New Testament Commands & why you shouldn't be bothered by them

Commands found in the New Testament are not laws. A law is something that you are bound to keep where failure to keep it results in a penalty/punishment. There is no condemnation or punishment for those in Christ. Jesus fulfilled the law & ended it by nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14 & Ephesians 2:15).

Jesus officially gave ONE new command. Old Testament commands were clearly outlined as to who they were given to.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2, "These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them.. you and your children and grandchildren.. as long as you live."

There was no formal giving of new universal commands in the New Testament. So many have legalized the New Testament espousing that the mere presence of commands in scripture equates to those commands universally applying to all mankind. I used to do it myself & to myself.

If you have a command that every person is bound to keep every moment of their life, regardless of how long or how well they know God that is a burdensome law. The idea that Christians are bound to keep any of the commands spoken/written in the New Testament by Jesus, the apostles, & its authors is false.

If you are reading the New Testament it is wise to consult the Father & to examine the context of what is being said. But the discussion of what we are "supposed to do" & "supposed to avoid" according to scripture is a wasted one. It is legalistically treating the bible as a law book in which we only seek to gain "knowledge of good & evil." By default this causes us to miss the message of abundant life & our loving Father that the New Testament contains. It is replacing the Spirit with the letter. It focuses our minds to improving our flesh rather than even so much as glancing at Jesus.

So the, ultimately judgemental & condemning, discussions of "who should do what" were never meant to be had. Jesus wants us to know His wonderful loving Father. A father who is always by his child's side doesn't need a list of dos & don'ts. He only needs his love & his child's trust.


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If you love Me, you will keep My commandments † I Will Love You So You Will Trust Me
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If WHO loves Him? They will keep WHAT commandments?

If WHO loves Him? They will keep WHAT commandments?

Many have heard people quote Jesus as saying, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" But what did Jesus say next? He said "and.." That means the oft quoted "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" isn't even a quote of the full sentence Jesus spoke! Here it is with the "and" in tact:

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments AND I will ask the Father, and He will give to you another Comforter, that He might be with you forever the Spirit of truth. He will be in you." (John 14:15-17)

Seeing this together causes us to beg the question of who the "you" Jesus is speaking to is. It cannot refer to us today because:
1. The Spirit of Truth has already been sent/given.
2. The Spirit of Truth is already in us who know God.
3. We are not saved by keeping commandments (works) we are saved by trusting in God.
4. Salvation occurs not because we loved God but because He first loved us.

If this were to us today it would mean Jesus only sends to Holy Spirit into us after we first love Him & work to keep His commands. That is the total opposite of the gospel! By now it should be obvious that we now have no business throwing this broken sentence around trying to get people to keep commands.

But this still makes no sense because Jesus did say this to someone yet it seems to be against the gospel itself. Now let us consider the greater context. Jesus said this to His disciples shortly before He was arrested & sent to the cross. This was a short & unique time in history were Jesus could be known before He finished redemption.

Jesus was saying "Do you love me Peter? Do you love me John? Do you love me Matthew?... If you love me you will keep my commandments.." Jesus had even just specified the commandments. In John 14:1 Jesus says, "Trust in God. Trust also in Me." This was Jesus' appeal to the human relational love they had for Him which was built in the time they were with Him so they would trust Him through the devastating time where He goes to the cross and even to the grave. Jesus foretold them of His death and resurrection numerous times. John 13:1 says that everything Jesus did this night was to love His disciples because He knew He was going to be arrested and die soon. Jesus wanted His disciples to trust Him so they would see Him risen & receive the Holy Spirit of Truth.

He did still love them first. They just lived in the unique time where they could love Him before they were redeemed. They were still saved by trust (faith/belief) & not works because Jesus' commands were to "Trust in (have faith in/believe in) God. Trust also in Me."

So be free my friends. God does not require us to prove our love for Him by our works. Continue to trust in Him & His love for you. When you know His love for you then you'll never doubt your love for Him.

Related Posts:
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments † I Will Love You So You Will Trust Me
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We've Been Holy for a While Now..

It is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." So be holy also in all your behavior (1 Peter 1:15-16).
Peter was quoting a prophecy, "you SHALL BE holy," that is fulfilled by our new birth. He is essentially saying "since you are already holy, live like it." God's children are all called "saints" which literally means "holy people." It is a lot easier to make a million when you are already a millionaire. Likewise it is a lot easier to "be holy in all your behavior" when you know you are already a holy person. You live from abundance rather than scratch for sustenance & acceptance.

