Tag Archives: God

Only One God . Period

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An overheard discussion about there being more than one God really caught my interest. How can that be? Coming from an unexpected source, the conversation threatened to collapse my whole system of belief…a belief that has been an integral part of my life since I was four years old.

Without getting into the nitty-gritty of what other religions, atheists, agnostics, or even Christians believe about God, let me just say that after pondering this weighty question, here is what I came up with.

I knew God before ever laying eyes on a Bible or becoming a Christian (which isn’t a criteria for believing in Him). How? Because when I was four years old, an elderly lady told me about him and taught me the “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer which at age seventy-eight, is still in my psyche, word for word. I was told about him and I believed.

It is generally perceived that the Ten Commandments (which I learned in high school when I was thirteen) were written by God and given to Moses to benefit the Israelites. Following is the first Commandment:

“I am the Lord your God…You shall have no other Gods before me…” (the Torah)

“There is no God except one God” (the Quran)

“I am the Lord your God…You shall have no other Gods before me…(the Bible)

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Book of Mormon)

God created all people, but there are those who choose not to acknowledge him, or to disown him altogether.

Let me put it another way. Suppose one of my children decides they don’t want me for a mother. Suppose they choose to ignore me and my rules and regulations for their lives. Suppose they choose to instead, adopt a friend’s mother or a mother-in-law to replace me. They have the free will to do that, but it does not change the fact that I am their mother. Nothing will change that.

So with God; we can ignore him, misinterpret him, disown him, put our own spin on him, but the fact remains…He is God…the One, the Only…God. Period.

Look Inside

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Believe it or not, a Shop-Vac reinforced a valuable life lesson for me a few days ago. I had bought the machine to clean up a carpet full of paint chips scraped from a water damaged ceiling. Thinking the Vac was ready to go, I removed it from the carton, plugged it in and began sucking up the aforementioned debris. I couldn`t help thinking it would be easier to move if it had wheels.

Whoa! Something was definitely wrong when a fine film of dust covered everything in the room. “My Old Man’s a Dustman”, a 1960’s hit by Lonnie Donegan, came to mind.

I quickly checked the carton for a product manual. There was none. Moreover the  top of the carton read, “Never operate vacuum without filters installed. And then I read, “Helpful Shop-Vac attachments and quality filters (sold separately, not included with this vacuum).“ This advice was printed on a side of the carton. Well, the dust damage was already done and I wanted rid of the paint chips, so proceeded to clean the carpet, filter or no.

The next day, I purchased the filters and was given a manual. After reading the instructions, I lifted the top off the vacuum and lo and behold, inside were the filter, manual, and casters…inside! (Needless to say, everything was covered in dust and ground up paint chips).

It reminded me of the time one of my daughters cooked her first Christmas turkey without removing the gizzards from inside the bird. She didn`t think to look inside.

And now, I had made the same mistake. Everything I needed was inside that shop-vac. I didn`t think to look inside…just as everything I need in my life is inside me. Jesus tells us in John 14:20: “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.“

Thank you, God, for another lesson in My Precious Life!

YOGA

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Recently I was told by a clergyman that yoga is not God-centred, that it focuses on the practioner’s self. I disagree. Yoga focuses on breathing which is the life force, which to me, is the breath of God. Yoga is also an extremely beneficial exercise for relaxing the body and calming the mind. It benefits concentration and discipline. I practiced yoga for years and still consider myself to be a God-centred person. Here is my acronym for yoga:

You

Only

God,

Amen

A Secular Wedding

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It was different for me to observe a wedding where everything was of an earthly nature only. The bride and groom expressed their own written vows. This in itself is not unusual. The bride’s uncle performed the ceremony and expressed his love for his niece, spoke about the bond she was making with her husband-to-be, and the commitment the two young people were making to one another for the rest of their lives. There were tears and laughter, embraces and smiles, the exchange of rings, and the much loved matrimonial kiss. And then an officiant oversaw the signing of the documents, adding her own signature to legalize the marriage.

The bride and groom were radiant in their happiness and the venue was filled with jubilant celebration.

