Christian
Connection
And relationships with other world Religions
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(This page was written in March of 2009. I will be revisiting it soon with more insight and revelation about religious concepts and beliefs. This is one of my favorite subjects.....Gary)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God
John 1:1.
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us
John 1:14
These words of the Gospel talk of creation and the manifestation of that creator as man. What a concept, the Creator becoming one of his creations. In the beginning was the word, this is so powerful yet also so misunderstood. What is the word? Is it a book or a scroll? Or perhaps is it something more? It is just possible that the word is a thought, an idea, a great power that manifested its will into creation, that word is God. The word is not a book. The word is Source, the source of all creation. The limitless energy that makes up everything in the universe is the Source energy we talk about in this site. The intellect that created man is who we refer to as God. "Then God said: "let us make man in our own image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26) "God created man in his own image, in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:27). "In our own image", this does not refer to our physical body. This is our eternal spirit, our energy, the source energy within each and everyone of us. This is an incredible gift of life. God saw that his people were confused and misunderstood him. They lost track of who and what they are. God manifested himself into one of his creations, Jesus was born. "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified". Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. (John 12:23). "and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light so that anyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness". (John 12:43-44). Son of Man....When you see me, you see the one who sent me. He was a human, just like us, yet this man was also God, "the one who sent me". Man with the power of the Creator. This is incredible! Jesus came with a message of love and hope, but this is not what most people wanted to hear. The people were looking for a warrior God that would free them oppression. This was not what Jesus came for. Today, people see Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Many believe that he came down to sacrifice himself, to pay a ransom for the sins of mankind. Many take each and every word from the Bible and put their own agenda onto it. Many believe that in order to achieve paradise with the Creator, one must believe as they believe. Jesus taught peace and love, but many will curse and kill in his name, wage bloody wars. Some will condemn those who are not of the exact same religion or political persuasion. For a people who claim to follow Jesus who preached acceptance and inclusion, too many are quick to condemn those who are different. We forget that we are all made of the same spiritual energy, that we are all connected. Is it possible that God would make this entire universe and out of all creation, choose only a few to join with him. This is impossible since we are all already joined in spirit. We are warned in the Bible not to judge others lest we will be judged by the same standard.
Maybe our creator wants more for us than to spend our time judging everyone around us and use the full potential of the power and energy within us to create a better world by creating a better life, by giving thanks for our own abundance and the limitless abundance that is in store for us? Being created in Gods image tells us that God has given us the power of creation. Is it Possible that God is not some angry entity that keeps track of everything we do wrong but instead is a loving entity there to see us through to a wonderful and successful life experience?
Perhaps Jesus came not just to die in order to pay a ransom for our transgressions, but really came to world in order to show us our true essence. To make us aware that we are not merely the flesh and bone we see or the various dramas that we create on this world. All things will pass. He gave us the example of the cross, showing us no matter how difficult our present situation becomes, we are spirit, we are life and that life will never end. Jesus even returned from the dead to teach us that.
Jesus taught us of our potential and taught of faith, a realization of the energy within each of us. With faith the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains, there are no limits. When Peter stepped off the boat, he walked on water the same as Jesus did, when doubt entered, he sank. His faith, his belief did not match his actions. In order for us to keep from sinking, our belief must match our desire and our actions. If not, we will wander aimlessly through this life. Jesus promised us peace, if we accept it. All the gifts of God, of Creation are ours, we have only to believe it and accept it.
This is a great time in the history of the world to be alive. More people have access to education and information. We do not need to live in fear. We can make informed decisions.
We have the option not to get our ideas and beliefs from just one place. Many Christians, Muslims, Jews as well as Hindus, Buddhists and other religions identify by the faith they hold. This religion becomes their passion and their personal identity. While most religions teach good morals and introduce the idea of a Divine Entity, too often, these beliefs have been taught to the followers incompletely. Most religious faith is a belief system with a goal to help people reach a higher state of spirituality, of our relationship with the Divine, with God. Unfortunately, many leaders of these religions have an agenda of their own. Some use guilt and fear to control the people while others convey a belief that uses exclusion and anger as a device to convince people to judge those who are not within their parameters of what is good and proper. They seek condemnation and persecution for those who do not meet their strict standards. They manipulate to acquire wealth, promising favor with God if you support them and his anger if you don't.
It is so important to let go of guilt, hate, intolerance, feelings of exclusion and self doubt. We must feel confident in the fact that we are spirit, we are all spirit made in the image and substance of the Divine. If we are to follow an organized religion, we must get to the basics of the word and let go of the things that keep you from recognizing your true self and your real potential. Any religion or faith that espouses guilt, hate, intolerance, fear or exclusion is not from God and should definitely not be followed.
Throughout history People have waged wars and carried banners that they alone know what God wants and are doing his will. They carry a badge of superiority and attest that the only way to God is through their particular religion. Many are guilty of this. We are told that we are made in God's image, but the fact is most people try to make God in their own image. By doing this we can be assured that we are right and all others are wrong. Perhaps this is one area we need to really think about. Is God a petty angry entity that is out to punish and condemn us for the least infraction of what are mostly man made rules? Think about it. We say God is perfect, all knowing, all loving and creator of all. Why would he create beings that are less than perfect? Why would he see his creations as anything less than perfection. No matter their gender, their color, their orientation, why would this God prefer some over others? It does not make sense. For instance, if a man takes raw materials and builds a house, something he thought about with great care and took the time to purposely create, how could that man become angry with those materials for being a house.
Over time, the Very perception of the word "God" perhaps limits in our minds to the essence and power that is our Creator. We do not fathom the abundance and infinite source of our Creator. We cannot accept that our creator has created us from that same source and we to are co creators in our universe. This is not to say we are "God", but we have been given the power of creation. We are source energy. We are truly one with the divine.
This page will continue soon. Please come back.
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