We are "holy and dearly loved" (Colossians 3:12).
"Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God. God's temple is holy, and you are that temple" (1 Corinthians 3:17, 6:19-20). You are holy!

Live holy but don't live to become holy. Live holy because He has made you holy, because you are grateful for the gift of His Life, because that is who you are..

Foundations

When scripture is our foundation instead of Christ & being rooted & grounded in love then it isn't about knowing our Father but about knowing a book & working to become an academic expert instead of resting as a son or daughter.

With scripture as the foundation in place of the living indwelling God we live as if we are children left at home while their parents are out, always telling each other "Dad said you have to do this.." "Mom said don't do that.." We may do this because we see "being right" as comparable to being in charge or being superior. So people fight to be right about the book because with it as their foundation that is how you "know God" or even "have a relationship with God." But a relationship with a book is impossible so we insecurely try to earn favor points (when in reality favor & grace are the same thing) by gaining knowledge.

We don't believe that Daddy's home. Love is the perfect bond of unity but we can't put on love if our beliefs tell us that the Holy Spirit only delivers our letters to the Father (& helps us keep laws to get daddy pleased with us) & that we're waiting on Jesus to return as if He weren't here now in the Spirit. When being right about the bible, agreeing about the bible, or even learning the bible is our goal then being in each other's lives & loving one another falls off the page.

Many people are playing "make believe daddy" & know next to nothing about God our Father. And how could they? They are told that the "purpose" of our lives is to "know what God said in scripture" & "know what God wants you to do." The Father of love is pictured as nothing more than a self-centered slave owner. To God be all the glory? Jesus shared His glory with us. Giving God praise doesn't make you righteous or humble. God's righteousness makes you so grateful you're humbled. You praise Him because of the love He's already given & continues to give. God does not demand praise, He earns praise. When we experience His love our hearts rejoicing in praise is a natural reaction just like any child rejoicing over their loving father or mother.

..Make Believe..

I've joked that I never learn the references to the scriptures I know because the references weren't inspired. But its true, by no stretch of the imagination are bible chapter & verse separations inspired by God. Adding chapter & verse separations took away the story of scripture & made it into a reference book, similar to modern law code. The mere existence of references gives people the impression that the bible is a legal moral code book. Thus many christians act as lawyers, simply comparing bible references. Jesus didn't speak kindly regarding lawyers (aka "teachers of the law"). "Turn your bibles to Luke 11:46."

Even when stories are being read preachers must insert a principle or moral or way to avoid sin into them. So even the structure of how the bible is taught & studied is done in a legal way. Let's teach our kids to memorize the 10 commandments, lets memorize verses. It's all Godless religion & it's stupid.

Christian "debate," discussions, & apologetics are often people acting as lawyers trying to prove the other guilty, guilty of being wrong. They are being devil's advocates because the devil is the accuser & an accuser is DEFINED as someone with the goal of charging others with guilt or error.

Sure Jews did the same things in Jesus' time & before that but at least they read the whole thing. Many verses are simply sentence fragments. People will quote a verse without even quoting an entire sentence. The ever popular "forsake not the assembling of yourselves" is 1/3 of a verse & that verse itself is already a sentence fragment.

I'm sick of playing scripture tag & seeing legal style biblical arguing. Of course it is right to love. But love either has to be the sole goal or the natural course of life. The goal preached of always being right & doing right seems like a good goal but it is self-centered & makes an enemy out of all who we view as wrong. When you are always seeking to be right a single wrong idea or wrong action from anyone (including yourself) demonizes or at least stains that person in your mind. This leads to inner turmoil or outer disrespect & combativeness.

One thing seldom realized is that "earning righteousness" can not only be attempted by our behavior but also by our knowledge, by trying to "believe" all of the "right" things. Of course people want to know & believe truth but to box yourself or others into an imaginary expectation of no mental error is a terrible goal because it cannot be real. None of this was even supposed to be academic to begin with.

Jesus came to introduce us to our real loving Father. Instead of relating to our Father & receiving His love many of us seek to have all of our intellectual questions satisfied. Let me tell you I didn't set up a classroom in the hospital when my daughter was born to teach her everything I know. Why should you expect the same from God when you're reborn? A baby needs to understand trust, love, & security before anything else. Why would it be different between you & God? And when do our needs for trust, love, & security leave our lives?

We want God to be Quiz Master G the host of The American Bible Challenge on GSN & give us all the answers regarding what the bible says & means. A good father wants to be with & enjoy His children & he will teach them as their lives go on.

