Finding that “sweet spot” on the tennis racket when hitting a ball, is very important.
In like manner, finding that sweet spot that lies somewhere between I am NOT GOD and I AM GOD is one of the most difficult journeys of life. Once upon a time I saw God as the task master, this school teacher, and this highly disciplinarian Father. He (naturally God was a man) was OUT THERE and I was down here on planet earth. We were separate beings.
If I prayed hard enough and obeyed church rules, God would favor me.
Then I discovered that God was Spirit and that having been created in the IMAGE of God I was also spirit. I was a wave of the ocean, a ray of the sun, and the I AM before the foundation of the earth (Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58). And then before even realizing it, I became so ONE with God that I couldn’t SEE that what had happened was that I was “acting” as though I was more God than I knew.
‘Whatever the mind of man can conceive, and believe, it can achieve.” Napoleon Hill.
At the well with the Samarian woman Jesus says something that can easily be overlooked. Jesus is reported to have said, “God is SPIRIT” (John 4:24) If reported accurately (always something to consider), it says God IS SPIRIT and not that God is “a” spirit. For you see, WE ARE “a” SPIRIT.
Let me make sure you get what I’m saying here.
God is UNDERIVED Spirit and we are DERIVED spirit. God is underived consciousness, knowledge, love, etc. We get everything that WE ARE from God: we dervive our very being from God-Creator. Thus it should be a reminder to us that while we are powerful, while we should be positive, and while we should think GOOD and OPTIMISTIC thoughts, our primary goal as Thomas Troward put it, “Should always be to enter into the spirit of what the Father is aiming at.”
Jesus put it this way. “It is my desire to do the will of the Father” (John 4:34).
In other words, we can’t just decide what WE WNAT TO DO, name it and claim it, profess and possess, go there and be there, without first having some communion with “the SPIRIT”, lest we act on our own and be our own god, which is really not a good thing.
I AM, but WHAT AM I?
Check out our unique Friday night gatherings... and then enjoy the rest of your weekend! Or, visit us on Friday and attend another church on Sunday. We are just one piece of the spiritual puzzle. While we believe that God is most DEFINED by Jesus, God is certainly not CONFINED to Jesus. How could the infinite be so limited?
Life Revealing Community (formerly Liberty Revival Church) was founded 23 years ago. LRC is a unique church from the physical layout of large round tables where you can sit your lap top, coffee, or food, and see family members across the table, to a spiritual dimension you can FEEL. We believe that we are called to immerse ourselves in the community that allows freedom of expression through programs like Culture Shapers, a citywide art contest through which we have raised more than $1,300,000 to support Houston area high school students.
We are changing culture, beginning with ourselves. We are not who we were twenty two years ago. We are not who we were 2 years ago. Are you? Then join us on the journey as we unpackage the sacred Scriptures by the Spirit that resides within us. We are ONE with the entire world. God is love and that means that traditional views of hell simply don't work, nor do many other depictions of an angry God.
The Thinking Person's Guide to God: Overcoming the Obstacles to Belief
by Tom Harpur
Author Tom Harpur asked the readers of his syndicated newspaper column on ethics and religion for help with some research. He invited them to submit brief descriptions of their stumbling blocks to faith, spirituality, and religion. Soon scores of letters flooded in from readers who would like to have a vital faith in God (regardless of denomination or religion) but honestly cannot because of some doubts or difficulties. C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters was the guide for thoughtful Christians in the seventies. In a similar manner, Tom Harpur paves the way for today's seekers. He replies to some of these most troubling questions in his book, The Thinking Person's Guide to God. Is belief in God unscientific? Is the only path to salvation through Jesus? What about people of other faiths? Is the Bible as the Word of God a credible belief today? Why is there so much evil in the world? Does God hate women?About the AuthorTom Harpur, columnist for the Toronto Sunday Star, Anglican priest, Rhodes Scholar, and former teacher of Greek and the New Testament, is a prominent writer on religious and ethical issues. He is the author of several books: Always on Sunday, For Christ's Sake, God Help Us, Harpur's Heaven and Hell, and, most recently, The Uncommon Touch. Tom Harpur lives near Toronto, Canada.
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