A blueprint for peace

As you probably noticed I did not just make up some story. (Read “A fair story“)
Another nonsense fairy tale like we have so many already.
But are they really nonsense?
I am sure you noticed the many similarities with all those magic stories.
Like I wrote in the introduction.
I believe we have an innate knowledge of truth and another reality we cannot see with our natural eyes.
One of the ways humanity has expressed this truth is by telling stories.
Some closer to “The Story” than others, yet all touching another dimension that rises above what we can experience with our natural senses.
Is it really a coincidence that these stories have so many similar elements in them, including the story of the bible, of Jesus Christ?
I believe that rather it shows the creative ways our Maker speaks to us.
The bible was written many years after God showed up on planet earth and started to interact with people.
Although I believe it is a book that comes from God himself, by inspiring people to write it, we can not limit God’s speaking to us to its written words.
I do believe the ways God speaks to us and the way we live our lives should not be in contradiction with the bible.
However that does not mean He cannot give us inventions, as an example, that did not exist in the old days because they are not mentioned in “the book”.
It is a guideline to live by yet his ways of showing up in our lives are endless.
The different forms in which He speaks to us that are mentioned in the bible probably cover most of these ways though.
Just be careful not to put God in a box.
I think we often miss a lot in life because we limit ourselves by narrow thinking.

There is a story in the bible where God lets a donkey talk!
The man the donkey speaks to actually was a foretuneteller to whom God had spoken but he was so obstinate to do his own will that God had to use a donkey to get to him!
The donkey actually saved his life because he saw the angel that was standing in front of them, ready to kill him if he went any further, because it was against God’s former directions.
The man did not see the angel at first probably due to his own obstinacy that blinded him.
A donkey had to warn him!
The animal was so afraid he refused to go any further.
The man, whose name was Bileam, then beats his donkey several times.
It is then that God allows the donkey to speak and then Bileam sees the angel as well.
I get the impression he was not even warned for his own sake, but for the donkey’s sake because he would not have stopped hurting or even killing the animal otherwise.
Now that is an interesting story right?!
It shows to me that God can speak in endless ways.
But I find it also interesting that an animal was more sensitive to the spiritual realm than a person.
Perhaps there is a lesson there for us.
I believe it shows the importance of seeing with our spiritual eyes.
It might be a matter of death or life!

To be continued…

Free Gift

A blueprint for peace

So what is this story I wrote down all about?
We have been so used to telling the history of humanity from our own perspective.
I would like to propose we look at it from a different view and see if we can discover something new.
I am sure we can all agree that humanity is in need for some new revelation.
Revelation that leads to solutions.
Solutions to problems that are to difficult for us to resolve.
Unless…
Unless we tap into our Maker.
The One who perfectly knows how it all works, since He put this life together.
Not just our individual lives but that of the whole universe.
He certainly knows how to solve famine and poverty.
Wars and sicknesses.
Depression and loneliness.
None of these things are a mystery to him.
He knows their cause and their solution.
So why should we pain ourselves any longer and try to fix it all by ourselves.
Perhaps we can get understanding by looking at life from a different point of view.
Why should we not ask God how HE sees it?
What HIS take on things is?
After all He knows best.
He knows everthing.
Do you think He will withold any information from us that can improve our lives?
Do you really believe He is that cold and distant?
Do you think that if indeed He does care about these things we wrestle with, He did not start telling us about them right away?
Right from the beginning when we encountered the first problem?
And I believe that is exactly what He did.
Right there in the garden He had placed us in.

To be continued…

Free Gift

When we first came into existence through the loving creative heart of God, that was always searching to express his love more by making another creation, He called us the crown of all his work.
Think about that!
He called us his masterpiece.
We have more value to him than mountains and galaxies.
We are more precious than the greatest ocean.
We had no flaw.
No sickness or disability.
No depression existed.
Neither war or famine.
There was no problem or mistake.
We turned out perfectly the way He intended.
We fulfilled the desire of his heart to have children.
Not for what we could give him, but for the joy it gave him to express his love.