How most of Christianity teaches a "relationship with God our Father" boils down to learning the bible & trying to act perfect. Thus No Real God Interaction is Necessary. So all this self-righteous intellectual bull crap that church teaching squeezes us into leaves us living as abused orphans so traumatized that we're always getting into fights with one another regarding who is right about the facts regarding our daddy who is nowhere around. Feeling smarter & morally superior to others is our replacement drug for actually knowing our real Father with our bible knowledge & bible obedience being how we take the dosages.

I've heard several Christian authors admit that their "belief in God" or the reason they "follow Jesus" is because the bible has the most logically viable worldview or that Jesus had the most loving ideals or moral code. There is nothing spiritual or personal there.

This Spiritless religion that is out there is based on "Make Believe" in 3 different ways.
1. It is false, it is made up, not true.
2. It requires us to imagine its descriptions of God such as viewing our feelings of guilt & shame as "the Holy Spirit's conviction" or viewing our sense of obligation to "biblical" teachings as "God's guidance."
3. Its main goal is for you to MAKE yourself believe & MAKE others believe. Often "believe" means nothing more than to mentally agree.

The image of God we've been sold has almost nothing spiritual or fatherly about Him yet those were the aspects Jesus emphasized. I hate that churches have turned so many head thinkers into orphan lawyers fighting about the book of their make believe father & heart thinkers into children that are manipulated into being convinced that their perfect father abuses them for not meeting his expectation of flawlessness.

Wondering About How We Relate to God...

Here are 3 concepts I've dropped from my life since June:
1. Learning or contemplation about God = a relationship with God.
2. Reading about God = relating to God.
3. Enjoying ideas about God = intimacy with God.

I had great joy & peace when doing those 3 things but there is something inauthentic about them, something I can't stand.

You can enjoy a person by learning about them, thinking about them, reading about them or from them, & enjoying ideas about them, but it is not direct. It is not a relationship. You don't have to know them. The closest is reading something from them, particularly if it is to you.

God is in us & always with us so..
When we learn about Him we can be learning from Him if we're learning truth.
When we enjoy thinking about Him it is sorta like talking to Him. Though I can attest that there is a big difference in thinking about God & directly thinking to (talking to) God.
You can take things in scripture as written TO you but that can get muddy fast. Obviously IF it is written to you in the bible it is to you in a universal sense, ie God loves all His children. There is nothing personal personal. Only the Spirit can introduce such a thing.

So a relationship with God can easily be imaginary for these reasons.
You can use the bible &/or facts/truth/ideas about God as a replacement for knowing God personally.
You can think about God without talking to God.
God is integrated with our spirits so the manner in which He relates to us is deeper, more frequent, & more complex than that of how we relate to other people. Because of this & God's invisibility/inaudibility we usually end up imagining a god who fits into our ideas about God. We try to create a relationship on our terms & thus end up with an imaginary friend with the real God breaking through to us whenever He can manage to. God sometimes breaking through & our imaginations about Him tend to be enough for us to minimally satisfy our qualifications for a relationship with God.

So to some degree, as far as I can figure, a "relationship" with God is like a relationship with ourselves. He is one with us, there for all of our thoughts, feelings, & experiences. While God is a person, "God is love" describes Him even better. "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:12). God is the giver of & a participator in every bit of love & joy & peace we ever experience.

It is Jesus the light who shines into our hearts allowing us to recognize God as the giver of all good things. But we have the option of closing our eyes. God won't open your eyes for you. And the complexity of what these figurative eyes are is staggering. God is the power of love & you have to let love. But love is patient & does not demand its own way thus you can't rush God's love or force it to come to you in a certain way. Learning to relate to God is personal & while there are necessary similarities our Father relates to His children differently. But that is when you get to the other side of the circle again. If He is different with all of us then we can easily justify our imaginations of Him. Having previously lived in confinement, shame, & fear thinking it was God's will & way for many years & seeing so many still do it I can easily say that you can imagine 99% of your god & never think once about that being a possibility.

Thus some say you have to have the bible tell you who God is. But twisting of the scripture is how most people end up knowing nothing about who God is. And the bible never claims that it will help you know God. Jesus said the Spirit would lead us into all truth & Jesus never once commanded or even promoted the reading of the scriptures.

