HONEST MAN…..OR GOD…..

Hello friends and dear readersJ I am going to post a cut out of a piece of literature that I read. Not asking for opinions here what I am going to ask is for a depiction of what you see here. I am not claiming belief or disbelief of what the author says, but that we as a group examine it to find it true or false. Once the first round is in I will tell my views and thoughts. Thank you and enjoyJ

Some one has said that "an honest man is the noblest work of God." Ten thousand thousand others have repeated his little speech—with a solemn wag of the head and sidewise squinting which conveyed the opinion that God is chary of his noble works.

Then there came another man who paraphrased that. "An honest God is the noblest work of man," he said. And a thousand or so of us wondered why we hadn't thought to say that! Why, of course. And the other thousands of thousands lifted up their hands and cried, "Blasphemy—stone him, stone him—put him out of the church, where the bogies'll get him!" They put him out. But the bogies haven't got him. And many of the thousands are taking up his cry—"An honest God is the noblest work of man."

Why not? An honest God is of greater value than many honest men, is he not? God is the creator of man; unless God is himself honest his honest man is but an accident, instead of an image and likeness of himself.

But, according to the paraphraser, man creates his God. Well, that is a paraphrase only, and true only in a sense.

Man's creation of God is simply his mental concept of God; it is God as he sees him, or it, from his viewpoint.

An honest God is the concept of a man whose soul recognizes honesty and loves it. A God of power is the mental creation of him whose soul recognizes and loves power. A God of love is the mental creation of him who recognizes and loves love. A God of vengeance is the mental concept of him who loves vengeance.

Perhaps you think your mental concept of God is not so very important, since it is all in your mind and the real God is what he is regardless of your idea of him. But it matters vitally to you.

It is not God as he really is, that is creating you; but God as he appears to you. Your concept of God is creating you in its own image and likeness.

If you think of God as a great man on a throne, with a long white heard and an eye-for-an-eye-and-a-tooth-for-a-tooth expression, you may depend upon being made over into a sour-visaged decrepit old man who will want to die and get away from it all.

If you think of God as a God of power, love, wisdom, beneficence, you will aim to be perfect as he is perfect.

If you happen to be one of the fools who has said in his heart there is no God, your life will be a crazy patchwork and your end that of the stoic who defies earth to do its worst by him; which it probably will, being a willing earth and ready to give each according to his demands.

You are being created in the image and likeness of the Lord your God, the God enthroned in your heart.

What kind of a God is in your heart? Is he small and revengeful and capricious, a sort of policeman to tell your troubles to, to receive consolation from, and by whom to send punishment to your enemies?

Or is your God the Principle and Substance behind all creation, the power, wisdom, love, of all creation, a God who loves all, is just to all, generous to all, favors none?

But no matter how lofty a God you carry in your heart he will do you little good unless he is an "I Am" God.

Most men's Gods are "I Was" Gods. They believe God did wonderful things for the children of Israel; that he performed great miracles for the apostles and disciples of Jesus; but to this age they think of him as merely the I Was God, who stands aloof and lets man run things—man and the devil, or "malicious animal magnetism."

Believers in the "I Was" God are also great sticklers for the "I Shall Be" God, who is coming again to judge the wicked and set up his kingdom on earth. And these believers in the I Shall Be God think that their only business in life is to wait around until the great I Shall Be makes his appearance.

People who worship the "I Was" and the "I Shall Be" are never demonstrators. Between admiration of the "I Was" and anticipation of the "I Shall Be" they fall to the ground and—wait for the I Shall Be in themselves and others.

Only the "I Am" God does things. "I Am" love impels you to love now. "I Am" wisdom inspires you to act upon your ideas. "I Am" power performs miracles, not yesterday or tomorrow, but now.

I Am God is the God who works to-day, in you and in me. His ways are not the ways of the I Was God, nor of the I Shall Be God; they are the ways of the "I Am"—new, different, the ways of to-day, not of yesterday or to-morrow.

I know a dear woman who worships the I Was and the I Shall Be. She entertained Schlatter the healer, and was firmly convinced that he was a literal reincarnation of Jesus Christ. She took Schlatter's word for it. She also accepted his excuses for not immediately setting up a literal kingdom here on earth, as described in the book of Revelations. He told her he had other work to do just now, that he was going away, but would soon return and establish a literal kingdom. She swallowed it all—without a single chew. Schlatter went away, and later a body was found in the mountains which was said to be his.

