Head Learning Vs. Heart Knowing

[LearningToLetGo]

Oftentimes we know something intellectually but not in the gut, so to speak. This is essentially the difference between so-called book-learning and experience. I mention this because it is relevant to a recent experience of mine.

Last April I was stricken with a near-fatal disease that sent me to the hospital intensive care unit for almost a month. I spent eleven days in a medical coma and very nearly died. Upon awakening, I was so weak as to be effectively paralyzed. I was helpless in every conceivable way and one-hundred percent dependent upon the doctors and nurses to care for me in the most intimate ways from rolling me in my sleep to prevent compression sores to cleaning my own filth when I lost control of my bowls. It was humbling, to say the least.

During this experience I intuited that a stark choice lay before me: I could claim this to be unfair and wallow in self pity or I could let go of myself and trust in the will of God. I was tempted by the former path and could, for the first time in my life, easily understand how so many people follow that road. The many people lost to drugs and homelessness are a testament to just how easy it can be to take that road. Fortunately, God has other plans for me. During the depths of my despair I felt the pull of the Holy Spirit and turned my gaze upwards. Having no strength of my own I left it all in God's hands. "God," I said, "my life is yours. If you wanted me to die then you could have easily taken me when I lay in coma, but you allowed me to awaken. Please, Lord, tell me your will for me."

The answer came immediately: "Love." God wants me to love.

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”​

Mark 12:28-31 ESV​

This knowledge was not new to me. I had read this passage many times and understood it well, or at least I thought I did. But until this point I had understood the commandment to love intellectually. It took a near fatal disease, paralysis, and absolute helplessness and powerlessness on my part to shift this knowledge from my head to my heart. That shift was a sea change. Suddenly the commandment to love your God and to love your neighbor as yourself (indeed to love yourself at all! -- a subject for another thread) became not just quantitatively different but qualitatively so. Anyone who has come to brink of death and returned can understand this.

Since the worst of my ordeal I have continued to grow in my relationship with Jesus. He has been teaching me the virtue of patience, humility and trust. He has also been healing my body. The doctors were not sure I would live yet here I am. They thought I would forever need dialysis for failed kidneys yet I am dialysis free for over a month and continuing to heal. It is a miracle. During my prayers I begged Jesus to heal me, not for myself but so I would not burden my wife and family. His response: "In due time." Not knowing how long that might be, whether days, weeks, months or years, but trusting in God's perfect trustworthiness tears rolled down my cheeks as I poured out my gratitude.

My message to those who read this is simple: trust in the Lord. God is real. He loves you. He wants you to know him. He wants you to be healthy and to be happy. He wants you to live without fear. He wants you to know overflowing joy. Turn to him. Pray to him, not because you fear damnation if you don't but because you deserve to know his infinite love and compassion now as has always been his desire for you.

Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 ESV​

The above verse from The Lord's Prayer is not merely a plea for future action. It can be realized now, this very moment. Thank you for taking the time to read my testimony.

May God bless you.

Jason

 

[farouk]

Oftentimes we know something intellectually but not in the gut, so to speak. This is essentially the difference between so-called book-learning and experience. I mention this because it is relevant to a recent experience of mine.

Last April I was stricken with a near-fatal disease that sent me to the hospital intensive care unit for almost a month. I spent eleven days in a medical coma and very nearly died. Upon awakening, I was so weak as to be effectively paralyzed. I was helpless in every conceivable way and one-hundred percent dependent upon the doctors and nurses to care for me in the most intimate ways from rolling me in my sleep to prevent compression sores to cleaning my own filth when I lost control of my bowls. It was humbling, to say the least.

During this experience I intuited that a stark choice lay before me: I could claim this to be unfair and wallow in self pity or I could let go of myself and trust in the will of God. I was tempted by the former path and could, for the first time in my life, easily understand how so many people follow that road. The many people lost to drugs and homelessness are a testament to just how easy it can be to take that road. Fortunately, God has other plans for me. During the depths of my despair I felt the pull of the Holy Spirit and turned my gaze upwards. Having no strength of my own I left it all in God's hands. "God," I said, "my life is yours. If you wanted me to die then you could have easily taken me when I lay in coma, but you allowed me to awaken. Please, Lord, tell me your will for me."

The answer came immediately: "Love." God wants me to love.