Where does this all leave us then? As Jesus said, we become like the wind, blowing wherever we want to, being heard by those around us but never being pinned down. People cannot tell exactly where we've been & even we ourselves cannot tell where we are going. The wind concept Jesus taught is as far from the curriculum based, goal making, oath taking, charted out Christianity we've always known. Typical Christians are taught to have predictable routines that turn "relating" to God into a religious practice of "pray at this time & study this much." These hallowed practices are hallowable. They require no actual God or sense of reality, just a belief in a god & a perception of reality. Yet the wind is different every single day. So I guess this isn't something to "figure out."

Jesus essentially says, "You're free to do whatever you want, even lock yourself up, but staying free removes predictability. Staying free means the Spirit teaches you all things with limited use of men & books. Our Father is not hiding or pushing a grand goal. Yeah you'll learn to be loved & to love but this isn't about the learning, it is about the loving. If learning to feel my love & learning to give my love is your goal then you're missing the love altogether. You're trying to become something more when you are already everything to me. Our Father just wants to love His kids. That's not complicated, so don't complicate it. We're together, let's BE together. It's love. Love's free.. & so are you."

Imagination or Illumination

When is there darkness?

When it is cloudy at night.
When you are inside of something that blocks light.
When your face is covered.
When you have your eyes closed.
When you are blind.

God delivered us from the power of darkness & transferred us to the kingdom of the Son He loves. Through Him our value is restored & our sins are removed (Colossians 1:13-14).
Jesus said in John 12:46, "I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who trusts in me will not live in darkness."

Darkness steals beauty from even the most beautiful things. If you can't see it then you can't see its beauty. How do you quickly restore value to something that sits in darkness? You shine a light on it. We were never rotten or despicable. We were just in the dark. We couldn't see ourselves, we couldn't see each other, we couldn't see God who is light. People are afraid the light will expose them as evil but this is only because they've never seen themselves in the light.

The dark deeds we've done disappear in the light because light replaces darkness. But as long as we want to hold onto our deeds, our dos & don'ts, we will hold onto an idea of darkness by closing our eyes or covering our faces. Those things which we struggle to obtain, maintain, or throw away.. the light sorts it all out in an instant.

Those who know God are not blind, they are not imprisoned in darkness. But so many who have seen the light willingly close their eyes or cover their faces. In the light you can go anywhere & see anything. The longer you have your eyes open the more there is to see as you spend time looking around. 

But when we who are in the light, who are children of light, close our eyes we embrace artificial darkness. There is light all around us & in us, but all you have to do to block out light is to close your eyes.

So we close our eyes because we've chosen to believe what we've read or heard about God. Things like "you can't have fellowship with God when you are walking in darkness" & then being told that "walking in darkness" is based on behavior. Ephesians 5:8 says, "You ARE light in the Lord!" You can never walk in darkness again!

But sadly you can choose to believe in darkness by closing your eyes to the light. And when you close your eyes that is exactly what you do. You believe in darkness, you make believe in darkness, you trust in darkness rather than light. You ignore the light of love that HAS set you free because you still WANT TO believe in darkness, your darkness, their darkness, even God's darkness, though you'd never word it that way. And it is make believe. We pretend that we're "good" while we believe we are dark & evil to the core. But the truth is we are good to the core & inherent darkness & evil are pretend.

I'm not saying evil or dark deeds don't exist. I'm saying we believe darkness wins, that one dark deed extinguishes light. But it is so obviously the opposite. Light extinguishes darkness at the speed of light. If Christianity hasn't been based on ingesting bible trivia more would have realized this. But the message of churches are "open your ears only to us &  keep your eyes closed at all times." Religion is a fairy tale that you have to use your imagination with because it does not exist in reality. If you close your eyes & reject reality nothing can be done for you.

God only exist in reality because He is truth. If you look for a fake God in pretend darkness you should expect to find nothing! It is no wonder atheists & others reject the idea of a god because the bulk of Christians & Jews have rejected the real God by accepting a fake god in a pretend darkness. This is easy because they spend their time arguing about who is best at reading a book. It is seriously a "Who's better at living without the Spirit of God" contest!!

Open your eyes. "The love of Christ surrounds us" (2 Corinthians 5:14).

The world isn't partying, the world is performing.

The world isn't partying, the world is performing. Religion is the worldliest thing to ever exist.

Friendship with the world is in reality friendship with religion, with rules, with systems, with paradigms. They make you see God as your enemy. Friendship with the world is taking its substitutes in place of real friendship with God. It is doing what leaders & religions & books & businesses & cliches & cultures tell you to do.

