The serpent said, if you eat of this tree you will become like God. But they were already like God. The tree was… do good and avoid evil and you will become like God… that is the essence of all religion.
You ARE created in Christ Jesus for good works, not because of good works. Like Adam we are made in the likeness of God… nothing we do makes us like him. It is surrendering to who we already are, yielding to the fact that we are righteous, accepted, holy, blessed, and forgiven.
~ Chuck Crisco
Spiritual identity
…..WHO/WHAT ARE YOU?
…..(by Dr. Robin Starbuck)
Go along with me on this one. Please make a list either on paper, on your computer or even in your head. It’s not a trick and nobody will ever observe it. Who or what are you? A Republican/ Democrat? a father, a mother, a child, a singer, a dancer, a baseball player? a victim, a victor? a soccer mom, a secretary? a businessman,…? who are you? Done yet?
Now what was atop the list? I know, I know, I didn’t say that the order was of any importance; but, actually one point was critically important: if you had said first and foremost “I am a Christian,” the whole rest of your life would have been impacted.
NOW HERE COMES THE R.E.A.L.L.Y. IMPORTANT PART: if you bring to Christianity Your preferences, Your demands, Your requirements, you are doing a huge injustice to yourself and to Christianity as a whole. For example, if I say “I don’t accept this or that aspect of Christianity” because it doesn’t fit my political, socio-economic or cultural upbringing, then I am one of the gazillions of people throughout time who is trying to redefine Christianity, shaking loose the stuff that I don’t want and vying heavily for stuff that I would like to see added to the admixture. By failing to generalize or universalize my personal leanings to fit Christ’s mandate, I am … get this … working on the side of the so-called “devil”!
True Christianity can heal the world of every ill that man is heir to – but not by meddling with the blueprint!
One thing that I can say that could really cheer you up, though, is that you can go into your private place with God and ask to have His divine Plan revealed to you in a way that you can understand and appreciate. God doesn’t want to withhold any of His goodness and perfect love from you.
Seeing yourself as Elijah learned to see himself
….”SEEING” YOURSELF AS ELIJAH DID
…………..(by Dr. Robin Starbuck)
1 Kings 19:1-3 KJV And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. [2] Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me , and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. [3] And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
Elijah had obediently followed God’s word regarding Baal worshippers and killed 450- 850 of them. But then he got haughty and believed himself better than others. Meanwhile Jezebel the Queen heard what Elijah had done and sent a messenger telling him she would make him like one of the dead ones that he had killed. Elijah “SAW” (19:3) himself as dead and panicked. So, first he was doing God’s will perfectly, then became proud of his mighty accomplishment and missed accomplishing the other two things that God wanted him to do. People do this all the time: they see themselves sick, dejected, divorced, impoverished. Elisha had to take over and anoint the king of Israel and of Syria. Anytime you get lifted up with pride you are headed for failure. When you are at your strongest in yourself and your own ability you are your weakest because you tend to trust in yourself. He accomplished everything God wanted until he used his imagination negatively. He saw himself failing instead of obeying God. (Proverbs 16:18 KJV) “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Encourage people to do their own research
IS IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO LEARN ANYTHING NEW ABOUT GOD Re. HIS NATURE AND KINGDOM ? . ANYTHING THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE BUT IS NEW TO YOU AND YOUR CIRCLE OF FRIENDS ? . HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOUR HERETOFORE GOOD FRIENDS SUDDENLY TURNED ICE COLD ON YOU JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING A NEW – OLD FINDING THAT HAS HUGE RAMIFICATIONS ? . A LITTLE SHOCKED, RIGHT? . THOSE VERY PEOPLE PREACH OPEN-MINDEDNESS AND TOLERANCE, ESPECIALLY WHERE LEARNING IS CONCERNED. WHY ARE THEY SO AFRAID TO LET YOU DO HONEST, OPEN EXPLORATION ? . ARE THEY YOUR BROTHER’S KEEPER ? . ARE THEY COMMISSIONED TO DO YOUR THINKING FOR YOU ? .
IF YOU’RE DISCOURAGING PEOPLE WHO LOOK UP TO YOU FROM FINDING THEIR OWN CALLING, LISTENING TO HOLY SPIRIT FOR THEMSELVES AND DOING THEIR OWN RESEARCH, THEN YOU’D BETTER BE PREPARED TO ACCOMPANY THEM WHEREVER THEY GO IN LIFE. Just sayin’.
Living in protest = never quite free
A life lived in protest to a thing is a life still controlled by the thing it protests. This feels like freedom, but it’s an illusory freedom that can only exist in a universe where that which antagonizes you, and that you therefore protest, is still in control.