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”​

Mark 12:28-31 ESV​

This knowledge was not knew to me. I had read this passage many times and understood it well, or at least I thought I did. But until this point I had understood the commandment to love intellectually. It took a near fatal disease, paralysis, and absolute helplessness and powerlessness on my part to shift this knowledge from my head to my heart. That shift was a sea change. Suddenly the commandment to love your God and to love your neighbor as yourself (indeed to love yourself at all! -- a subject for another thread) became not just quantitatively different but qualitatively so. Anyone who has come to brink of death and returned can understand this.

Since the worst of my ordeal I have continued to grow in my relationship with Jesus. He has been teaching me the virtue of patience, humility and trust. He has also been healing my body. The doctors were not sure I would live yet here I am. They thought I would forever need dialysis for failed kidneys yet I am dialysis free for over a month and continuing to heal. It is a miracle. During my prayers I begged Jesus to heal me, not for myself but so I would not burden my wife and family. His response: "In good time." Not knowing how long that might be, whether days, weeks, months or years, but trusting in God's perfect trustworthiness tears rolled down my cheeks as I poured out my gratitude.

My message to those who read this is simple: trust in the Lord. God is real. He loves you. He wants you to know him. He wants you to be healthy and to be happy. He wants you to live without fear. He wants you to know overflowing joy. Turn to him. Pray to him, not because you fear damnation if you don't but because you deserve to know his infinite love and compassion now as has always been his desire for you.

Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 ESV​

The above verse from The Lord's Prayer is not merely a plea for future action. It can be realized now, this very moment. Thank you for taking the time to read my testimony.

May God bless you.

Jason

Hi Jason @LearningToLetGo I love the simplicity of the trust message of Proverbs 3.5-6........

 

[Aunty Jane]

My message to those who read this is simple: trust in the Lord. God is real. He loves you. He wants you to know him. He wants you to be healthy and to be happy. He wants you to live without fear. He wants you to know overflowing joy. Turn to him. Pray to him, not because you fear damnation if you don't but because you deserve to know his infinite love and compassion now as has always been his desire for you.

Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 ESV
The above verse from The Lord's Prayer is not merely a plea for future action. It can be realized now, this very moment.

Hey Jason....jumping right in here.....
Trusting in "the Lord" is very important, but I also believe that we have to know the one we worship and serve.

As Jesus said..."And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3 ESV)

How well do we know the one who sent Jesus? Most just concentrate on Jesus himself, and they seem to forget who it was that Jesus served with his whole heart mind and strength.

Having that in mind, what do the words of the "Lord's prayer" you quoted, mean to you...?

 

[Jane_Doe22]

Beautiful, thank you for sharing.

 

[quietthinker]

Hey Jason....jumping right in here.....
Trusting in "the Lord" is very important, but I also believe that we have to know the one we worship and serve.

As Jesus said..."And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3 ESV)

How well do we know the one who sent Jesus? Most just concentrate on Jesus himself, and they seem to forget who it was that Jesus served with his whole heart mind and strength.

Having that in mind, what do the words of the "Lord's prayer" you quoted, mean to you...?

I think you missed his point ....entirely!......in spite of his 122 yrs

 

[LearningToLetGo]

Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 ESV

what do the words of the "Lord's prayer" you quoted, mean to you...?

I see the above portion of the Lord's Prayer as a call to engagement. God is calling his children to him. We are being tasked with implementing God's will. For many years I thought the above meant that God would, at some future time, impose his will upon the Earth and make it like Heaven but I have since come to realize that is wrong. That's not what it means at all. Instead, God is calling us to submit to his will, and in doing we usher a new era where Earth is transformed into a mirror of Heaven as a result of our love, obedience and fealty to the Lord.

 

[Behold]

Oftentimes we know something intellectually but not in the gut, so to speak. This is essentially the difference between so-called book-learning and experience. I mention this because it is relevant to a recent experience of mine.

A near death experience or a death bed situation, often helps someone to realize that "the grave is not the end".

Salvation is unique, as God's only condition for you receiving it, is...>"BELIEVE".
That can happen when you are very young or when you are 93, an atheist all your life, now dying and listening intently to a heart monitor at 3am, and you have reflected on Jesus on the Cross and your heart is opened, as God was always wanting you to become His own, and you took quite a while to become His own.
Now you can die with the Peace of God that passes all understanding, and that is the way to leave your body, reader.