I hate this "world." The world was never the people or the party but the performances, pains, precepts, & poorness we're being sold everyday from almost everywhere. So instead of seeing ourselves for who we really are, prodigious people with a prodigious God, we see ourselves as paltry pawns, puppets, or property. The world is a lie & Jesus is The Truth. Everything that steals your life is the world & everything that gives you life is God.

Wind

While Jesus was in the flesh He feared death to the point of praying to God with "strong crying & tears." The Father heard His fears. Though Jesus was already God's Son He learned by His suffering.

What did he learn? Most translations say "obedience."
So God calmed His fears by putting Him to work? I don't think so. The word translated as obedience means to "hear/listen under."
So I believe what Jesus learned by His suffering in the flesh was the same thing we learn, how to listen to God, not in the "hear his orders" sense but in the sense of listening to His comfort, letting Him quiet our fears & give us joy. The Father did this for His Son to the point of taking Him from being terrified of death to seeing the cross as "joy set before Him."

His Father "made Jesus perfect." He "made Him complete," thus Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all who trust Him.

Jesus is not incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses because He has been through all of the harrowing experiences we have. Therefore we can confidently approach the throne of God's loving favor to receive loving-kindness and find God's love for us whenever we need help.

And that is what Jesus learned, to trust in His Father's love for Him, let His love drive away His fear, & enjoy knowing His Father. Jesus was intensely human.

We still want God to be the Lord of Hosts, the God who commands armies. But Jesus said, "He's our daddy, & if you learn to listen to Him you'll know it." Jesus did away with the law in part because it foremost pictured God as the supreme commander to obey.

Scripture says, "to obey is better than sacrifice." Remembering what obedience means I take this to convey,

"To draw near & listen to your Father is better than anything you could do for Him, give to Him, or give up for Him. He is the giver. He delights most in you being with Him in the moment. He doesn't give you a to-do list because everything that matters is done in the moment with Him.

You can have lists without ever experiencing love. Love is not made of deeds you can check off of a list. Love is part of living. Once you know you're loved that's when you start to really live & love in return.

God doesn't burden you, make you worry, or cause you fear. So if you're worried about your relationship with God then you are trying to relate to something else. You can list & learn all the names of God in scripture but without a doubt people regard Him as THEIR GOOD Father the least. They'll believe in every kind of god imaginable except the one Jesus knew.

John 1:18 says, "The law was given through Moses BUT the love of God for us & the truth CAME THROUGH Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time without His Son Jesus making Him known. Jesus knows God the because as His beloved Son He has rested on His Father's chest." This wasn't talking about seeing God physically. It was saying no one before Jesus ever SAW God. They never authentically knew the real Him. Today we take the testimonies of people recorded in the Old Testament & say, "There is God! Look at Him!" Scripture says even we who know Jesus now only see Him through a dark glass. Even worse it says of them that they looked through veils at an unreal shadow that had no substance.

So instead of letting God Himself reveal Himself to us through His Son Jesus, because we, like Him, are God's children, we've outsourced this to the bible, to religious leaders, & to man made traditions & doctrines. Thus most of us are left with "never SEEing God at any time." Instead of the living Spirit of God we've chosen to trust in the 2,000+ year old translated testimony regarding a shadow seen by people who were wearing veils. Don't forgive me for saying this, but doing that is like locking yourself in your house & googling your long lost father's name to learn about him while he lives next door with your older brother. Oh, & occasionally talking to the mailman about him. While the bible offers a lot of "fun facts" those "facts" alone will never connect you to your fun Father.


Life with Daddy blows. It blows your mind, it cools your heart, & it gently takes you to the places that are best for you. It blows the veil away. Just trying to gain knowledge ABOUT God is like chasing the wind. Stop chasing the wind & start being the wind.

What do you want to be... no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives

We have a habit of asking kids & teens, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
I'd like to hear one say, "Do you mean what do I want to do? Because I still want to be me when I grow up."
We're apt to take our identity from so many things:  our jobs, our hobbies, the entertainment we enjoy, our religious affiliation, our spiritual beliefs, our political beliefs, & even our family & friends. A lot of this comes from insecurity or fear.

We are given artificial flavorings, artificial identity. It is meant to imitate the natural but it is not natural. The world just sorta makes us fall in place that way.

You can't be content until you are willing to be yourself without fear. But people will either love you for who you are, hate you for who you are, or not care about you, not care about the real you. They'll hate you because you refuse to take your identity from what they take their identity from. They'll stop caring about you because you refuse to be afraid of them & their opinion, no longer needing their approval. Those who love you for who you are are the hardest to find.