It was a very lovely wedding. Family and friends enjoyed a sumptuous meal, clinking glasses, lively music and dancing: a wonderful time was had by all, and I especially enjoyed the festivities because it was my first-born grandson’s wedding.

Did I miss God at the wedding? Not in the least, for two reasons: the first is that I believe God is with me wherever I go, and I am certain that he was there at my invitation. Secondly, love abounded and God is love.

Here are some thoughts on love, written by St. Paul himself.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

My prayer is that my grandson and his lovely bride’s secular marriage be forever blessed with heavenly love.

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Then Sings My Soul

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How Great Thou Art is the name of the hymn from which this title is taken; a hymn, according to Wikipedia, based on a Swedish traditional melody and poem written by Carl Gustave Boberg (1859-1940) in Sweden in 1885. This powerful hymn never fails to cause me to raise my hands in praise whenever it is played. It has been sung by the well known George Beverley Shea, Elvis Presley, and Carrie Underwood. Here then, is How Great Thou Art:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

The current six week course, Soul Keeping, I am attending, along with a talk I heard yesterday, given by a member of our congregation, titled “The Gospel According to Hymn”, has inspired this post.

Seeing the Signs

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God can sometimes be found speaking to us in the most unusual places. On Sunday, while lunching with friends in one of my favourite tea rooms, I read this sign posted over the sink in the ladies room:

Good Morning,

This is God. I will be handling all your problems today and I don’t need your help.

Have a great day.

And do you know what? My usual digestive problems were non-existent that day! TYG!

Be Blessed

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Whether living or dying…be blessed

Whether laughing or crying…be blessed

Whether happy or sad, whether saintly or bad…be blessed.

Whether young or old…be blessed

Whether meek or bold…be blessed

Whether idle or active, aggressive or passive…be blessed.

Whether loving or hating…be blessed

Whether lonely or mating…be blessed

Whether wealthy or nil, healthy or ill…be blessed.

At the end of the day…be blessed

As you go on your way…be blessed

Waking or sleeping, safe in God’s keeping…be blessed.

Be blessed, be blessed, be blessed.

For I Know the Plans I Have for You

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Have you read that verse in Jeremiah? Have you believed the promise of it? To me it is one of the most exciting verses in the Bible.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

In my case I had called upon Him and prayed to Him before I knew anything about this verse. Although His plans were in place for me before I was born, they only became apparent to me in hindsight. But now that I know there are plans for my life it is exciting to live in the expectation of them.

It is a sure thing that my book, My Precious Life, was one of those plans. Another verse, Jeremiah 30:2 “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you” was the message that prompted the book.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord…what a promise!

 

Soul vs Self

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“I like my soul better than my self.” This comment was made in our group discussion on Soul Keeping last Wednesday evening. It was made by me, and I meant it. Why would I say that? Paul says it best in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

In my case, this is mostly a matter of my procrastination habit, which stems from a worse habit of wasting time. Time is our most precious commodity, and knowing that, I can still fritter it away on the most useless activities. There is only my self to blame.

Paul goes on to say in verse 22 “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.” Our inner being is our soul, and that’s where I must learn to be more present. Our soul can do no wrong and waste no time, and that is why I say, “I like my soul better than my self.”

Soul Searching

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My soul has always held a deep fascination for me because I can never quite grasp the full concept of it. Therefore, I’m taking a six week course called Soul Keeping. It is based on a book by John Ortberg, pastor, writer, and speaker in Menlo Park, California.

Last night his video touched on a passage from Dallas Willard’s book, Renovation of the Heart:

“Our soul is like an inner stream of water, which gives strength, direction and harmony to every other element of our life. When that stream is as it should be, we are constantly refreshed and exuberant in all we do because our soul itself is then profusely rooted in the vastness of God and his kingdom, including nature; and all else within us is enlivened and directed by that stream. Therefore we are in harmony with God, reality, and the rest of human nature and nature at large.”

I also learned that the four parts of a human being are soul, body, mind, will. The soul encompasses the other three parts and the course goes into each of these aspects of our being. I was aware of these four parts but unsure of their order.

This course promises to be a very good learning experience and may give me the answers to my soul searching.