 

[Aunty Jane]

I see the above portion of the Lord's Prayer as a call to engagement. God is calling his children to him. We are being tasked with implementing God's will. For many years I thought the above meant that God would, at some future time, impose his will upon the Earth and make it like Heaven but I have since come to realize that is wrong. That's not what it means at all. Instead, God is calling us to submit to his will, and in doing we usher a new era where Earth is transformed into a mirror of Heaven as a result of our love, obedience and fealty to the Lord.

Can I ask what changed your thinking on the meaning of Jesus’ prayer? He actually didn’t give it as something to be said by rote, but it was to be a model for our own prayers....he said “pray this way” not “pray this prayer”.

To me, the whole of the Bible has one theme from Genesis to Revelation and that is the undoing of the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8) What God’s enemy did in the beginning was to tempt humans into abusing their free will just as he had done. So in addressing this situation, God in his wisdom, allowed the three rebels to follow through on their course because, to simply eliminate them from existence would not have answered the challenges that the devil had raised in the garden.....was God a liar? Did he have the best interests of his children at heart by withholding something that would benefit them? To answer these challenges, God allowed them to experience first hand what it meant to disobey their Sovereign ruler and choose a course of independence from him. He would in effect, give them.....“enough rope”.....but there would be an end to this situation with a good outcome for those who truly loved their Creator and appreciated why he had handled the situation as he did.

The “Kingdom of God” was the theme of Jesus’ entire ministry, so we have to know what that Kingdom is, what domain it rules, and who it’s rulers are. I say “rulers” (plural) because that is what it says in Revelation 20:6. There is an appointed King, who is also a High Priest, and we know this is Jesus Christ, but he is to be joined by others who will assist him in his administration as “kings and priests”. These are his “elect”....those chosen to rule with him in heaven.

To assume that the Kingdom is already here is to ignore what it was supposed to accomplish....God’s will being done “on earth as it is in heaven”.

It is evident from the scriptures that God must intervene at some future point (though close now judging by world event) to bring in the rulership of his Kingdom over mankind.

Jesus is to come as judge of the whole world and “separate the sheep from the goats” and eliminate from existence all who oppose his incoming Kingdom. Will it come by force? YES, for it must. If God does not intervene soon, fallen mankind have the ability to wipe out all life on this planet and the fools who rule this world under influence from the devil, are edging closer and closer to that scenario. (1 John 5:19) God must step in before that happens.

Daniel prophesied about the “time of the end”...the times we are living in right now, (Daniel 12:4, 9-10) and he foretold that “in the days” of the present world rulers.... “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And this kingdom will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it alone will stand forever”. (Daniel 2:44) This is not a peaceful takeover. God’s enemies will see his power and wail because of what they know is coming upon them.

Luke 21:26-28...
“People will become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.”

Luke 21:34-36 says....“But pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you 35 as a snare. For it will come upon all those dwelling on the face of the whole earth. 36 Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that must occur and in standing before the Son of man.”

Also the 24th chapter of Matthew we see Jesus giving his apostles the “sign” indicating the time of his return and “the end of the age”. Part of that “sign” was unprecedented war, food shortages, pestilence, earthquakes, an increasing of lawlessness, and love disappearing from among mankind......but also a preaching of the “good news of the Kingdom” before “the end” was to overtake the world. (Matthew 24:3-14)

Jesus’ warning rules out any kind of human efforts to bring peace to the world.....they cannot achieve it because they do not have God’s backing. He knew this from the beginning, (Isaiah 46:10) so he could have his prophets record these events so that we would know when that day of judgment is near. It is nearer now than at any other time in history. Jesus will come with his angelic forces and eliminate all the “goats” from existence, having proven that they can never rule this world successfully without God’s guidance and direction.

Only by force, will the Kingdom come and reinstate God’s first purpose for mankind and this earth. It is to rule for 1,000 years whilst satan and his hordes are imprisoned, unable to interfere with God’s purpose to bring us into reconciliation with him. (Revelation 20:1-3)

Jesus came to buy back what Adam lost for all of us....but only those exercising faith in his blood will get to live the life he will bring back to us.....everlasting life in paradise on earth.

How do these scriptures fit in with your proposed scenario?......I am interested to know why you dismissed your first belief......