Real freedom is discovering a universe that exists outside of the thing you once protested’s control, and ultimately lies in realizing that said thing does not actually exist. One can, from the outside, be an advocate for those still inside, but their lives are no longer controlled by that system. One can even reenter the system as an alien and stranger in order to rescue those calling it home without coming back under its tyranny.
There is a massive difference between these two ways of being.
If I protest toxic religion from within its walls, my protest is more or less a way of dealing with my chains. I’m not truly free, for even my protest is a sign of my enslavement. Real freedom is realizing there is a world beyond, finding it, and then having the ability to come and go from my old world as I please, and then only with the intent of helping those still stuck inside of it.
I often look back and see that some of my most passionate cries against religion were just my enslaved groanings. I still lift up my voice, and still cry aloud against the evils of certain systems, but there is a difference within these days.
As I’ve said before, freedom comes in layers, so never settle for the layer you find yourself in.
~ Jeff Turner
All the faith of God is already in you!
Faith for walking on water starts with realizing you do not have to try to get out of the boat but understanding that all the Faith of God is already in you! In the beginning God gave us Total Dominion over the earth. If we are always trying to see whether or not it is true instead of simply believing what God already said, then we will fail. His Faith is our Faith; we do not wait for it to grow; we use it!
~ Tim Heart
Tim Heart: All the faith of God is already in you!
I urge anyone reading this to ponder it very deeply. Truth is true even if no one ‘gets it’! RJS
What’s wrong with a problem being healed?
Some people may pretend that evil spirits don’t exist while others may, like Jesus, see beyond their seeming power and apply spiritual truth to eradicate them.
In like manner, some people may pretend that sickness, pain, fear, poverty, etc. don’t exist while others may, like Jesus, deny their power and authority, thereby healing them.
Why hold on to anything that is ungodlike?
What’s to stop us from staying in the Spirit?
…….
What’s wrong with
A big, horrific problem
That causes so much
Suffering and grief
Being completely
And permanently
Healed?
…….
You don’t have to pretend that evil has no power over you. It doesn’t.
…….
Talk to God
And He’ll talk to you
Then listen
And listen
And listen.
Want to know how long?
Until there’s no longer
Two of you –
God and you –
But just One.
Water, water everywhere, but nary a drop to drink!
Religions don’t lead to God
What some people just don’t realize is that Truth is true no matter who tries to hijack it, whether the pope, the president, or the people. It doesn’t bend and flex to accommodate us: we need to do the accommodating – in our sometimes prideful, vulnerable minds. Truth is. Nothing can be put to it nor taken from it. Jesus is God: Who in the world can disprove that?
Grief healed instantaneously
INSTANTANEOUS HEALING OF GRIEF
Many years ago, when I was about to graduate from college – it was the week of final exams on the undergraduate level – I received a phone call from my mother telling me that my younger sister had been killed in an automobile accident. Immediately thereafter she said “We must remember that life is eternal.” I knew I had a choice to make in the face of overwhelming grief and shock: I could believe that my precious sister, April, had died. OR, I could believe that life is eternal; but I couldn’t believe both at the same moment. I turned to God in sheer and utter desperation and asked Him to take control of my thinking. He did just that. To my amazement, all the heaviness and horror and sadness and grief evaporated! I was completely free!
Little by little, I began to deal with the “facts” of the so-called here and now. April was now in a place where I could never lose her. What lay before me was to absorb what I had awakened to in the face of everyone else’s grief and try to help whomever I could reach.
I actually took all of my final exams and passed with flying colors. I even embarked on a masters’ degree program that very same week! (That’s what April would have wanted.)
You, too, can be healed of grief. For more than 30 years after April’s passing, I have literally enjoyed the warmth, love, peace, joy, and encouraging touch of April’s presence with me. If this blesses you at all, know this is written just for you and all you need to do is ask God to reveal it to you in a way that you can receive.
……….SEQUEL TO GRIEF HEALED
…………(by Dr. Robin Starbuck)
I just wanted to add a little clarification to my comments about the healing of grief. I never, never, never intended to imply anything about putting the person out of your mind or pretending that he or she had not died. Exactly the opposite! I intended to suggest that it is possible, through God’s grace, to rise above the gnawing, tortuous pain and cherish that person with a closeness never known before and have all the love, caring and sharing that you knew before their passing – and most of all have it permanently. My sister, April, died over 30 years ago and yet I enjoy her presence all the time. God gives us many gifts. My most treasured one is never losing sweet April. Trust God with your loss – with your grief: He will come through for you.
Dealing with challenges