Since Schlatter's disappearance some years ago, this lady has spent her time in writing about him and looking for his return. The I Was and the I Shall Be absorb her entire spiritual attention.

In the meantime she lives in a small mining town where in the life surging about her she sees no God. Not long ago she wrote me to help her speak the Word of freedom for a man on trial for his life. She said he was absolutely innocent and that a "terrible conspiracy" existed against him. The man was condemned to die, still protesting, not innocence but self-defense. It was a case of mix-up with two men and a woman, followed by a drunken brawl and the usual plea of "didn't mean to."

This lady's sympathies were all with the man, and her letters to me were pitiful. Her heart was wrung with agony for him and his bereaved wife, and convulsed with horror and impotent rage at the "wickedness" of the "wretches who falsely swore away his life." The way "evil" triumphed over justice was awful, she said, and she knew when Schlatter returned justice would be done and the wicked wretches annihilated—or words to that effect.

You see, she has no conception of an "I Am" God, who rules now. She sits in judgment on men's acts and prays to Schlatter to come back and set things right.

She remembers that the "I Was" put 10,000 to flight with Gideon's three hundred pitchers and candles—simply sneaked up and scared them into a panic. She knows the "I Was" hardened the heart of Pharaoh to lie repeatedly to the Israelites. She knows the devil had to ask permission of God before he tempted Job. She knows God said "I make peace and I create evil," and that "The Lord hath made all things himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." She knows that "Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all the deep places." She knows all these things of the Great I Was.

But that the I Am works now in the hearts of men; that God now hardens one heart to perjury and another to truth, one to murder and another to lay down his life that his friend may live;—that God now works in these apparently antagonistic ways and thereby works out perfect justice, wisdom, love, has never entered her mind.

She cannot imagine that no man meets any form of death until he himself has ripened for that particular form of death. She has read that eighteenth chapter of Ezekiel, where God explains that every man dies for his own sins, not for the false swearings of another. But the great "I Was" said that, and the "I Shall Be" says it; but the "I Am" is absent—so she thinks.

Peace be still…..

Hello friends all through the torturing and playing on the words and buffeting of the rebukes from others saying that what I said is blasphemous I just prayed and asked for guidance. Here is the answer I received.

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa 45:8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

A Thief and a Dog

Good morning friends, it is a little chilly so I am sure that a cup of coffee is on order and shall be really enjoyed this morning. It is my hope to clear up my reasoning in a way that you will understand. It is also my hope that you will take back your accusations to the blasphemous nature in which you have perceived my writings. In my life I see God as the highest and most sacred of all authorities, as having the greatest plan and intention for you and me on this physical plane we call earth. Gods love and grace being far superior to anything that we can physically imagine or possibly understand. Even though great strides are taken by many on a daily basis to do so it is impossible to fathom its great depths with our limited mentality. I heard on the radio once about a man who locked up his house and went to bed. In the night he awoke to noise being made on the lower level of his home. Being the protector of his family, he arose and went to investigate. As he was passing down the hall way approaching the stairs his son had happened to leave the baseball bat on the floor outside his room so the man picked it up and continued his procession down the stairs. Being as quiet as he possibly could he walked right into the living room where he saw a thief in the process of stealing his articles. Startled the thief jumped and made an attempt to escape. In doing so he fell and broke his leg. The owner of the home then called the authorities and upon arrival they arrested the thief. Now I am sure that you are saying well ok that is great, but friends that is not the end of the story. The rest of the story is that the thief went to jail but filled a law suite against the home owner for breaking his leg on their property and he won and went scott free with an even larger bag of loot ill gotten. Now what does that have to do with the price of tea in china? I am sure that many of you know that the whole scenario presented above is just not right, but in our country the law also states that if you have a dog that is very protective of his owners and you put a beware of dog sign on the fence or gate and some ones decides to go into your yard anyway and gets bit you are the responsible party. It is my opinion that the mentality used to argue the points being written here in the previous posts is the same. We as Americans live in a land that prides itself on freedoms, extensive freedoms of all kinds and shapes with in which we as Americans take advantage of on a daily basis for a more fulfilling life in this country. The gov’t was set up to govern the people setting forth a set of guidelines or laws that we are required to live by. This is so that we all can live in a peaceful and harmonious state of existence. Now not all of the laws are the greatest but most are implemented for the protection of the citizens of this country. God, by divine inspiration, also set forth a set of guidelines or laws into existence for us through the writings and teachers of the bible. Just as if you break the laws of the country there are consequences, so are there consequences if you break Gods law. Now do the laws of the country make the country wicked or evil? No! Just because the laws stated by God create the distinction of good and evil, this does not make him evil. This also does not entail him using evil or at fault because we do it. This is where my stories come into play. If I have it posted that my canine friend is aggressive and it is in your best interest to stay on the other side of the fence from him and you decide not to then, am I at fault? Just because I knew he was aggressive towards unwanted intruders? Unfortunately that is the legal stand point that the folks of this country have taken, when in reality the person who chose to forbid the warning is the one at fault. Therefore is the reason for what I have said. God by creating a law, setting forth a distinction between good and evil, created them both, does this make him evil? Definitely not! There is no form possible that you can create one with out the other, if you define what is good then you also have defined what is evil. Jesus didn’t deserve to die because God created good and evil, he died because he was perfect and made the perfect sacrifice, his life for our inadequacies, or imperfections which by going into the yard with satan we have chosen to commit. If one chooses to break in to another’s house and breaks a leg or gets bit by the aggressive dog does the owner owe the perpetrator restitution? Neither God nor Jesus owes us a thing! But because they love us so much God provided us the perfect sacrifice and Jesus gave his life. Love and peace to all!! May God Bless