 

[LearningToLetGo]

I am interested to know why you dismissed your first belief

It's not so much that I dismissed my first belief, e.g. that God would impose his will upon the Earth. Rather, it's a clarification of what that means. God definitely will subject the Earth to his will but he won't do it in a manner that fails to take human action into account. That is to say, humans will be the instrument by which he imposes his will. As individual humans, one by one, submit to God's will and take up Jesus' cross as their own the nature of the Earth will change. The dominion of evil will gradually be pushed back further into its corner until the time comes when there is no place left here for evil to dwell. From the outside looking in it will appear as if humans are doing this themselves, but that's far from the truth. In reality it will be God working inside each and every one of us, guiding us and strengthening us. The war to unify Heaven and Earth will be won as all wars are, by individuals.

 

[Aunty Jane]

It's not so much that I dismissed my first belief, e.g. that God would impose his will upon the Earth. Rather, it's a clarification of what that means. God definitely will subject the Earth to his will but he won't do it in a manner that fails to take human action into account. That is to say, humans will be the instrument by which he imposes his will. As individual humans, one by one, submit to God's will and take up Jesus' cross as their own the nature of the Earth will change. The dominion of evil will gradually be pushed back further into its corner until the time comes when there is no place left here for evil to dwell. From the outside looking in it will appear as if humans are doing this themselves, but that's far from the truth. In reality it will be God working inside each and every one of us, guiding us and strengthening us. The war to unify Heaven and Earth will be won as all wars are, by individuals.

Thank you for your response...but how does your proposed scenario fit in with the scriptures I presented to you? These have humans playing no part except to put their lives in God’s hands as he carries out his will to eliminate satan and all whom he is able to deceive, putting them out of the picture altogether. Jesus is presented as the judge who “separates the sheep from the goats” and consigns them to the “lake of fire” which is the symbol of everlasting death. (Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46)

I see no humans involved in that separation. I see Jesus’ judgment as final, and his angelic forces at work, actively getting rid of all whom satan has called to his side. “The great tribulation” and “Armageddon” are not passive events that gradually eliminate sin and it’s results....it is swift justice after so long being under satan’s control. (1 John 5:19)

Can you give me some scripture to support your view?

 

[Behold]

For many years I thought the above meant that God would, at some future time, impose his will upon the Earth and make it like Heaven but I have since come to realize that is wrong./QUOTE]

Actually what you originally believed is the 2nd Advent, and you were correct.

 

[LearningToLetGo]

Can you give me some scripture to support your view?

The book of Joshua comes to mind. When God gave Israel the promised land he did not simply smite the Canaanites and give Israel a vacant land. Rather, he empowered Israel to take the land themselves. I see this as an example of how God will operate in end times, with humanity working to realize God's will on Earth.

 

[Aunty Jane]

The book of Joshua comes to mind. When God gave Israel the promised land he did not simply smite the Canaanites and give Israel a vacant land. Rather, he empowered Israel to take the land themselves. I see this as an example of how God will operate in end times, with humanity working to realize God's will on Earth.

The pictorial example of the chosen nation and a Promised Land play out in Biblical history.
The chosen nation were chosen for a reason...and it wasn’t because they were better than any other people.....in fact, that nation proved to be disobedient and unfaithful for the most part, but they served well as examples of both extremes.....of what happens when we obey God and receive his blessings...and what happens when we disobey him and receive his condemnation.

The Promised Land is pictorial of the whole earth which was supposed to be a planet “flowing with milk and honey” but the devil robbed us of that outcome when he hijacked the human race for his own purpose. He wanted to be a “god” to them and by deceit, he accomplished his goal. But God allowed it because he saw the value in letting both his human and his angelic children see the folly of abandoning their Sovereign and living their lives independently of him.....’doing their own thing’....imagining that this was freedom! But was it? All that happened just led them into another kind of slavery...to sin and death. Abuse of free will has led to nothing but trouble.

John 3:16 is an oft quoted scripture outlining God’s love for humanity......but in concentrating on the first part of that verse, they seem to ignore the second equally important part....

“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.“ (ESV)

Those who don’t “believe” (not just a passive recognition, but an active faith backed up by works. James 2:17-18) will “perish”....a word in Greek that means utter destruction.

So God using his people to clear out a small part of one geographical location is not a symbol of how this world under satan will be done away with.....Jesus is to come with his angelic forces and forcibly remove all who oppose his incoming Kingdom....so the “Kingdom” is “good news” for those who love God and support his incoming rulership in the hands of his designated King and High Priest....but it is not good news for those who want God to conform to their beliefs rather than they conforming to his truth.

