Oneness

I and my Father are one. John 10:30

“one Lord, one faith, one baptism;”
Ephesians‬ ‭4:5‬

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:4‬ ‭

‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
‭‭Mark‬ ‭10:7-8

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19:4-5

Oneness begins with God our Father, Jesus his son and The Holy Spirit-oneness in three persons.  That oneness is to be exampled in the relationship between husband and wife: one flesh-two working as one.

 

Greatest Commandments

 

Greatest Commandments

Matthew 22:36-40 says:

 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’<sup class="footnote" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:.625em;line-height:22px;position:relative;vertical-align:top;top:0;" data-fn="#fen-NIV-23910a" data-link="[a]”>[a]  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’<sup class="footnote" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:.625em;line-height:22px;position:relative;vertical-align:top;top:0;" data-fn="#fen-NIV-23912b" data-link="[b]”>[b]  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

We must start by loving God-giving him our whole heart (nothing should have more of our heart than him). When we love with our heart we give our time and attention to the object of our love.  We are to also give him our whole soul-nothing else in our lives should receive our soul’s longing more than him.  Our soul is eternal and so perhaps this is referencing our eternal longing which should be all God’s.  Lastly, loving God with all of our minds is just that-using our thinking, intelligence and ideas to love God.  Nothing else in our lives should take over our thinking, intelligence and ideas more than God himself.

So loving God with heart, mind and soul takes all aspects of who we are and puts Him first.

Loving others as ourselves is the second greatest command yet it does not just say love others-it says, ‘love your neighbor as yourself’.  It seems that rarely does anyone need to be told to love themselves-as in providing care for ourselves/caring for our own needs. With that in mind, adding ‘as yourself’ to the command to love our neighbor reminds us to care for them in the same way we care for ourselves.  No human life is greater in needs than any other human life-we are all the same when it comes to our needs-we all need food, water, safety, love… (thinking Maslow’s taxonomy of needs here).   If we give ourselves food, water, safety, etc. instinctively then loving others as ourselves means we must give it to them in the same way as well.

 

 

 

 

Hope and Truth

Dare I hope for a world with no evil, no humans harming other humans: no bad at all?

Is this hope fleeting or is it worth the effort to ponder?

In this world for as long as humans have written their history-it seems not to be so.

For in this world humans are the most dangerous thing to other humans.

In this world I cannot imagine anyone saying that they honestly believe that evil does not exist.

So then, it seems, hope for no evil or bad things is hopeless.

Is there anyway for humans to stop themselves from harming one another intentionally?

We have not proven it to be possible on a grand scale for thousands of years.

We have glimpses of it though in those isolated incidents when good triumphs over evil and people do good and not bad to each other.

Therefore my hope is not fleeting for a glimpse or even more is a sign of its existence.

So why do we see this constant mix of good and evil coming from humans for thousands of years?

Why not a progression to all good?

Many other questions and answers arise under those two questions that humans seem not to agree on.

Perhaps this is the problem-we do not all agree on what is good and what is bad nor what causes either.

Is there one true answer to it all?

Dare I say yes?

 

 

 

 

 

The Hills

As I finished my jog/walk (mostly a walk) today which included a few steep hills I found myself thanking God for the hills.  When I reached the final steep hill before turning towards home the words, “Thank you for the hills God” naturally flowed from my thoughts.  I was thanking God for a better workout, which the hills naturally provide and in doing so I realized in myself a lack of appreciation concerning spiritual and mental hills I experience in life as well.   I know that the hurts and trials in my life are where I truly can grow stronger.  Just like a muscle needs to be strained and torn to grow, so I too, spiritually and mentally, must do the same.  If I actually get myself out there and do the exercise-pushing my body to do more-I will naturally experience the strength building in my muscles and heart.   If I push myself to get out there and work to grow spiritually and mentally I will also naturally gain strength in those areas as well.  So today I say, “Thank you God for the spiritual, physical and mental hills in life (and please Lord help me to choose them everyday as well because in my own strength I am too weak to do so)!”