P.S.

FRIENDS IT IS PROBABLY the fact that you are reading that he created evil therefore he is and does…. Nothing could be farther from the truth….it could be better said that he created the options of Good and evil….God is not the creator of evil things nor actions, just our free will….which means you and I have the option to select which you want to do. God created the mind and feelings…we are the devisors of our own good and or evil actions.

How you say it….

Good morning friends and readers….now I was going to reply in the comment section but I decided that this was going to be the best form in which to say what I have to say. I am very truly sorry for your misunderstanding of what I said. And perhaps due to my limited knowledge how I portrayed it. You are absolutely correct in the fact that evil is an action not an item and though it may not seem as such as you insinuated I am a little more advanced than that. Now I must respond to you with the same question but not in the same form... for as you have said in earlier comments anger and hate are a complete contrast to what God wishes and through your verbage that is all one can gather. The claim that was laid out in the comments that to which I am blasphemous and portraying God I guess I don’t understand how that is but, if what I say and what you say are the same only put in different terms then does that make you blasphemous also? Now why am I saying this, let’s take a look at what I have said…….. It is up to you to understand the difference and define it through the study of his will……..but unfortunately we implement and partake of it due to our own physical weaknesses…….and there are other ones also where time and time again I have said that we need to study and we are at fault for our sins this goes right along with what you were yelling out to me……that YOU and YOU ALONE are the reason that you do evil (sin), not God. What was different about what I said and your response? I don’t understand…. Now, you made the comment on the fact that evil is an action….. that is a very interesting topic or thought….please explain the difference between evil being an action and lets say love, peace, harmony, humility, goodwill, goodness, servitude, happiness, fulfillment, longsuffering, and the list goes on. All of these to my knowledge are also actions. If they are not let me know, because I would appreciate the knowledge of the difference. In my limited knowledge all of these things are allocated to feelings and mind sets and are to be preferred responses to situations rather than the opposite which is evil. God created us with the option to do right or wrong that does in no way detract from him making us in perfection. The bible states as I have said and you have agreed and tried to reiterate it and resay it trying to make what I say seem blasphemous, that we are created perfect at birth, but after birth God relinquishes his control of our thoughts, therefore you are responsible for yourself. As far as how you picture me and my beliefs, that is your option and should remain to yourself for we all have opinions but that doesn’t mean we need to slander and tear down another in attempt to feel better about ourselves. I know this same action has been done by myself and tends to cause me great distress and results in apologies and learning experiences and a whole lot more love! Now Christian if you wish to do as you say, I will say…May God Bless and love and peace be unto you and yours from me and mine. To all love and peace May God Bless

God is…..

