If you have read some of my previous blog entries, you may very well be aware of the fact that I am a subscriber to the The Free Believers Network and The God Journey.
As a Christian I have come to the place whereby I see trusting in God as being the ability to just allow everything to be just as it is. One of the most futile practices that we commit to is that of arguing with the past. Whatever is past is past and unless someone invents a time machine - we cannot do a single thing to change what has happened to us and the things that we have already done.
We cannot do anything to change the past, but what we can do is choose to believe that the future can hold something wonderful in store for us – if we will just think positively and believe that it is so. No matter what has happened in the past – we can cooperate with The Divine in order to live the best future that we can possibly experience. It is in this space of hope and faith in which miracles can happen.
We make a mistake when we insist on a particular expectation for the future. More often than not such expectations are an expression of fear than that of the confidence that comes from true love. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that: [love] does not seek its own. The Living Bible version says that: Love does not demand its own way. Love abides in the sphere as peace. Love does not exist in the same realm as fear. I like what John 4:18 says about love:
18 There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment - is one not yet fully formed in love.
1 John 4:18 msg
I think a lot of our fears are centred on a fear of death and a fear of God. It is for this reason that the formation of a proper perspective on death and God is vital in ridding oneself of fear. Christianity has been used throughout the centuries to put men and women under a yoke of religious bondage. However, there is now a move towards understanding the true Gospel message. I believe that the true Gospel, without rules and rituals, provides an antidote the problem of fear and guilt – giving hope, peace, forgiveness and the promise of restoration. Everything changes when we read the Bible through the lens of love. When we read the Bible through the lens of fear and religious obligation – it becomes something stressful and scary. The way in which we perceive God can mean the difference between peace or stress, love or fear.
For more information visit my grace Christianity blog The Divine Nature and look at some of the blog entries and links to other related resources. I recommend the book, The Misunderstood God, by Darin Hufford, which aims to provide a proper perspective on God in relation to love.
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