

If I choose to cheat on my wife I will face certain consequences that are just as binding as the law of gravity.  The thing we must always remember is that whatever choices we make God will never leave us or forsake us, but He will allow us to make choices that are painful here on earth. 

Heb 13:5-6 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

The writer is telling us we can trust God and that we don’t need to fill the void we sometimes feel inside with unwholesome pleasures that have no power to satisfy our deepest longings.  When we choose to trust the divine that is within us all we will begin to see that same divinity in all that God has created.

Sue asked me to comment on Mathew 10:28, so here goes:

Matt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

1 Cor 15:45 So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam (became) a life-giving spirit.

The bottom line is that the church continues to use verses like this to create FEAR.  DOES THAT REALLY SEEM RIGHT TO YOU?  Did Jesus really want HIS apostles to fear GOD? 

As Audrey would tell us:  Look deep within yourself and ask "what does that still small voice say to you?" 

It says to me "I AM DEEPLY LOVED BY GOD"

PS.  The word HELL in verse 28 is "Gehenna" which was a garbage dump just outside of Jerusalem.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with our eternal destiny.

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 

IT WAS SUCH GOOD NEWS THAT EVEN MANY TODAY CAN NOT BELIEVE IT IS TRUE.

·       HUMAN COMMANDS AND TEACHINGS NO MATTER HOW GOOD THEY SEEM CAN NOT BE TRUSTED.

Heb 8:9-13

9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant , and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."  

13 By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

·       And in this covenant the promises are based on God not on us. The weak will prevail as well as the strong.

Sometimes a person will comment here on BG and the comment is so WONDERFUL & INSIGHTFUL that it need to be seen as a Front Page Post. The following is from our friend Audrey.

The sign for our age is that a virgin shall be with child. The story of Mary is a picture of us and what is happening to us today. Mary’s name means bitter rebellion. (against the sham and hypocrisy of this world and it’s way of thinking). She was a virgin (we are all virgins because we have not yet birthed our spiritual identity, only our humanity). Mary was betrothed to Joseph (his name means to add or augment). Joseph had a dream and in the dream was a message to Joseph, son of David (well-beloved, loving) not to be fearful because Mary had conceived spiritually and would bear a son whose name would be Jesus (Savior of the world) Immanuel (God with us). Joseph rose from his sleep (he woke up to see with his spiritual eyes), took Mary who rode on a donkey (lacked understanding) to Bethlehem (the house of abundance especially bread). There was no room at the inn (our head type of thinking is unable to‘see’ these spiritual things), but there was a manger (our hearts) surrounded by the animals (our emotions). There Mary began to labor (those mixed emotions and spiritual aches we have) and a boy child ( of the spirit) was born, and she called his name Jesus, the ‘star’ child. He was the ONE who would rule over the house of Jacob (the flesh) forever. There were shepherds, wakeful - keeping watch over their sheep in the night (darkness - no truth). Suddenly the glory of the Lord shone round about them (they became spiritually aware) and the message of the birth of Jesus was given ( they knew who he was and where he was). Wise men (men who have been watching for this sign) came also bearing gifts - gold (spiritual awareness, clear sky) frankincense (purity) and myrrh (sweet smelling oil). These gifts are the feelings that begin to rise up within your heart as you turn from your humanity (worldly thinking) to your heart (your true identity where Truth resides).

THANKS Audrey!

This is one that I will think on a great deal in the coming days and weeks.

Peace

Geo

Just as Mary awakened to the child within, I believe we all come to that place in our own hearts. We are all pregnant with the Life of God.

Coming to a realization that we have all received that "breath of heaven" from the beginning of time, releases our minds to an extraordinary connectedness to the Giver of Life. While you enjoy Amy Grant’s beautiful sharing of the depths of God’s companionship, claim the story of the miraculous indwelling for yourself. Center your heart and mind on the understanding that the Creator is living in you and through you. And be prepared to give birth to the manifestation of incredible love, joy, and peace.

"Holy Father, you have come, and chosen me now to carry your Son."

In asking that question "What is the Gospel?" I am not looking for the technically correct answer.  I would like anyone who wants to, just to share what the gospel is to them personally. 

I will start with what it means to me:  For me the Gospel is wrapped up in one word and that word is LOVE.  And when I say LOVE I mean a love that goes way beyond what we humans can believe or understand.  It’s a love that is witnessed all throughout our journey here on earth.  I know that we have often said that there is no bad news in the good news (gospel) and that is a thought that is really beyond our comprehension, but the Gospel I believe in is truly just that.  I appreciate Randy’s story about his friend because we sense in stories like that the true Gospel.  In the Gospel there lies a power that speaks to the divine in all of us.  It beckons us to see who we really are and who we really are is best defined by one word……LOVE.  You see, we are the Gospel, we are the Love, we are more then we think we are and the sooner we begin to believe in the MORE PART the sooner the world will witness the true GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

WHAT DOES THE GOSPEL MEAN TO YOU?

