Living in Relationship with God
Most of us in our moments of crisis ask the fundamental questions about the meaning of life and living in relationship with God.
Most of us in our moments of crisis ask the fundamental questions about the meaning of life and living in relationship with God.
George MacDonald saw and gives powerful light and insight into these fundamental questions. He had no interest in you thinking the way he thought, but in you meeting the One he met! In his day, as in ours, many claiming to be great religious thinkers attribute to God actions and attitudes that we would rightly condemn if found in our neighbor. These concepts create fear and doubt about the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God as our common Father.
Becoming What We Are
“Yet wherever men did accept him he gave them the power to become sons of God. These were the men who truly believed in him, and their birth depended not on the course of nature nor on any impulse or plan of man, but on God.“ John 1:12 Phillips
We must become what we are, from children of our Heavenly Father to mature sons and daughters. The Way is not one of moving from orphan to child. Nor is it one of being in or out, but a “spiritual coming of age.” Maturing within the family of our common Father. Our origin is in the Trinity itself. We do not choose our source of Life any more than we decided on our earthly parents. These choices were made for us by others. We come into this world connected. We do, however, choose to live in relationship with Them, live in Their fellowship and communion or not. You and I are, by birth, their children. We are created as close to the Divine in character and nature as a created being can be in Their “image and likeness,” capable of becoming like Them and sharing in Their mind, heart, and will!
“The spiritual life…has nothing to do with actually getting closer to God. It is instead a journey of conscious. Union with God is neither acquired nor received, it is realized, and in that sense, it is something that can be yearned for, sought after, and – with God’s grace – found. …it takes love to realize this union; it happens in love, and however deep the realization is it results in more love.” (John of the Cross – “The Dark Night of the Soul”)
“The Gospelv1 is not the news that we can receive Jesus into our lives; the gospel is the news that Jesus has received us into His.” (Dr. C. Baxter Kruger)
Front Porch Theology
AboutFront Porch Theology is the way I have come to describe the conversations that have occupied the second half of my life. The ones that I thought I knew the answers to in the first half.
Unspoken SermonGeorge MacDonald’s Unspoken Sermons are 36 messages of unparalleled beauty. The truth, when we finally see it, is so plain and simple. We wonder how we could have lived without seeing it.
Odds & EndThe Odd’s & Ends that redefine what the meaning of our words are. We assume others know what we mean. MacDonald was not afraid to use religion’s language, he just redefined it!
BlogsHere I express my thoughts and reflections about MacDonald’s Sermons, My Story, and Odds & Ends. I use the posts to introduce Sermons or just continue to reflect on Life in Relationship with God!
Link to Front Porch Theology group
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