What is HOLY?
When Moses approached the burning bush in Shemot - Exodus - Chapter 3, the Lord spoke to him and said, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Moses found himself in the powerful, spiritual and sensual omnipresence of God. Learning to walk Barefoot with your only true Love, is not about learning to be religious; far from it! Any religion that claims to be holy, is in of it's self, little more than pure idolatry. In reading the life of Abraham, I feel have no doubts many thing were added or altered after the fact. One thing I am sure of is that Abraham understood the self edifying recognize Indeed for most it would be frighting and disconcerting to drop all doctrine dogma and tradition to stand naked before the face of God; but Abrahan knew there had to be something more, and was well rewarded for his boldness! So would this not be the proper way to respond to God's presence in our lives? Is it not ironic that so many religions, owe their origins to a man who walked away from religion and found the path to a true relationship with God. As for Moses, I doubt there was much difference between his sandals, and his stinky feet. the formality of taking them off was a sign of faith and respect. We must realize that God's holy presence is always with us in this life and it is His will, not have us separated from Him by any of our human contrivances. Your God is here and now, not off far away in some heaven. We have an ongoing relationship, as we learn to love God more deeply, trusting Him more and more, walking with Him, feeling Him inside and all around us. As we flow in His power to fulfill His purposes. The power of faith and how to activate it. The power of praying God's will and expecting to see results. The power of sharing in God's blessings and wisdom over your life. The power of agreement. The power of giving, forgiving and thanksgiving. The power of praying over your children. The power of your inheritance of divine love and how to pass it on. The universal healing power of the Creator.
Both from a generically religious and from a specifically soteriological point of view the omnipresence of God is of great practical importance for understanding the nature of your personal spiritual walk. In the former respect it contains the guaranty that the actual nearness of God and a real communion with Him may be enjoyed everywhere, even apart from the places hallowed for such purpose by a specific gracious self-manifestation. (Tehillim - Psalms - Chapter 139). In the other respect the divine omnipresence assures the believer that God is at hand to save in every place where from any danger or foe His people need salvation (Yeshayahu- Isaiah - Chapter 43:2).
What I am saying is that if we could all agree to stand together under Abraham's tent; what a wonderful world it would be. And at this moment, as I humbly present my heart to your God, I petition on your behalf this simple prayer: I pray that you experience the full power of God's Love, and that by His grace, you also learn to live and love more abundantly in return.
People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Take no one for granted and embrace all equally with joy!
Julie A. Manhan ...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
My dear Walt,
You have written what I have felt in my heart for a long time.
If we approach the Lord/God minus the frame of reference as dictated by man or institution, the world would be a better place indeed. Alas, sometimes, when ppl draw nearer to God, it gives them the idea that they are elevated to a higher plain, You said it dear Walt - we have to stand 'naked' just as we are before God minus dogma, doctrine, tradition and the desire to conform to man and not God.
Ultimately, it is a choice that we have to make...
Genesis 17:1 Abraham is told to "walk before God and be blameless" - what on earth does this mean? I get this picture of "walking with God" as being "relating to him by faith". So also in:
Genesis 6:9 "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God." Again, Noah is righteous and blameless - he lived by faith as he "walked with God"
Genesis 5:21-24 Enoch also "walked with God".
So to "walk with God" seems to indicate a life of compassion and faith... a life of having a loving relationship with God. But where did the term come from in Genesis? It's earliest reference is in Genesis 3:8
"And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the Garden."
Their new worldliness ruined their previous relationship with God. Their taking of the fruit ruined the relationship of faith and love they had with God before the fall. That relationship seems to have been one of God "walking" in the Garden with Adam and Eve.
This would seem to indicate that they saw regular theophanies of God, and related to him like that. Either way, as the story goes, the sense of "walking and talking" with him is certainly true, and makes me wonder why do we keep messing it up?
Wow!! This is so powerful Walt. I agree with both what you wrote and what our friend "masterwordsmith" wrote. Do we have the courage to stand before God without clinging to our ideologies, our spiritual books, our differences, our spiritual hierarchies and simply stand as wordsmith said, "naked" before God. Stand humble, compassionate, forgiving, loving and without judgment. For many that may be a very scary thing. For some it is to raw of an experience. I believe it to be the most intimate one we can have....IF we let ourselves have it. Bless you dear friend. Beautifully expressed.
Post a Comment