God’s love is so different than ours though.
Without realising it we often have hidden agenda’s, expecting something in return when we give to others.
Perhaps nothing more than a “thank you”, yet the fact that we get grumpy and upset when our love is not returned or appreciated shows that we are more selfish in nature than we realise.
If our love and care for others was truly selfless and all about the other then we would not be offended if our kindness was not returned.
It shows that even our giving is part of getting our own needs and desires met.
But God is not like that at all.
Although we give him great joy, we never have to fulfill any of his needs.
All his needs are met in himself.
He does not need anything from anyone, especially not his own creation!
That should give us some peace right?

To be continued…

Free Gift

Now of course we are not God and we do have needs that only can be met from outside ourselves.
Yet if we expect other human beings to fulfill them we are in a sense making them our god.
And because we are part of the same creation as they are we basicly make ourselves god.
Trying to give others value in the same way we expect them to value us.
A value that only God can give.
Who are we to think we can determine anyone’s worth?
Did we create each other?
Do we see every single aspect of a person?
Both flaws and successes.
We might see some of both, but do we get the whole picture?
Do we see the hidden beauty that lies in every single human?
Christian or not.
Respected by society or a complete outcast.
Viewed as nothing more than garbage.
Who are we to either do away with people or to put them on a footstool?
Like some kind of gods.
Is that not God’s job?
Does a creator not determine whether his creations have been a success or a total failure?
So why then do we tempt to take that place all the time in people’s lives?
Looking down on others, judging their every move and every word they say?
Condemning them without hesitation like we are their judge.
The one they need to give an account to for their lives.
Again, is that not the job of God?
The Ruler of the universe who one day will hold all people accountable?
By no means I say this to scare you.
Rather I hope you reconsider your current attitude towards other people and perhaps even yourself.
We are not our own judge either.
We certainly are responsible for many of our actions, yet we often do not even know our own motivations and the cause of our behavior.
God really is the judge of that.
Why not leave him to do his own job instead of trying to take his place?
To take responsibility for our mistakes without putting ourselves down.
Without tying our sense of worth to it.
Did you know that it is actually arrogant pride to do that?
To base our value on what we do…

To be continued…

Free Gift

Life is a gift, we cannot earn it.
You probably disagree, after all is not our whole society based on merits?
Unfortunately it is.
However everything we do comes from the potential that was given us at birth.
It was all a gift.
It is true that we have to work to develop these gifts, but even the ability to do that was given.
So why do we keep priding ourselves on our achievements?
I am not talking about a healthy sense of satisfaction when we accomplish certain things.
But we should realise the source of our ability for these accomplishments.
It will give us the right kind of humility.
Not one that puts oneself down because that is arrogance as well.
That would be like saying to our Maker what a terrible job He did!
If we do not acknowledge God as the one that made us and do not give him the credit and honor that is due to him we basicly pronounce ourselves to be god.
And we reap the harmful consequenses of such behavior.
If we take a job for which we are not qualified, we will have a hard time fulfilling all that is required of us.
The same goes when we take the job of God.
If we take credit for what He did, for the abilities He gave us then we will have a hard time fulfilling our own expectations and that of others to generate things in our own strength.
It will weary us out sooner or later!
It takes away our peace.
The peace of not having to be our own sustainer.
The peace that comes from relying on a God that made us and loves us and always will uphold us.
If only we are willing to lean on him.
And that takes humility.
The humility to acknowledge that we are not God…

To be continued…

Free Gift

Pride can manifest itself in different ways in people that seem quite opposite, but the root is always that you resist God and put yourself above Him.
Often we are not even aware of doing that.
To think you can deserve anything from Him, even when you never made a mistake, is pride.
You put yourself above God denying that He is the source of your live.
You cannot earn anything from Him because all your ability comes from him.
And that is very freeing, because it means you do not have to strive all the time to receive his love and acceptance or the approval of people.
Our value does not come from what we do but what we do flows from who we are. We were made with value.
This means that if we do not perform well it does not prove we are worthless.
Rather we often only start having successes after we came to the realisation that we already have worth.
And of course many things take time to learn. But our ability to do that was given to us.
It actually takes humility to believe this because now we cannot take credit for our accomplishments anymore. Not when we go to the root of who we are.
Of course there are still countless decisions we get to make that determine whether we influence the world around us in a good way and have value for others through our behavior. In that sense we can still gain merits.
Yet in our core we already are valuable and our ability to be of worth through our actions comes from the value we already have.
What we do or do not do cannot influence this.
We cannot ad to our core value by our successes, nor can we diminish it by our mistakes. Our value is constant.
And so is God’s love for us.
We can neither mess up his love nor can we increase it.
It is already more than what we need or deserve…
Because love cannot be earned.
It is given freely.
Otherwise it would not be love but a reward.
Payment for our behavior and achievements.
But no one loves their children like that.
You love them because they are yours.
And that is how God loves us.
Because we are his creatures.
Not because we performed well.