Good morning again let me say that I enjoy your company and discussions. Now, again also let me try to reiterate by a different way of explanation. My view and opinion of this discussion are as such….we know God as the creator of all….that he was before during and will always be…correct? Now when I claim that he created all including evil this does in no way insinuate that he implements it or approves of it. You are totally correct in the fact that he did not put it on earth, but the fact still remains that we as physical human being did not create it. Unfortunately we implement and partake of it due to our own physical weaknesses. We can look at this physical earth or world as our testing grounds, the place where we attempt to place value on our spiritual beings. The bible teaches us that a man shall be known by his works. This statement shows us how to add value to ourselves in the eyes of God. Jesus put a price on us….priceless, he found us worth giving his life for! But, just like when you buy and automobile with a hefty price tag it is known that some are junk and some are good. I like to liken this scenario to a business, when a being hires employees they tend to pay an hourly price for their services, Jesus paid for us in full already when he died on the cross, now you all know and understand that the ones working the hardest and best, with the best ethics and enthusiasm are the ones that maintain their employment, the ones that receive all the perks, and after a length of service enjoy the rest of the benefits, what ever they are. Now I guess my question to you is this if God was first and his angels and he created satan which we totally relate to evil and as the tempter then he created physical form and all that it includes then we know he had a plan for us knowing our shortcomings why does everyone want to diminish his power his creation his plan……I guess I am just rambling on and I can only say this …. I think and to me this verse in the bible says it all very clearly: Ecc 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Ecc 3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. Ecc 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. Ecc 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. Ecc 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. Ecc 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. Ecc 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. Love and peace to all and May God Bless

God and contrast……?

Friends the question posed to me was why am I ascribing things to God that the bible does not? Secondly why would God need contrast? And thirdly does this contrast with evil define him, meaning God. Well what can I say more than has already been said? I am not ascribing anything more than the bible for there in he created all on earth as in heaven. Therefore what has been ascribed that is not in his word? Secondly the contrast is not for Gods sake but our own. God has no need for contrast but for our sake it is here. Like I said in order for us to perceive the difference there has to be a difference. With no difference where is the ability to think, act, and choose of our own accord? Now thirdly in respect to the question that does evil define God….it does not but, it definitely makes us more aware of his presence when we are trapped in a period of darkness and he brings in the light to show us a better way. I hope this cleared up your questions and if not please….let me know and I will do my best to explain in a better way. Love to all and May God bless!!

God and Company

Good morning friends, just a quick thought to keep the thought process active…..I read this little teaching by an old sage and you may already know this and the concept it portrays but it also might bring into new light other thoughts. SAGE: The Law of Life is God and Company. You are the Company, and you cannot in any sense be an idle partner, if you wish to profit by the partnership. Your part is a big one, and there is plenty for you to do in providing a concrete center around which the universal divine energies can operate. Love and peace to all and May God Bless P.S. I too had to read it several times as it slapped me around. I think that many tend to believe that things just happen, but they don’t. The manna did fall from the sky but the people had to go pick it up!!

My thoughts on….

Hello all sorry for the long time I have been away and hope I can get things back up and exciting. I am sure that all of you have some kind of idea what contrast is….we paint walls and ceilings different colors to gain contrast and stripes on vehicles and so on….well everything in life has contrast depending on the view point. Light has dark, white has black you have open and closed big small high low healthy sick, and the list goes on….and on…and on…. But unfortunately I don’t have the time to type all the different contrasts that there are. I just want to know if something didn’t have a contrast; how would or could you know the difference? If everything was big and white and narrow how would you know that? Everything would be the same? Sure you could put different things to the title but you would no longer have round verse square nor low or high. How could you describe an object with out contrast? It escapes me! But if you could tell me I would have a tidbit more knowledge than I have now, which is very limited to begin with. It is like if I had an object of some sort trying to put it in a place that I want too but….. With No contrast I would not know if it fit or if it should fit….. How could you make the right decisions in life if your life had no contrast to it? The subject of good and evil is the same thing. With out evil you would not know what is good….. Without good you would not know what is evil. How can we define the difference if there is no difference to be defined….this difference my friends was created and laid down before us by the creator….. It is up to you to understand the difference and define it through the study of his will. We would be as robots on a robotic world if he had not created this contrast. It does not mean that he delights in the evil but without its presence we as humans would not understand and appreciate God nor be able to see his glory and power in our lives much less the next person whom we wish to teach or lead by our examples. Love and peace to all May God bless