While you could say young adults & teens are selfish the ultimate truth is that most adults don't end up being selfish. They end up having a type of "team" mentality. They give up their identity for an affiliation or role within business, religion, family, or any paradigm. The mentality is, "I'm gonna let this thing tell me who I am" or even worse, "Who I am not & thus who I should be. I'm not who I should be so I need this system to tell me who I should try to become." Obviously that's religion & marketing 101. Tell people they are missing something & then offer them a way to get what they are missing. Systems get people to work for them or buy from them. They exist to take & not to give, they are artificial flavors & they've got just enough preservatives for you to not blame them.

The difference between me seeing myself as "a dad" or "Melody's dad" is colossal. You can be a parent & forever leave your kids in the dark because you are trying to be "a parent," you're trying to fit the role, meet the cliches, meet others expectations, fall within the grace of others' opinions & the acceptable norms. Doing this sets you up as someone who's goal is to control & manipulate your child instead of know your child. And it is no wonder because doing things like this sets you up as someone who's goal is to control & manipulate yourself instead of know yourself.

So the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" implies "I stopped being me & became this thing," & "what you are now has to go."

This all relates to the idea of being "in" the world but not "of" the world. Being of the world means you take or strive to take your identity from it. And let me tell you, the religion of Christianity is perhaps the most "worldly" thing in existence. It is the ultimate bait-and-switch.

Jesus saying, "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it" refers to our false life, that which was given to us by the world to strive to keep or improve. I claim this because Jesus immediately went on to say, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?" Think about His question.

Whoever wants to save their world-made-life will lose it. It will be destroyed because God will not keep that false life for us. Whoever abandons the world-made-life for Jesus, The Life who gives the God-made-life, will save their true life. The world-made-life "seeks to conform you into its image" until you are no longer you. The God-made-life seeks to renew you. When you are renewed you know God's desire has been to give you abundant life, abundant real life with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

When Ideas Oppose Identities

Instead of relating to people we relate to ideas of people. This causes us to either want to fix people (get them to believe or behave in a manner we think is "right") or pity people (either heartfelt pity with inactive concern or prideful comparative pity). We not only box others in but we box ourselves in as well. "He's a this. She's a that. I'm a this. I'm a that.." Instead of getting to know ourselves & others we choose ideas & ideals we like (or are told to like) & conform ourselves to them. Whoever doesn't conform to what we choose to believe is evil/wrong/needs to be fixed/is to be pitied. So we end up living in a shadow of the world where we are always comparing & calculating others instead of learning about them & embracing them.

People aren't selfish because we are inherently evil or because we have a "sin nature."  People are selfish because they feel (whether true or not) that, "I am the only one who values me."

The less loved someone feels the more likely they are to be grabby & self-centered. However there is a part we'd rather not realize because it would expose our beliefs & institutions as ineffective. The less loved someone feels the more likely they are to be giving & apparently selfless because they are always trying to earn love from others (love cannot be earned or it ceases to be love). So many of the kind & gentle are actually the least well adjusted people. They strive to protect themselves from rejection because, unlike the first group, they are unable to love themselves thus they end up attaching their value to the opinions of others.

They run into brick walls when doing things for people who do not appreciate what they do. It is worse to serve ungrateful people than it is to do no serving at all because ungrateful people will make you bitter & angry. But being a "people pleaser" results in people being grateful for what you do for them instead of appreciating who you are thus you end up feeling just as rejected & alone as the selfish thief or the thug.

Don't put your ideas into other people's heads. I suggest that you have to stop caring about people in order to see the people who care about you, you have to stop USING yourself & just start BEING yourself. You may end up mostly alone but you can stop presenting yourself as an idea of a person & instead be a real person. The problem is others have to do this too. And very few of us want to simply be. Most of us want to achieve, strive, grow.. in other words go in the opposite direction of what will really change us for the better. In order to truly "get better" you have to realize you are good to begin with. Not that your job is good, your ideas are good, your ideals are good, your beliefs are good, your knowledge is checked, correct, & good, but that YOU are good. Not even the person who loves you most in this world can make you believe that if you don't want to.