To be continued…

Free Gift

God never withholds his love from us, no matter how we live or what we believe.
But are WE withholding HIM?
The bible says God opposes the proud.
This does not mean He does not love us, but our pride puts up a wall between him and us.
If we try to earn love and acceptance, whether from God or from other people, we give honor to ourselves for what was given to us freely.
A worth that no behavior can alter. Either positive or negative.
But we also block our heart from receiving the depth of his love for us which is not based on merit but freely given.
You where made from love, the love of God.
You do not have anything to give him back for that, except what he gave you first.
Yet He delights in it when we give him gifts.
Like a child buying a gift for their parents from the money they gave them.
There really is only one appropriate gift as a response to his love for us.
It is the total surrender of our lives to him.
Complete submission.
Like it gives parents joy when their children obey and do not put up a fight all the time.
And that gives God so much joy, if we return his love for us in this way.
You can be assured He will not abuse your submission.
All his instructions are for your own good.
He is one hundred percent intent on making you prosperous.
Not according to this world’s standards but to his.
To make you prosper in health and relationships.
To provide for all your you needs in any area of your life, whether material, physical, emotional or spiritual.
He does not want you to have any lack.
But you do have to trust him, even when provision does not always seem to be right around the corner.
You have to trust that He is in control and be willing to surrender your whole life to him.
It is when we release our needs into his hands that He starts to take care of them.
We can bring him our petitions all the time.
Yet what He delights in most is to have fellowship with us.
If we come to spend time with him, not only sharing our heart’s concerns but also listening for his reply.
Listening for his whisper throughout our day.
Whispers that give us insight and solutions, but most important whispers that declare his love for us.
It is when we silence all the noise of the world around us and give him first priority that we start to experience his presence.
In my experience provision often came after I spend time with him, without even asking for something.
And that is really his desire and the purpose of our life.
That we enjoy God.

To be continued…

Free Gift

By looking to others for a sense of worth and satisfaction that only God can give we are pronouncing ourselves to be on the throne of our lives since we are part of the same creation as they are.
But also we make a god out of everything that we give the place that God should have in our lives.
We ignore that He is the source of our existence and therefore our first provider.
He might choose to use others to fulfill certain needs, like the needs of children for nurture. Yet even so He is the one that provides for them.
What I am mainly referring to here though is the needs that are beyond what people can give us.
I am talking about the need of our heart to be unconditionally loved and taken care of.
To be known and understood beyond the ability of people, even our own parents or partners that deeply love us.
To be cherished with a love so strong it is willing to sacrifice one’s own life.
A love that does not get grumpy when it is not returned but rather increases its intensity.
Many parents have strong tendencies to sacrifice for their children.
Yet our love can never take the place that was only meant to be filled by our Creator.
And because we have needs to be met ourselves our loving, even that of the most devoted parents, is always flawed and mixed with selfish desires if we do not  meet with our Maker daily so He can fulfill our own deepest need for affection first.
Then out of the overflow of that love we are able to love others well and we can be pure and selfless in our giving.
It is actually very destructive not to give God the place He was meant to have in our lives.
We will always look to find the fulfillment only He can give in the wrong places.
We end up feeling hurt all the time because we expect from others a fulfillment and sense of worth they can never give.
In return we hurt them back out of disappointment, often even unintended.
We also develop unhealthy habits that turn into addictions.
Trying to soothen the pain in our soul from an unfulfilled heart.
Aching and longing for something more.
A fulfillment that only God can give.

