|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Hi Gang,Now that I know that Christ loves me, indeed loves all of us and all the world with total and eternal commitment---what has been the result? That revelation has FREED my will to serve Him with a whole-heartedness I never knew was possible. My life, marriage and minstry are restored. I now am free from chronic, manic, suididal depression, alcoholism and a mega-load of other garbage.
How did that happen?
When God filled my religion-abused and despair-ridden heart with the assurance ot His COMMITTED love---I fell in love with Him! So that love that filled My heart for My heavenly Father---energized me---to trust Him and to follow Him. I could not do that when I had to trust also in the reliability of my so-called "free will", lest my Good Shepherd "allow" me to perish in flames forever. However when deepest assurance of His unfailing and ever-active love filled my heart, as the song goes, "the things of earth grew strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
Before that happened, I could not love Him with all of my heart.
In fact, a large but deeply hidden part of my innermost self ABHORED, DETESTED, and HATED Him.
Why?
Because Free-willism had taught me that the Lord required me to love HIM with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength (and this is the greatest commandment)---while---He (supposedly) loved me with only CONDITIONAL commitment to my eternal well being!
And...I was also programed to believe that He was only condtionally committed to my LOVED ONES.
That is why.
Of course, I now see that the "Lord" I had been hating (while desperatly TELLING him that I loved him) was NOT the REAL Lord Jesus Christ. And of course our Real Lord had known that all along and was not offended. For He also finds the spirit of antichrist revolting.
So here I will summerize my previous years of meditations on Free-willism's glad tidings of great joy (which shall be to only a few people) peradventure you may desire to embrace them:
(1) "God so loved the world" does NOT mean He loves the world that existed before Christ came---that is, not enough to save most of its innummrable populations that have since languished in hell. He did love a few fortunate Jews who were lucky to have been born at the right time and place enough to TRY to save them. I speak here of the descendants of Abraham and followers of Moses---who were consistantly OBEDIENT.
(2) Jesus loves the world---BUT---He will never fulfill the law and the prophets which are summed up in: Whatever you desire that others do to you, you do also to them. No, He has reserved for Himself the right to grandly present Himself as "the Savior of the world", and by that he hopes you'll think he is a nice person. However, he already has foreseen (and therefore planned) from eternity past to get rid of most of the world's myriad human populations forever and ever. And why? Because most of them died without having heard of him. But that is NO excuse! If they had been diligent and righteous and believing and wise enough to "follow the inner light of their conscience" they would have found their (lost!?) Good Shepherd before it was "forever too late." Well, YOU followed the inner light until YOU found Him, did you not? (Nope! C.S.) These people just loved wickedness more than YOU ever did!
(3) You will need to meditate on all that is just and true and lovely and of good report---especially the foundational truths of the glad tidings. Does not Our Lord's pure and sterling justice qualify for meditation? SERIOUS reflection? Are we not to celebrate the BEAUTY of our Righteous Father's holiness? Is not the fear of the Lord (that is, the fear of his hopeless abandonment to hell) the beginning of wisdom? So you must meditate, not only on His grace and love and power, but ALSO on the high probability (mathmatically speaking) of His having to consign YOU to hell forever. That is... UNLESS you are diligent to keep exercising your "free will" to make wise and timely choices. Peter was lucky---extremely lucky. He denied his Lord and was forgiven, because fortunatly he didn't die of a stroke before he found his way back to Jesus to plead His forgiveness. (???) But YOU may not be so lucky as Peter was... Furthermore, what IS denying Christ's lordship? Christ seems to think it is mere disobedience to his words: "Why do you call Me LORD, and yet refuse to obey Me?" Furthermore, one who does not take care of his own household (or covets not to, for no covetous person will inherit the kingdom, meaning "heaven")---IS WORSE---than one who has denied the faith.
SO MAKE SURE TO MEDITATE ON THSE THINGS.
For unless you develope a strong fear of the Lord (meaning fear of His hopeless abandonment) how will you have even the rudimentary wisdom that will help you makes sufficiently timely and wise choices to escape eternal hell?
(4) You must give thanks FOR and IN all things as well, according to Scripture. Therefore---sincerely and from your heart---you must thank God as often as it comes to your mind that his commitment to you is CONDITIONAL on 'your' performance. And it goes without saying that you must also thank Him for his un?conditional sentimental affection toward you in Jesus Christ and your having a CHANCE to make it to heaven. Just make sure that you thank Him for the possibility that he has already "foreseen" yourself as agonising in hell forever. If you do NOT show gratitude for "ALL the truth as it is in Christ"---beware. You are exhibiting evidence that you do not take ALL OF HIS WORD---SERIOUSLY.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that will help get you started. Closing out, I cannot tell you how IMPORTANT it is that you perform ALL of your obedience ---joyfully!--- and with A RIGHT HEART ATTITUDE. For the Lord loves a cheerful giver, moreover, those who even COVET not to obey Him while OUTWARDLY doing so---WILL NOT---inherit God's kingdom!
(And this means HEAVEN, according to these glorious glad tidings.)
This indeed is glad tidings for the hopeful and self-reliant, and if you qualify, by all means go for it.
However, since I long ago lost ALL HOPE in my ability to make wise and timely choices...And since I found it impossible to love the Lord more than he loves (is committed to) me...And since it was impossible to AUTHENTICALLY reverence him while he (supposedly) had reserved the right for Himself NOT not to treat billions of other human beings as He will be treated... And yet in blatant hypocricy he (according to free-willism) commands US to do what he Himself never intends to do...
And thus, He would fail to fulfill the law and the prophets...
I'm going to hang in there with the FIRSTfruits Seed of Abraham who "fell into the ground and died", as it were, when He was lifted up on His cross. For He has promised, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me." (Jn.12:23-32)
For if the Firstfruit is holy, so is the lump, therefore, as in Adam all die, even so, 'in' Christ shall ALL be made alive. And holy! (Rom.11:16;
I Cor. 15:20-22)God bless you---
Charlie