There is only one truth, and those who are “saved” must all believe the same things. (1 Corinthians 1:10) There is no room in Christianity for dissension and arguments....and certainly no room for bigotry and hatred. The truth promotes unity, not division.
Where does that leave us then do you think? “Christianity” today is more divided than it has ever been.

Your thoughts?

 

[LearningToLetGo]

There is only one truth, and those who are “saved” must all believe the same things. (1 Corinthians 1:10) There is no room in Christianity for dissension and arguments....and certainly no room for bigotry and hatred. The truth promotes unity, not division.
Where does that leave us then do you think? “Christianity” today is more divided than it has ever been.

Your thoughts?

Most people, Christians included, focus more on form than function. For example, we argue over faith denominations or Biblical verses at the expense of the underlying message. I view religion in general and Christianity in particular as a pointer to God. Once you turn toward the divine creator, the path used to reach that point becomes irrelevant.

 

[Aunty Jane]

Most people, Christians included, focus more on form than function. For example, we argue over faith denominations or Biblical verses at the expense of the underlying message.

I see the problem as many not even having a clear view of the underlying message.....so with that kind of ignorance, how is anyone to come to a knowledge of the truth?

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy....
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time." (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

That being said, what do you see as "the underlying message" which Paul calls "the knowledge of the truth". It is something all Christians should have in common.....but that is not what we see. (1 Corinthians 1:0)

I view religion in general and Christianity in particular as a pointer to God. Once you turn toward the divine creator, the path used to reach that point becomes irrelevant.

"Religion" has been in existence since the post-flood days of Noah. His great grandson, Nimrod became the first opposer of Jehovah and ended up being the first deified human. After his death, his Mother Semiramis, placed him among the gods which facilitated her status as "the mother of God", a title later given to Mary (among others) by the RCC.

If the path to God is irrelevant, then why did God reprimand his people for excursions into false worship?

If Jesus said that there are only two roads to travel...one leads to life, the other leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).....how do you interpret that?

 

[LearningToLetGo]

what do you see as "the underlying message"

The underlying message is love. God is love, absolute, unconditional love. All we, as created beings, need do is turn to God with humility and contrition and God will shower us with more love than we can imagine. Receiving love from our creator, we are to love each other and ourselves. By love ourselves I don't mean superficial puffery. Such false self-love is pandering and flattery and stems from the ego, a reflection of sin (we see a lot of this nowadays, but that's a topic for another thread). Once we begin to love ourselves as God loves us, and to see that love in others also, a transformation takes place inside us that is difficult to describe. We become light. Our troubles seem to fade. That does not mean we don't have troubles, but that our troubles are not a source of suffering as they once were. The letters of Paul describe this transformation well.

If the path to God is irrelevant, then why did God reprimand his people for excursions into false worship?

The path is irrelevant if and only if it leads to God. For some the path to God may be long and windy. For others it might be short and straight. Having reached God, the sojourner may become a teacher and describe his path to others. This is where we get confused because one teacher describes a long and windy path, another a short and straight path and we can't reconcile this apparent contradiction so we say one or the other is wrong.

This said, not all paths lead to God. Some just go in circles or lead to damnation, so one must take caution. In my experience, the best way to judge a path is to see if it leads to love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. If the path takes you to that place then it leads to God. Otherwise stay away.

 

[Pearl]

Oftentimes we know something intellectually but not in the gut, so to speak. This is essentially the difference between so-called book-learning and experience. I mention this because it is relevant to a recent experience of mine.

Last April I was stricken with a near-fatal disease that sent me to the hospital intensive care unit for almost a month. I spent eleven days in a medical coma and very nearly died. Upon awakening, I was so weak as to be effectively paralyzed. I was helpless in every conceivable way and one-hundred percent dependent upon the doctors and nurses to care for me in the most intimate ways from rolling me in my sleep to prevent compression sores to cleaning my own filth when I lost control of my bowls. It was humbling, to say the least.