To be continued…

Free Gift

The problem is not that God is distant.
Actually He is closer than we often realise.
Whether you believed in him your whole life or never gave him a thought, He is still right there present in your life.
Ready to turn things for good and fill your longing heart as soon as you turn to him.
Relationship with God is not much different than with people.
After all we were made in his likeness.
God himself consists of three Persons the bible teaches us.
Yet He is one God.
The Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.
Maybe a cube with sides that look different is the closest comparison we can make with that.
Like they are in relationship with each other and do not do anything alone, so we were not made to live life apart from God.
Perhaps another comparison that can be made is how we ourselves consist of three parts: a body, a soul and a spirit.
Our body is mainly just the “house” we live in.
Our soul consists of our thoughts, feelings and our will that makes decisions.
Our spirit is the core of who we are, it is our nature.
Jesus could be compared with our body.
He is the image of what God looks like.
If we want to know God we have to look at Jesus, we cannot bypass him.
Our soul could be compared to the Father.
He is the one that makes the decisions and is in control.
Our spirit could be compared to the Holy Spirit.
He is God’s core, his nature, his character.
He is all good and holy and righteous.
Now the comparison only goes so far because our body, soul and spirit are not three persons like God is. Although these three aspects of our existence are of course related to each other and have a connection. But we really are a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body.

Our spirit was from the beginning meant to be united to God’s Spirit.
The Holy Spirit.
That is why we are not able to live righteous, without sin, if we are not connected to him.
He is our holiness, after all He is called the Holy Spirit.
Without him we become selfish and fight with each other and do all kinds of harm, both to ourselves and to other people.
And inevitably we put ourselves on the throne of our lives.
After all if God does not have that place then someone else has to take it.
Since the fall of humanity when we first rebelled against God we have put ourselves in his place.
The result was chaos and great destruction.
Therefore I believe that restoration comes into our lives and to the earth when we start to give God his rightful place again.
Of course He is still God when we do not acknowledge him as such.
Yet He chooses to a degree not to reign and bring his order if we do not give him permission by not honoring him as King.
Why?
Because at creation He gave the earth to people. To all of us.
This shows how much He is all about relationship with us and has no interest in puppets. He does not need a tool to play with.
He made us out of love, not out of need.
But of course we need him to be King over us and bring order to our lives.
After all He is our source and without being connected to that source we wither and perish.
Yet He left the choice to us whether to submit to him or not, since love and relationship are all about free will and trust.
So He gave us a chance to trust him.
Or not.

To be continued…

Free Gift

Interaction is a two way stream.
You cannot expect God to solve all your life’s problems and needs without being in relationship with him.
That is like drinking from a can of water that was given you realising one day it is empty.
And you wonder why.
Yet there is a source where this water came from and it is accessible for you.
But if you do not drink from it you will be left thirsty.
God is not far away but He wants you to come to him.
Otherwise it would not be a free choice.
However He will not hide from you without giving any clues where to search.
Like a parent playing hide and seek with their child.
Sticking out a toe on purpose and making some noises so the child does not panick because it cannot find them.
The whole creation, the earth and the whole universe, is basicly God’s “toe” sticking out.
Telling us He is right there!
There may be many theories about life coming into existence, yet you cannot get around the fact that life can only come from life.
So our source has to be eternal.
If you ask where eternity comes from, you are beating around the bush.
You are not thinking straight.
If the eternal God came from somewhere or something else He would not be God.
If we say God cannot exist because we do not know where He came from, we are making God like us.
It is exactly because He is eternal that we cannot know his source.
Because He has none.
He is his own source.
Or He would not be God.

I believe our problem with God is not so much that we cannot understand how there can be a God, but that we are not willing to accept there is Someone above us. And I believe that is what leads to the confusion in our mind about how God can exist.
We draw him down to our level because we do not want him to be above us.
And if God is like us, subject to time and dependent on outside sources for life, then it makes sense you can not come to the understanding that God exists.
Because we ourselves come from somewhere else.
So then in our thinking God has to come from somewhere else too.

If you have read the story (“A fair story”) you will see the similarities between Lightbearer’s behavior and ours.
His problem was not that God did not exist or was not accessible to him.
His problem was that he himself wanted to be God.
And because of that he started to be confused in his mind and have thoughts about God that were not true.
If was because he had replaced his priority to spend time with God with the things He had given him.
His eyes had lost the right focus.
And slowly he started to forget about how good God was.
When we lose sight of God we become full of ourselves because of all the great things God bestowed on us.
We lose sight of the fact that they came from God.
The first problem of humanity was not a sickness or disaster.
The first problem was that we started to mistrust God.
We stopped believing that He was good and had our best interest in mind.
Disobedience was the result of this and every problem we know of came from that.

To be continued…

Free Gift