WORDS.... LIVING WORDS

Continuing some recent thoughts  ….
On recollection, there have been some 'words' and realisations that have led to life-changing attitudes over my pilgrimage on this planet, that may be of interest.

As a teenager student, with a high powered motor-bike, which brought a few close scrapes, and a city flat with some party loving flatmates and friends …. get the picture ?    That's how it was.
Then …  one night one of those friends, who after a party couldn't hold his liquor, wet the bed with an electric blanket turned on …  and fatally electrocuted himself !
This appalling incident made me sit up and realise that nothing in this life could be taken for granted …. and especially so with a powerful motor-bike under me.

So, whats with 'religion' ?     And was there a 'here-after'  after here ?   I mused
But that's all told in more detail in www.eyesalve.co.nz/books/taste and see
I should really check out all of the various religions and belief systems I reckoned, but the point pretty soon became clear … I just wouldn't have the time to do so !     
So what next ? 
Then I figured on what is really a quite scientific method … select the most likely one and test it out thoroughly.   If it doesn't hold up to scrutiny and testing  - then move on to the next most likely.
And that's exactly what I started to do.  

The most promising one happened to be based on Jesus Christ,  who had done loads of miracles quite unlike any of the others like Mohammed, Buddha,  etc
And who also had made some extraordinary claims about himself  - John 14:6     I am THE Way, The  Truth and The Life -  No person comes to God except by ME  really got me
Now that's powerful stuff – it would have to be the most outrageous claim that this world has ever heard uttered.  But could it possibly be true ? 
This needed checking out !

Then I read the words of   C S Lewis  in   Mere Christianity     
that there are only 4 Options to this extraordinary claim …

If Jesus      claimed to be God,  but knew he was not,       he would be a  LIAR
If Jesus      claimed to be God,  but was not,                    he would be a  LUNATIC
If Jesus never claimed to be God, but his disciples created the idea,
                                                                                      he would be a  LEGEND
but  if Jesus claimed to be God,  because he was God       he is indeed    LORD

And he had even walked away from his own grave ….. unlike every one of the other religious founders still occupying their tombs ! 

So Jesus seemed a good place to start, and I could investigate any of the others in whatever spare time I had along the way !

And that's pretty much my inner thoughts and reasonings back in those early days, and just how I got started soon after getting an invitation to a local Church …  and the offer of a free lunch to follow !
And just what I have been doing ever since those early student days to this hour – simply checking it out and testing, testing, testing  along the way.

But I never ever expected just what I would discover about Jesus and the vast difference between believing in him  and 'structured religion' or what is often referred to as  the 'Present Religious System'

Then there's a few facts that I've learned or rather observed along life's journey …

That not everyone who calls themselves a 'Christian'  has actually been truly 'born again'  or is grafted into  'the vine'.  John 15:1-7   As to any spiritual understanding or even personal experience -  with some it is strangely lacking.
As an Architect, I soon realised that the first place to look when doing a building inspection, was at the FOUNDATIONS  !    It they are not laid adequately or correctly, on solid sub-strata, then that building will ultimately collapse, it will be an eventual disaster, and in need of a total rebuild !
It has become so apparent that some very dear and sincere people are only at best  'half converted'  or  'mildly religious' 
Some are like Nicodemus – the religious leader of the Pharisees, who sought out Jesus,  even if it was under the cover of nightfall.  John 3:1-10
Like him they have been intrigued by Jesus miracles, or in this day and age, perhaps by the testimony of others.  Like him they are attracted to Jesus, they acknowledge God's existence and his workings among his true followers, and have an inner yearning to know him and to follow him.
But also, just like Nicodemus, they just haven't 'got it' - the spiritual content and the personal contact that is life changing and revolutionary - but divinely imparted.
Somehow, the foundation has not been truly laid, and the building does not withstand the floods, storms and the earthquakes that happen to us all  Matthew 7 : 24-27

Another surprising fact has also become quite evident …. that not many people actually check out and test their beliefs …. they rather prefer to be told … what to do, how to live, what to believe …. and just what and who to financially support. 
Its really far easier than having to make the effort for ones self !  
And so the blight of what we call 'legalism' and 'authoritarian control'  thrives and is so prevalent throughout Christendom.
That so many prefer to be told what and what not to do, rather than to 'step out' and  exercise personal freedom and choices, to seek God and God alone for guidance and direction !

Then there's the vast difference that I've discovered between  LAW and GRACE, and how many believers are still living under a fulfilled  and obsolete system of Works as compared to Grace.  The inbuilt tendency to earn our own 'brownie points' and supposedly but mistakenly Gods favour, is easier than trusting Him totally and completely it would seem.
And this is what confuses so many otherwise sincere people … the fact that Law and Grace cannot be mixed or co-exist .... or Grace becomes polluted  Galatians 5 : 4-9
And so Romans  chapters 6, 7 & 8   remain a mystery, and lie undiscovered, and the impact of the book of Galatians  is dormant !

And on another tack …...
Our Christian liberty needs to be mixed with discipline, both moral and physical
Or  Liberty  becomes  License
In my youth I recall that there was much said about  MODERATION   in ALL things
Drink not water only, but use a little wine for your stomachs sake and your often infirmities   Paul advised Timothy 1 Timothy 5:23     but please notice only   a little    and wine  only at that, and for medicinal benefits !  Or at joyous occasions like weddings John 2:1-11
And Paul's other observation and advice that bodily exercise benefits also  a little   1 Timothy 4:8
Oh  the benefit of Godly wisdom, and that almost forgotten word 'temperance' or moderation ( which is 1 of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit   Galatians 5:23 )
To get the balance between  Spirit, Soul and Body 1 Thessalonians 5:23   (please note the divine order) is a worthy goal and quite an achievement.

Surprising what one observes and finds out along one's pilgrimage !
But Ohhh  so vital to  understand and be aware of.

More another time ….
Yet again …..

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live  Mathew 4:4    Deuteronomy 8:3