During this experience I intuited that a stark choice lay before me: I could claim this to be unfair and wallow in self pity or I could let go of myself and trust in the will of God. I was tempted by the former path and could, for the first time in my life, easily understand how so many people follow that road. The many people lost to drugs and homelessness are a testament to just how easy it can be to take that road. Fortunately, God has other plans for me. During the depths of my despair I felt the pull of the Holy Spirit and turned my gaze upwards. Having no strength of my own I left it all in God's hands. "God," I said, "my life is yours. If you wanted me to die then you could have easily taken me when I lay in coma, but you allowed me to awaken. Please, Lord, tell me your will for me."

The answer came immediately: "Love." God wants me to love.

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”​

Mark 12:28-31 ESV​

This knowledge was not new to me. I had read this passage many times and understood it well, or at least I thought I did. But until this point I had understood the commandment to love intellectually. It took a near fatal disease, paralysis, and absolute helplessness and powerlessness on my part to shift this knowledge from my head to my heart. That shift was a sea change. Suddenly the commandment to love your God and to love your neighbor as yourself (indeed to love yourself at all! -- a subject for another thread) became not just quantitatively different but qualitatively so. Anyone who has come to brink of death and returned can understand this.

Since the worst of my ordeal I have continued to grow in my relationship with Jesus. He has been teaching me the virtue of patience, humility and trust. He has also been healing my body. The doctors were not sure I would live yet here I am. They thought I would forever need dialysis for failed kidneys yet I am dialysis free for over a month and continuing to heal. It is a miracle. During my prayers I begged Jesus to heal me, not for myself but so I would not burden my wife and family. His response: "In good time." Not knowing how long that might be, whether days, weeks, months or years, but trusting in God's perfect trustworthiness tears rolled down my cheeks as I poured out my gratitude.

My message to those who read this is simple: trust in the Lord. God is real. He loves you. He wants you to know him. He wants you to be healthy and to be happy. He wants you to live without fear. He wants you to know overflowing joy. Turn to him. Pray to him, not because you fear damnation if you don't but because you deserve to know his infinite love and compassion now as has always been his desire for you.

Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 ESV​

The above verse from The Lord's Prayer is not merely a plea for future action. It can be realized now, this very moment. Thank you for taking the time to read my testimony.

May God bless you.

Jason

Awesome.

 

[Behold]

Most people, Christians included, focus more on form than function. For example, we argue over faith denominations or Biblical verses at the expense of the underlying message. I view religion in general and Christianity in particular as a pointer to God. Once you turn toward the divine creator, the path used to reach that point becomes irrelevant.

CHRISTianity, is quite a bit different than religion.

Religion is man's effort to be like God or reach God according to Man's effort.

CHRISTIanity, is God coming to earth, virgin born, to reach you and turn you into His spiritual Son/Daughter.


Let me show you for example the Islamic Religion vs CHRISTianity.


According to the Islamic faith, you give your sons to God and they are to kill or submit all the world to Allah by war, fear, or sword, if they wont accept the faith as their own.

According to CHRISTianity, God sent His Son for you, so that by the Cross Jesus died on, you can be forgiven and become God's Son or Daughter, based on this Mercy that is God's love.

 

[LearningToLetGo]

@Behold Please see my description of love (#16 in this thread) as it relates to pathways that lead to God vs confusion or damnation.

Head Learning Vs. Heart Knowing

 

[Behold]

@Behold Please see my description of love (#16 in this thread) as it relates to pathways that lead to God vs confusion or damnation.

There is no greater love than for a man to lay down His life for His friends.
And that is true if you are talking about human love, human beings.

But God's Love is Greater, as He laid down His Life, as The Son, for His ENEMIES, and for the SIN of the World.

When Jesus was nailed on the Cross, you could see His Ribs, as the flesh had been torn off his body, in places.
His Face.....you could not recognize it, as the beating it took caused it to swell and hemorrhage, so that you could not recognize Him.
The verse says that "Jesus was marred = beyond recognition".
And in that state of misery and torment, bleeding out, pushing His full body weight up up up up up off the SPIKE that was driven through his top foot into the heel of the bottom foot, into the wood, He would catch a breath, then slump down again.... He did this for hours trying not to strangle, trying to breath, till his body basically strangled trying to breath, and died.
Before He died, He looked down into the hate filled eyes of those who were laughing and telling him.."if you are messiah, let us see you do a miracle and come off those SPIKES".

Jesus looked down at this hatred, all these people......and said......>"Father forgive them".

= Thats Love.....Thats the love of God that He has for us, and noone loves you like that, as that is GOD's Love.