God knows you're good but most of the people who claim to know God will tell you that God only wants to know you so He can FIX you & USE you for HIS glory. If you embrace those ideas you'll just believe in an idea of a god & still live fatherless. Everyone can be replaced by an idea, by beliefs. This happens when the heart that longs to be known is led by the head that longs to know, whether true or false it doesn't care it just wants to breed certainty to "puff" itself up. It puffs up because inflation is temporary. Love builds up because love never ends, love is permanent. If knowledge is your means to receive love you'll just end up with dead facts, beautiful as they may seem.

Reality is not an idea alone, it is reality. Participate in reality instead of postulating about reality. Stop puffing up your beliefs about people & start being WITH people. Stop postulating about A god & just sit with your daddy.

About God & Beliefs

I think the media, politics, & religion have led to us buying into the idea that we need to form opinions on things & have stances on things & have beliefs about things which typically never affect our day to day lives nor the lives of anyone we know. I'm not saying this as in "you should act on what you believe" I'm saying this as in "stop talking about beliefs you never act upon." So many opinions are pointless. We go around being mad at or hating people (such as politicians) who we'll never meet. People rile themselves up by following the news & thus intentionally alienate themselves from others who disagree with them. Or it puts them in bad moods or in arguments with people who are actually in their lives.

The labels we put on ourselves by our "stances" might as well say, "Devalue me because I think differently than you do." Because all it takes is for me or you to say ONE thing that is too religious or not religious enough, or too caring or not caring enough for us to be seen in a different light, as if that ONE thing were the whole of who we are or is so weighty that it makes us someone to pity, combat, or ignore.

We live in the multimedia age of "put yourself in a box & label yourself so others can judge you without even knowing you." Normally this would be a rant about labeling others but honestly most people label themselves first, opening themselves to arguments & prejudice. We instigate others by clinging to so called values, values that are seldom more than ideas we hold about things that never affect our lives (which is actually a legalistic mindset).

So many people never get to know themselves because largely there is no more "self." Instead we have distractions from self & IDEAS about THINGS occupying our time when we're not monkey punching the clock at our jobs. Religion intentionally destroys self & rallies against it. Anti-religion conforms people to its ideas & its mold of thought which also destroys self. To be clear, self is a good thing. Self is the best thing!

It is true that few people really change, they just change sides because now life is ALL about the SIDES you take. This is the bandwagon, mold-fitting nation. While I won't surmise about people's personal lives & relationships with God (though much of mine is mixed in here) I will say what I think are the possible effects of movements. Take the "grace movement" for example. You go from learning verses that are commands to verses about freedom & grace. Both sides are about having the right beliefs ABOUT (ABOUT!) God. Knowing the truth can set people free but what do free men do? The fenced in city dog wants to be free but the free country dog stays on the porch. It is exciting to change sides or be set free but often once the excitement dies down you just fall back into your same patterns of bible study & God postulating, you've just changed sides. So you know a lot more, now legitimate, truth ABOUT God & that truth gives you peace of mind but when it comes to actually knowing God personally as YOUR Father there is little difference. You talk ABOUT Him instead of TO Him.

Orphans having information about their father can give them hope but the "hope that lies inside of us" isn't supposed to be an orphan's gathered information about a distant father. The hope in side is the Father inside. While we can rejoice in the idea that He never leaves us.. when do we enjoy any more than that idea by interacting with Him?

Beliefs while necessary & sometimes beneficial weren't what Jesus came to give us. He came to give us Himself. He asked us to believe IN HIM, trust IN HIM. He didn't ask us to have the right beliefs about Him. Those are supposed to come by knowing Him, but we've traded knowing Him for knowing things about Him & He is such a good God that we can even get by on that. Well I'm through with just getting by on thoughts, ideas, beliefs, stances, labels, opinions, & facts. Jesus said, "I have come so people may have life & have it abundantly. I am life! I came so people could have me AND LOTS OF ME!"

Ecclesiastes Excerpts

You don't see many people intentionally taking Ecclesiastes literally. Here are some excerpts to prove it. Keep in mind this is from the bible the so called "infallible & perfectly breathed word of God" & that its also written by the same guy who wrote the beloved book of Proverbs. Anyway, I think these are all worth a look at to see the real mindset Jewish people had before Jesus came to clear things up. There are also thought provoking things here.

The eye never has enough to see, and the ear is never filled with what it hears.

I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun. And see, it is all for nothing. It is like trying to catch the wind.  I set my mind to know wisdom and to know what is crazy and foolish. I saw that this also is like trying to catch the wind. Because in much wisdom there is much trouble. And he who gets much learning gets much sorrow.