Jim Palmer (divinenobodies.com), left a comment on the thread which grew from the post, "the post that never ended (a world without options)", that really spoke to me. See if it has the same effect on you…

A popular Bible verse says to, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Romans 12:2
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I’ve never liked the word “repent.” For me, it conjures up images of judgment, condemnation, and fear. Jesus often says in the gospels, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” For years it was troubling to me that Jesus so often used this word because it smacked of everything that repelled me about religion. But then the Spirit began to open my eyes to its true meaning and place in my journey with God.
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First I realized that Jesus could not have been using the word pointing a finger of condemnation. Jesus said in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” I discovered the word “repent” (metanoia) actually means a change of mind or having a new mind. The word suggests a radical revision and transformation of our whole mental process. That “change of mind” allows God to take center place in our consciousness, in our awareness, and in our minds.
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You’re getting it if you can imagine Jesus walking into a crowd of hurting, rejected, empty, lonely, fearful, wounded, hopeless people and saying, “God’s kingdom is now within your reach! But you’ll have to undergo a change of heart and mind to grasp it.” Metanoia literally means “beyond the mind.” So it’s an idea of stretching or pushing beyond the boundaries with which we normally think and feel. For me, it has often involved pressing beyond my religious conditioning.
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Initially, Jesus “calling me to repentance” went something like this:
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“God’s kingdom is now within your reach Jim! But grasping it will push you beyond the boundaries of what you normally think and feel about yourself, God, and life. It will even call into question certain religious notions you have learned. You don’t feel deserving of the life, peace, and freedom God wants to give you. Press beyond those feelings Jim. The truth is, God loves you and freely offers all of this and more. Jim, you think and act as if your daily performance and behavior determines your good standing with God. The truth is, there’s nothing you could ever do or not do that would alter your worth, favor, and acceptance to God. Wherever you are now on the journey, you are loved and accepted by God. You feel inadequate to know and understand God and the things of God. Consider this Jim, you have the Spirit within to guide you into all truth. Pay more attention to the ways of a child and you’ll get it. You are a son of God. I was resurrected from the dead within you. When it all works right, you won’t even know where “you” end and “I” begin. It will be like the life you are living is me living in and through you. You tend to think of your separateness from God, I want you to feel and experience your oneness with God. Trust me Jim. You’re just scratching the surface. There’s more to it than you think. I’m always at my work within you. Rest in me.”
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“Metanoia” has been more of a process that an event for me, and has involved changes such as:
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• Associating my deepest feelings with the voice of truth
• Locating the source of life, love, peace, freedom, contentment, goodness, and connectedness within me
• Seeing myself and all people as sons and daughters of God and therefore my brother or sister
• Opening my heart to the spiritual dimension of all of life, regardless of how mundane or ordinary it mat seem through human eyes
• Understanding the significance and relevance of Jesus in terms much greater than I had ever realized before
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I’m sure others will have further comments to add about metanoia. Lately I’ve tended to use the word less and less because it felt like I was making too much of a concept and religion out of it. So, rather than focus on the word or concept I just allow myself to be in tune with the reality the word points to, which is akin to “marching to the beat of a different drummer.”

The following story shows us that in the Kingdom of God our efforts to achieve is not taken into account when it comes to the generousity of the Father.

Matt 20:1-16

1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.

2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’

5 So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.

6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 "’Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. "He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.

10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.

11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 "But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?

14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.

15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people demand that God be FAIR.  I for one am glad that He isn’t fair when it comes to being generous. 

The first group of workers received from the owner (God) exactly what was agreed upon:  To work for the day they would receive a denarious.  God was FAIR.

The second group of workers were also given an opportunity to earn something for a partial day’s work and were told they would be treated right (fairly).

The third group of workers were hired to only work a very small part of the day and at the end of that short day they received the same amount as the first group.  God was very generous.

Now out of these three groups of people only one group of people grumbled about how they were treated and it was the group that had worked the hardest.  Unfortunately, it’s the same way today.  Those who think they have accomplished all that God has asked of them are always the ones who grumble at the thought that someone might receive God’s abundant provision of GRACE without completing all that God requires.  I have talked with hundreds of christians telling them that I believe God will bring every single human child back home and almost without exception you will hear them say, "You mean they don’t have to do anything and God’s going to let them in?" 

Why can’t we allow God to be that GENEROUS?  Why can’t we believe GRACE CAN BE THAT BOLD?