My heart was pleased with all my work. This was my reward for all my work. Then I thought about all that my hands had done, and the work I had done. I saw that it was all for nothing. It was like trying to catch the wind, and there was nothing to get for it under the sun.

The wise man will not be remembered forever any more than the fool. All will be forgotten in the days to come. The wise man dies just like the fool! So I hated life. For the work which had been done under the sun brought sorrow to me. Because everything is for nothing and is like trying to catch the wind.

For what does a man get from all his work and trouble under the sun? For his work brings pain and sorrow all his days. Even during the night his mind does not rest. This also is for nothing.

God has put thoughts of the forever in man’s mind, yet man cannot understand the work God has done from the beginning to the end.

I know that everything God does will last forever. There is nothing to add to it, and nothing to take from it.

To be a man is no better than to be an animal. Because all is for nothing.

Then I saw all the bad powers that were ruling under the sun. I saw the tears of the people who were suffering under these powers, with no one to comfort them. Those who made it hard for them had the power. But the people had no one to comfort them. So I thought that those who are already dead are better off than those who are still living. But better than both is the one who has never been, who has never seen the wrong that is done under the sun.

I have seen that all the work done is because a man wants what his neighbor has. This also is for nothing, like trying to catch the wind. The fool folds his hands and has no food to eat. One hand full of rest is better than two hands full of work and trying to catch the wind. [Solomon uncharacteristically says the fool is better off than the working man!]

It is work that brings sorrow.

Do not hurry to speak or be in a hurry as you think what to tell God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth. So let your words be few.

He who loves money will never have enough money to make him happy. It is the same for the one who loves to get many things. This also is for nothing.

Man comes from his mother without clothing, and he will go as he came. He will take nothing from his work that he can carry in his hand. what does the man get who works for the wind? All his life he eats in darkness with much sorrow, sickness and anger.

If a man becomes the father of a hundred children and lives many years until he is very old, but he is not happy with good things, and is not buried as he should be, then I say that the child who dies before it is born is shown more favor than he. For this child comes for nothing and goes into darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. It never sees the sun and it never knows anything. It is better off than he. Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not find joy in good things

All a man’s work is for his mouth, and yet his hunger is not filled.

The more words there are, the more they are worth nothing. What good is that to anyone? For who knows what is good for a man during his life, during the few years of his living for nothing? He will spend them like a shadow.

Do not say, “Why were the days of the past better than these?” For it is not wise to ask this.

To have sorrow is better than to laugh.

In the days of my life I have seen everything, but my life has been worth nothing. There is a right and good man who is destroyed while he is right and good. And there is a sinful man who lives long in his wrong-doing. Do not be too right and good, and do not be too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be too sinful, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

There are sinful men who have the same thing happen to them that happens to those who are right and good.

So I say a man should enjoy himself. For there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and drink and be happy.

The living know they will die. But the dead know nothing, and they will receive nothing further, for they are forgotten.

Drink your wine with a happy heart.

Time comes and goes and things happen for no reason to everyone.

A wise man’s heart leads him toward the right. But the foolish man’s heart leads him toward the left. [Ha ha Why aren't conservatives using this verse?]

The fool speaks many words. [Haha, Think of a preacher monologuing for an hour while everyone else is silent.]

Food is made ready to be enjoyed, wine makes life happy, but money is the answer to everything.

Do not curse a king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich man in your bedroom because a bird of the heavens will carry your voice and an animal with wings will make it known.

If a tree falls to the south or to the north, wherever the tree falls, there it lies.

Let an old man remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is for nothing.

Young man follow the ways of your heart and the desires of your eyes.

The dust will return to the earth as it was. And the spirit will return to God Who gave it. “It is of no use,” says the teacher, “It is all for nothing!”

My son, be careful. There is no end to the writing of many books and reading many of them makes the body tired.

The teacher (Solomon) looked to find pleasing words and to write words of truth in the right way.


Some Favorites:
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and find joy in his work. I have seen that this also is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can find joy without Him? For God has given wisdom and much learning and joy to the person who is good in God’s eyes.

When a face is sad, the heart may become strong.

Not giving up in spirit is better than being proud in spirit.

For sure a bad power makes the wise man angry.

I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the work which has been done on the earth, not sleeping day or night. And I saw all the work of God and knew that man cannot even think of all that is done under the sun. Even if man tries hard to find out, he will not be able to. Even if a wise man says he knows, he does not.

Why should God be angry because of what you said, and destroy the work of your hands?

God has already been pleased with your works.